Brighton Fringe 2026
The Quest for Love, Murder and Revenge in Space!
We're All Friends
Genre: Improvised Theatre
Venue: The Rotunda Theatre
Festival: Brighton Fringe
Low Down
“The Quest for Love, Murder and Revenge in Space is a fantasy adventure showcasing the epic– oh, wait, no! It’s actually a dramatic romance demonstrating the power of– oh, still wrong? That’s right, it’s a murder mystery in which– Wrong again? A rollicking western, perhaps? A sci-fi saga?” This is classic improv comedy story theater theatre.
Review
Do you want a Western, some science fiction or a fantasy show? The audience gets to decide through voting and then we’re straight into the action. A committed ensemble cast delivers the action with plenty of clever ideas and comedy quips along the way. An important feature of successful improvised storytelling is that the story hangs together and the loose ends are all tied up by the end, and this requires good memory, and an integrated team who bounce off each other positively using the classic ‘yes and of improv.’
Bubble is the largest of three venues at the Rotunda Theatre but still manages to provide an intimate feel space for the storytelling. I sat at the back but was able to follow everything. The cast need to be louder and more consistent with the vocals in a space that does require the audience to lean in, because this is an outdoor venue and noise can be heard outside the space. The narrative delivers faithfully on the chosen genre but one neat aspect is that the performers are still in their original costumes and so we still get our cowboy in this fantasy conceit. The show is at its best when it is all joined up and becomes more physical, and there is always a danger that comedy is from the shoulders up but the piece does have its physical moments that then lift it. Otherwise it becomes a bit linear with quip after quip rather than a full-bodied story.
There was plenty of laughter coming from some members of the audience and with further development the company will continue to enhance their format and performance impact.
This was a good show, and I look for further delights from this cast. Holding the story intellectually is where it is at its best and given that this was a fantasy, our gandalf-esque became a helpful anger for all the goings on, but all of the cast were equally committed.
More precision with physical movement, more inventiveness with ensemble physical commitment, and this comedy improv show will become even more engaging. The performance I saw was enough to deliver a pleasing hour, and the cleverness in the one-liners and plot twists was enough to make it worth seeing.
Another inventive element in the piece was using sound effects not only to respond to what was going on on stage but also as a trigger for further inventiveness and cast reaction which nourished the show and made it feel even more creative. The interplay of sound and vocal theatre worked well.
A company to watch as they develop further.
