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FringeReview Scotland 2025

Good Grief

Royal Conservatory of Scotland, Emergence Festival

Genre: Musical Stories, Musical Theatre

Venue: Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow.

Festival:


Low Down

This was a meandering, ponderous look at the value of grief in your life, which when sung enthralled and captured you, but in between had a problem managing to sustain a thought process. The music and four-piece band were brilliant in front of a basic set up as a backdrop.

 

Review

As part of the Emergence Festival, this was a piece of theatre which was at its heart, a form of jazz, improvised, meandering philosophy.

The singer, Camille Corinne, happens to be a fantastic chanteuse. Her ability to give songs depth and soul with an air of meaning was clear and distinct, whilst the band were a fantastic back-up.

The problem that I had with it was in between the songs, where there were occasional links between the themes and the benefit to us of grief, but was not strong enough in order to make it impressive. There were glimpses of just exactly how to take the best out of circumstances, and the philosophy of how you would benefit from something that most people would see as devastating, was touched upon, highlighted, but then not gone into with sufficient depth to feel that you were getting more than just that. It tended to depend upon literary cleverness rather than theatrical power. It meant we got grief on stage but didn’t really make much sense once the initial view of it was dispensed with. It needed a stronger directorial hand to look at how you would present this in a far more theatrical manner.

The one major piece of theatricality, the nun’s habit worn on her entrance by Corinne illustrated my point. It was very soon after arriving onstage jettisoned for the less theatrical but more traditional dress. It brought spirituality onto the stage but was quickly lost. The theme was developed in speech and with song, but its connection could have been deeper. Developing various observations upon how grief is handled by people of a variety of persuasions for example could open so much more up. It is however not for me to suggest improvements, but to offer the impressions gained from the decisions made by creatives – here it promised a little more than it delivered.

However, it was well enough constructed that would benefit from revisiting in a rehearsal room less impressed by vocal range. It hints at being something that already has a strong visual presence and musical ability, that could enhance an evening of performance beyond song. To begin with that band, their musical director and the singer is light years ahead most Musical Theatre ideas.

By the end the appreciation of the audience was assured, and they had been able to watch a real treat of song and performance. My criticism is down to promise being put in front of me and wanting much more – far from a negative, but very much a positive request to use the skills and spill more onstage for us to enjoy.

Published