EDINBURGH 2013 - BWW Reviews: BATH TIME, Gilded Balloon Teviot, August 18 2013

At the end of this performance of 'Bath Time', the actor/writer Ruaraidh Murray (it's a one-man show) shook hands with everyone in the front row, and very sincerely thanked everyone for coming - the venue is called the Wee Room so there was plenty of scope to make eye contact with the whole audience, and all in all, he came across as a genuinely lovely and grateful chap.

Which is why I feel a bit guilty about what follows but I must respect the noble art of theatre reviewing and be honest about the show: I hated it. From the first moments, as he emerged from a cardboard box in dress and wig, to the end, when he got back in, I struggled to find anything to enjoy.

He plays three characters - Spike, Jojo and Billy, who are involved in various nefarious drug and violence-based activities in the 1990s. They also all curse a lot - that's my quota of c-words full for the year, thanks - and there's a bit of fairly explicit simulated sex thrown in on top. It's not that I'm prudish; it just all got very tedious very quickly, as the plot and script have precious little in the way of wit or interesting developments to make all this 'edgy' content mean anything.

To be fair, I doubt his target audience is musical theatre-lovin' homosexuals - a suspicion cemented when, in one shocking moment, we are subjected to the opening bars of Wonderwall without any appropriate warning - and I have to say the rest of the audience seemed to be having a good time, so the show clearly holds some appeal for others. So it's not for me - at all - but hey, what a nice bloke he seems to be.

'Bath Time' runs daily at 15:15 until August 26.

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