Edinburgh Fringe 2025
The Pornstar Martini Effect: A Bartender’s Guide to not K*lling Yourself at Christmas
52 Theatre Co
Genre: Theatre
Venue: theSpace @ Niddry Street
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
It’s Christmas Eve as Kat and Tom prepare to endure another debilitating 14 hour shift in a cocktail bar, creating endless Porn Star Martinis for clients whose behaviour continually borders on the egregious. As the evening winds down, mentally and physically drained, they start to question what they’re actually doing working in this hell hole and even whether they really are who they think they are.
Review
Coldplay’s Christmas Lights is playing as we enter theSpace @ Niddry Street’s tight Studio space for 52 Theatre Co’s The Porn Star Martini Effect: A Bartender’s Guide to not K*lling Yourself at Christmas which must certainly be a contender for the most descriptive show title of this year’s Fringe, if not the longest.
It’s Christmas Eve and we’re in a cocktail bar, an upmarket one judging by an elegant three cornered bar set design augmented by a backwall filled with bottles containing colourful liquors of some description. And it’s all go, as Tom and Kat, our hospitality experience executives (bartenders to you and me), dive in and out of the audience, taking orders for concoctions I’d never even heard of, let alone sampled.
Hurtling around the set, the duo measure and pour, mix and shake, spin and turn, juggle and balance, all in the name of delivering the ultimate cocktail, in this case the perfect Porn Star Martini, which, I found to my surprise, does actually exist – recipes available from all good search engines.
This exquisitely choreographed opening grabs the audience’s attention which never wavers during what turns out to be a pulsating exposé of the vicissitudes of the hospitality sector, particularly the impact that the clients’ behaviour has on those who often have no choice but to work its long, repetitive shifts, dealing with inhibitions loosened by the power of drug(s) to the point where the egregious kicks in and courtesy and respect run for cover.
The structure is simple – two extended monologues expose the respective challenges Kat and Tom face dealing with “customers” before the pair come together in touching conversation as the evening winds down.
With Kat it’s the men, most of whom apparently want more than a drink from her and seem incapable of taking no for an answer, leading to rising tensions when, finally, one customer goes just that bit too far. Poor, uncertain young Tom just finds it hard to deal with the flirtatious females that seek his attentions, trying to twist him around their respective little fingers with alcohol induced guile. Then, as the last customer staggers out into the night, it’s just the two of them, sharing thoughts, experiences, hopes and desires before going their separate ways.
It’s a compelling piece of beautifully crafted, nuanced theatre, delivered with elan yet remaining nicely poised. The monologues draw you into the characters’ respective worlds and are superbly executed. Two veritable torrents of words, skilfully delivered with each actor switching seamlessly between their character’s own voice and those of the many and varied (often repulsive and demanding) clients. Sound segues and clever lighting effects enhance the frequent changes in conversational tack and leave you hanging onto every word.
But it’s when the night is winding down that the emotional and sexual tension between the couple starts to emerge, leading to some interesting and surprising exchanges, leaving you wondering just what is their relationship, what does each want it to be and can it ever be stable in what comes across as an inherently unstable working/living environment.
There’s so much food for thought in this fifty minute piece, a large part of which is down to the top drawer acting. Zane Marsland is superb, portraying Kat as a manipulator of men, preying on their desires to put her in the driving seat of any relationship she decides to pursue, and to what extent she pursues it. And yet, as the evening unfolds, her vulnerability is increasingly exposed. Finnen McNiffe is also utterly believable as Tom, seemingly unsure of what he wants in a relationship, in life even.
What are carefully scripted and rehearsed lines come across as spontaneous exchanges between the two of them and there’s a natural, almost electric chemistry as they spar verbally and, occasionally, physically on stage. Diction is perfect, their character portrayal extracting every last drop of emotion from Director/Writer Ella Kendrick’s tightly honed script. Staging from Producer/Designer Lauren Dalboth is spot on too, with every square inch of the small space used to creative effect.
This is high quality, thought provoking, superbly delivered theatre. Tight script, no wasted words. Superbly set and choreographed. Compelling acting from two young practitioners of real quality. Highly recommended!
