Or What’s Left of Us (Summerhall, Tech Cube 0) is a bit of an oddity. It presents itself as one and prefaces the show by somewhat explaining the show’s title: they (Sh!t Theatre) aren’t what they used to be, so it seems they are the remains of a previous iteration. Maybe you needed to have gone to previous shows to get that, but I would have preferred for it not to have mattered. But perhaps that was part of the premise, as we were taken into the world of the Folk Club and its (unspoken) rules. To know, you have to know.
The costumes and props are fun and the show is altogether slightly outrageous – not in an offensive way, unless you are an ale aficionado mind you. There is gentle audience participation and lots of singing along. It’s a feel-good show and made the audience laugh. In my case, more to do with that oddity and slight weirdness. But, oh my, they have the Folk Club and its acolytes off to a ’T’.
In Or What’s Left of Us they sing about death. A lot. But that’s folk songs for you. They do it in a very jolly way and refer to beer quite a lot. There is a thread of ‘who torched the folk club?’ running through the show, references to real folk bands and a slight dig at the ‘revival’ scene. It all feels a bit random. The costumes and face paints were a bit piratey, but the headgear was genius – especially when they had to swap, as it turns out one of the actors has a bigger head than the other and a too-small headpiece just won’t do.
The actors have fantastic voices and sing beautifully in harmony and accompany themselves on guitar occasionally. I loved that their humour and silliness didn’t hide their skills.
There is a denouement – and a sing-around in the bar after, for those who wish to partake – when all is revealed. And guess what? It’s not just Or What’s Left of Us – or folk singing – that’s a bit of an oddity. Fact is stranger than fiction. You couldn’t make it up.
