EDINBURGH 2025: Review: CAN'T TALK RIGHT NOW, TheSpace On The Mile

In 45 minutes, Can't Talk Right Now, a sung-through musical, explores the complexities of human nature and finding what you want from life. It’s a tight squeeze, but beautifully and heartbreakingly executed. Jen Cassidy effortlessly draws us into her reality, creating a loveable main character as well as painting a picture of everyone who doesn’t appear on stage.

It’s a raw, emotional story, following the stages of fear and hope experienced by a young woman waiting for the results of a biopsy.  Songs blend seamlessly together, cleverly written motifs returning to represent her spiral.

The staging, though intimate, detracted a little from the immersion of the story; seeing other audience members past the actor did not feel like being stuck inside and painfully alone. If the audience were more separate, and the actor had been given a mic to help protect her voice, that might have been negated, but it is easy to forgive.

Fringe shows are rarely known for their astonishing budgets, and most of these issues seemed to stem from there. The representative props worked very well, allowing for the projection of one’s own grief, and what struck me above all was the humble, relatable humanity of it all. This show is only available for a week, and I highly recommend it for all adults, particularly the dreamers.

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