EDINBURGH 2023: Review: THE BEATLES WERE A BOYBAND, Gilded Balloon
The Beatles Were A Boyband runs until 27 August
The Beatles Were A Boyband by F-Bomb Theatre was a 2022 Edinburgh hit and won a Fringe First award. The show has returned for the second half of the 2023 festival.
Violet, Daisy and Heather are flatmates. Heather is a very cynical character and has great disdain for Daisy’s choices to work as a social media influencer/weight loss tea promoter. There are a few arguments about what to watch, Heather thinking she’s above the likes of Twilight and insists that sort of thing is for teenage girls. As her flatmates point out- it was teenage girls who discovered the Beatles.
News breaks of a young woman that has been murdered and this seems to have a particularly strong effect on Daisy. She takes to her live feed to express her horror about what has happened and loses half of her followers and starts to get nasty and threatening comments.
One of the remarks in the show as the action centres around the women’s flat is that Gilmore Girls isn’t a proper show, it’s just people talking fast with pop culture references. I’m not sure if this is self-awareness at play here because that’s quite similar to what The Beatles Were A Boyband is. Throwaway comments about Taylor Swift being an artist genius, Love Island, Grey’s Anatomy and is Bridesmaids the greatest comedy of all time?
Having seen and loved F-bomb’s work before I found this particular show to be a slight disappointment. The writing feels a bit lazy as feminist slogans from memes and protest placards are shoehorned into the script. The subject matter should be hard-hitting but the writing lessens the impact.
Another subject that is lightly touched on is a disregard for women’s health, male doctors insisting that coil procedures are ‘just uncomfortable’ and dismissing patients' concerns.
Daisy is determined to make social change and make the streets safer for women but when this has no impact, her flatmates beg her to stop as she’s making them feel unsafe as their home is targeted.
The Beatles Were A Boyband has the best of intentions in highlighting the need for more action from the government with regard to women's safety but it just doesn't quite have the emotional effect that it should.
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