Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Three Can Keep a Secret
Theatre Unleashed
Genre: American Theater, Dark Comedy, Experimental, Theatre
Venue: Space 3 at theSpace on the Mile
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
A choose your own adventure style play, Three Can Keep a Secret asks you, the audience, to decide on the ending. So whatever happens is, quite literally, on you.
Review
An interactive black comedy from award-winning playwright Gregory Crafts, Three Can Keep a Secret is a fun, late night thriller with an unusual premise. A homage in equal parts to The Sopranos and choose your own adventure games, this play draws the audience in on the action by asking you to choose – quite literally, in the form of Mason’s ghost taking a tally – your own ending.
Mason’s wife Denise is out of town, on a girl’s trip with her friend Julia. And when the ladies are away, the boys come out to play – so it’s poker night, and the drinks are already flowing. Unfortunately for Mason, the two friends he’s invited, Moose and Sonny, are up to no good, and they take him out within minutes of the action starting.
Moose and Sonny aren’t going to get away with it that easily, though, as Denise and Julia are back early – they missed their flight. So the question really stands as to whether they’ll get away with it at all. And whether they do or not, dear reader, entirely depends on you.
An interesting concept, it rewards rewatchability – the ending on our viewing was perhaps the least desirable one, but still had a satisfactory payoff. With plenty of twists and turns throughout, the action keeps you on your toes and makes you accountable in just what happens on the stage. So if you get the worst ending, beware – it is, quite literally, on you.
The cast of five do a great job in what is undoubtedly a trickier play to master than most. Sean Faye as Mason plays a great unassuming suburbanite with a seedy past, whereas Ryan Dylan Wargnier as Sonny brings a chaotic energy to the stage, ready to elevate the action at any point. Gregory Crafts as Moose balances a domineering personality with a softer underbelly well, and Liesl Jackson as Denise plays the beleaguered trophy wife to perfection. Courtney Sara Bell as Julia rounds out the cast as the play’s wildcard, delivering some well-timed comedic moments and instantly recognisable as the constant party girl out in any downtown club every weekend.
Three Can Keep a Secret is an experimental concept, but one that actually works. The characters themselves would probably benefit from being rounded out, but with a play undoubtably this complicated to write, I imagine that’s most likely easier said than done. The constraints of mounting the choose your own adventure genre on stage are clear when watching, but it is possible – just look at immersive theatre if anything. Overall, a fun watch.
