Hot Mess review – blazing musical about Earth and humanity’s toxic love affair

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghWith brilliant one-liners, dazzling music and two formidable performers, this fringe highlight sees a cute newcomer end Earth’s 750m-year stint of singledomDoes a musical romance with a climate message sound a tad worthy – and one in which the couple represent “Earth” and “Humanity”? In fact, Earth (Danielle Steers) is a Bridget Jones style singleton who is 750m years into looking for love. She is not convinced when Humanity (Tobias Turley) comes along, all earnestness and cute lines (“You are the centre of my universe”) but is slowly won over.Somehow, Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coote’s climate romcom manages not to make a hot mess out of a very bizarre idea. Quite the opposite. It is so well executed that you see the tragedy of Earth’s love affair with Humanity as a toxic relationship in which the latter betrays, manipulates and gaslights, even as you are dazzled by the music, tickled by the humour and taken in by the romance. Continue reading...

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