EDINBURGH 2018 - Review: TIMPSON: THE MUSICAL, C

Timpson is a weirdly specialist chain of shops. Shoe repair, key cutting, engraving house signs and selling lighters seems such a strange combination that one might be quite justified in wondering how it came to be.

Wonder no more, as Gigglemug Theatre have created a musical about the origins of the nationwide chain, with sponsorship from Timpson Ltd even adding a stamp of authenticity.

In this new musical, two warring families of would-be inventors - the Montashoes and the Keypulets - compete for business and fame at the annual Invention Convention. As the family names might suggest, a son and daughter from rival sides fall in love, with the clans eventually brought together to form a new business.

The technical side of the show is very well realised, with exceptionally slick lighting and an excellent three-piece band playing through the original score. There are also several catchy songs here, with "Got To Get Up When They Knock You Down" the sort of number that could slide easily into just about any musical comedy.

Unfortunately, the production's main issue is its puerile performance style, choosing exaggerated acting and too often aiming for the lowest common denominator on its way to a cheap laugh. Visual dog-humping gags and lyrics about vaginas in an otherwise strong duet on the trials of parenting were an unnecessary trend and quickly became tiresome.

The chain of shops that inspired the show offers more material than was capitalised on here, and where there were jokes about other theatre hits (a burgundy Timpson flag flown a la Les Mis, for example), these worked well. The production could have been far more successful had it trusted its audience with more material in this vein, rather than resorting to characters rubbing their crotches and chugging from mid-song booze funnels.

As a result, despite some promising elements, Timpson: The Musical sadly did not manage to find, or cut, the key to musical theatre success.

Timpson: The Musical is at C until 27 August

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