Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Cogito, Ergo…Something
Edinburgh University Theatre Company
Genre: Comedy, New Writing, Theatre
Venue: Bedlam Theatre
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Two posh philosophy students who think they are better than everyone prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are worse than everyone.
Review
Cogito, Ergo…Something is aptly named for a play about two philosophy graduates who misremember (and misinterpret) famous philosophers. The plotline centres around this one idea: that Sebastian and Anthony are bumbling idiots who believe themselves to be the most intellectually evolved beings alive. This misguided belief leads them to murder their friend in the hopes that they will get away with ‘the perfect crime’ and become ‘Übermensch.’
The majority of the play is a dinner party where Sebastian and Anthony have to pretend they have not just committed a murder. The acting and writing for both the main characters and their dinner party guests is commendable. Everyone is convincingly, frightfully posh, yet, from the exaggerated accents to the questionable takes on crime and punishment, acts as a comedic caricature of the ‘blood-sucking elites.’
The play is far funnier than one expects from a play about people who murder and don’t feel bad about it (or at least believe they shouldn’t). Much of the humour comes from the interactions between the dinner party guests, but the physical humour of the show is a pleasant surprise. The dead body being dragged around the stage was a running gag that somehow never got old. The chaos of running around trying to hide the dead body, or even just being drunk from the party, led to glasses and bottles hitting the floor, and a coat rack bending over and barely staying together. The actors played off the props falling (and even breaking sometimes) so seamlessly, that it is still uncertain which things were part of the show and which were mishaps.
The overall concept is utterly ridiculous: the two main characters accidentally murder their friend on the day of their big dinner party, when they were supposed to do it the day before. However, it is so absurd in a self-aware way that, if executed right, it adds to the comedic value more than it detracts from the suspension of disbelief. The acting ‘committed to the bit’ perfectly, and was supported by well-written dialogue which was able to poke fun at the upper echelons without excessive use of cliche stereotypes. In combination with excellent audio, lighting, and set design, these elements lead to a highly polished show on par with professional productions.
