Paul T Davies reviews Drip, now playing at Roundabout at Summerhall at Edinburgh Fringe.

Andrew Finnigan in Drip. Photo: John Moore

Drip

Roundabout at Summerhall

20 August 2018

4 Stars

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Tom Wells is the witty, sharp observer of teen LGBTQ youth and awkwardness, and has created an army of outsiders and queers who find each other and begin to get through life. Here, with music by Matthew Robins, we meet Liam who is presenting his school assembly. Liam and his best mate Caz are the only members of the Bev Road Baths' first and only synchronised swimming team. They're doing it to win the annual Project Prize at school, as Caz has never won. There's only one problem. Liam can't swim.

This is a show with bags of charm, with performer Andrew Finnigan carrying the audience away on a tide of affection. The songs and lyrics seamlessly provide the narrative to Liam's feelings and the situation, and have a wonderful Victoria Wood quality to some of the rhyming couplets! This is no coming out story, Liam and Caz may be 15, but they are out and proud. It's more about the challenges we all face and how we get through them, and it's impossible to leave without a huge smile on your face!

While the intimacy of the Roundabout creates a strong connection with Finnigan, it is in the round, so, inevitability, he has his back to part of the audience throughout, and some of the audience participation takes a little too long to set up. But the show skillfully leads us to a closing sing-a-long that has you cheering for the optimists in our world! For that alone, catch this musical comedy!

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Read our interview with Tom Wells