HOTTER Project, also known as Ell Potter and Mary Higgins return to Edinburgh Fringe with their third (and possibly final?) show, fittingly titled The Last Show Before We Die, playing at the Roundabout at Summerhall.
There were plenty of jokes from the audience in the queue about the title; ‘I hope I’m not going to die after watching this!’ was overheard being uttered to one of the ushers on the door – I’m sure they hear the same thing multiple times a night. But this is a performance piece about endings, and while death is the ultimate ending, we all experience endings in some shape or form every day of our lives.
Ell and Mary quickly point out that endings can also signal a beginning, something new rising from the ashes that can be enjoyed and discovered anew. The Last Show Before We Die begins with a voiceover describing childbirth in quite graphic detail. Potter and Higgins writhe about the floor clothed only in outfits made of translucent tights, this is their resurrection they tell us; a new beginning before another inevitable end.
The remainder of the show follows a similar path to their previous show FITTER. Recorded interviews with an addict, a midwife and a grandparent amongst them, play over a variety of vignettes performed by Potter and Higgins; expect song and interpretive dance aplenty.
It feels like the pair are writing the show as they go, but that’s how it’s supposed to be, it creates this feeling that we’re all part of the story, and of this journey. Potter and Higgins are former lovers, best friends, housemates and work partners. Their lives are linked in every way, and as Ell says “there’s nothing about me that you don’t know.” But there are difficult conversations to be had, and by the end we don’t know if the pair will continue working together or not.
If this is in actuality their last show, it would be very sad for those of us who have followed them from the first show. The Last Show Before We Die is a difficult watch at times, mainly because it forces us to confront the realities ahead of us, but it’s also filled with moments of comic joy and lifts the audience at the points where they need it most.
Perhaps a little more could have been done to make The Last Show Before We Die feel more distinct from FITTER, but anyone seeing this show, and it’s very inventive climax, as an introduction to Ell Potter and Mary Higgins will, like the rest of us, be hoping a new beginning for the pair is closer on the horizon than this show suggests.
