Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Reaching The C
Ursula Leveaux
Genre: Music, Storytelling, Theatre
Venue: theSpace@Symposium Hall
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Using just a bassoon and a loop pedal, Reaching The C demonstrates music’s ability to lead you to unexpected pleasures and places. How, when you assemble a seemingly prosaic, oddly shaped collection of objects that us humanoids can bash, pluck, scrape or blow into, the result is pure magic.
Review
I’ve always been in awe of anyone who can get a decent sound out of something by scraping, banging, plucking or blowing into it, largely because what I know about how to play any instrument can be written on the back of a used postage stamp. I even failed my Grade 1 triangle exam. Spectacularly.
So, naturally, I was intrigued by Reaching The C, what looked to be a pretty niche, quintessentially Fringe event at theSpaceUK’s Symposium venue where the bassoon was going to be centre stage for once. You see, the bassoon is widely known as the “clown of the orchestra”, largely because of the instrument’s broad range, quirky staccato jumps and the humorous, expressive sounds it can make, especially in its low register. This reputation guarantees a back row orchestral perch to avoid drowning out the sound from the plethora of highly strung instruments under the beady eye of the person up front waving a stick around.
Written and performed by the engaging Ursula Leveaux, Reaching The C explores the way music can weave through life (in this case her own), a show that pivots around Leveaux’s abilities as a narrator and musician, with the assistance of an “orchestra” that consists merely of a loop pedal.
Leveaux was first introduced to the bassoon at an age when the instrument was taller than she was, restricting her to playing tunes with just three notes and indirectly generating the title of what turns out to be an informative, enchanting and rather whimsical exploration of the pure magic inherent in music.
From these tender beginnings, a combination of an inspirational music teacher, musical friends and Leveaux’s own passion, determination and aspirations resulted in her scaling the heights of the musical world, to the point where she’s become a leading chamber musician and currently the bassoonist of London’s Nash Ensemble, the resident Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall, whilst somehow also finding time to be Principal Bassoon with the City of London Sinfonia.
Leveaux’s relaxed, gentle description of her life in music is punctuated by regular illustrations of just why she is such a sought-after bassoonist. The loop pedal allows her to create a simple track, around which she then improvises a range of tunes, some of which are easy enough to recognise (Purcell’s “Ground” and “Didos Lament” being two good examples) and some perhaps not so, but nevertheless showcase her sublime playing.
The key word in that last rambling sentence is “improvises”, because that’s what Leveaux does. Beautifully, capturing the dominant emotion in each selected piece, the bassoon becoming a part of her as she plays, eyes tight shut, “feeling” the music rather than just playing notes.
This is an absolute joy of a show, demonstrating music’s ability to lead you to unexpected pleasures and places. How, when you assemble a seemingly prosaic, oddly shaped collection of objects that us humanoids can bash, pluck, scrape or blow into, the result is pure magic. On the evidence of this show, Leveaux is most definitely a magician. Recommended for anyone – even a failed triangle basher.
