A musical about a friend who died young, and about the man rebuilding him from memories that cannot be entirely trusted.
What would you do for a friend who died young, who was in a band with you in high school, when the only thing you knew was that he was gone? American musical theatre writer Andy Roninson’s answer is to write a musical about him. The Real Kyle McCarren, at Pleasance Forth, by Roninson and Sean McVerry, tells the story of Kyle, whose name is changed in the show, while much of what happens is true. That tension between what is real and what is reconstructed also becomes central to the way the story is told.
Death can be a difficult subject to navigate, especially in a Fringe show with only 75 minutes to tell the story. Yet Roninson and McVerry bring a witty sense of self-reflection to their storytelling. Instead of giving us a straightforward biography of Kyle, the show begins with Andy learning that Kyle is gone. As the aftermath unfolds through funerals and memorials, we gradually come to know Kyle through the eyes of those who were close to him: his Irish family, his on-and-off relationship with his ex-girlfriend, his best friend from college in London, and, of course, his mother, who is presented with the presence of a diva. At one point, her own voice is heard in a recording, giving the moment an unexpectedly intimate quality.
Roninson plays himself and tells these stories, while McVerry, Roninson’s friend who never knew Kyle personally, plays a playful version of Kyle who constantly challenges Roninson’s recollections. Eventually, the story reaches a point where Roninson alters what happened into a version he would have preferred, shifting the focus from Kyle to his own behaviour and the way he has dealt with his death. The fact that McVerry is playing someone he never knew makes the reconstruction feel even more deliberately uncertain.
Rather than offering an encyclopaedic retelling of Kyle’s life from birth to death, Roninson and McVerry’s musical is more interested in mourning and in the ways those left behind have to live with the fact of death. For Roninson himself, it becomes a confrontation with his own fear of facing his friend’s death and with the cowardice of his behaviour. I won’t say more about what happened, but his decision to reshape the story into a version he would prefer forces him to confront what he has done and failed to do.
One of the most moving moments comes when a recording of a song Kyle made for his mother stops because of a scratch on the CD, Roninson continues the song live, singing and playing it himself for her. The moment turns a damaged recording into something that can continue to exist on stage.
This mixture of perspectives, and of the storyteller’s authority being constantly questioned by his own position in the story, can sometimes make Kyle’s image less clear. Roninson admits that Kyle could be an asshole, yet the show is often more interested in his good and kind side. Still, that uncertainty is combined with the sincerity and courage of admitting to a past he is not proud of. More than a show simply about Kyle, it becomes a story about what happens when you are left behind, and what it takes to face the part you played in the aftermath of someone’s death.
Show Listing:
Venue: Pleasance Forth
Date: 5-30 August
Time: 13:50
Price: 21.5/Concession: 20.50
Guideline age: 14+
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-real-kyle-mccarren