Rating: ★★★★
Venue: Udderbelly at Underbelly, Edinburgh
Henry Cyril Paget was one of the world's wealthiest men, until he lost it all by being too damn fabulous. This fierce and tragi-gorgeous comedy musical is a true story about expectations, masculinity, privilege and failure on an epic scale. It's about feeling desperately weird and alone but knowing that to fit in would cost you everything.
A fantastic fever dream!
‘We didn't have gays and theys back in my day' they say. Well, you did, but you didn't like their art and then you erased their entire existence when they died, Karen.
This queer and quirky musical shares with us the life of Henry Cyril Paget: rich, rakish, and rebellious. He didn't much care for social norms and neither, it seems, does the creative team of this show.
The script can be slow and the songs altogether too fast - a perfectly enacted metaphor for how our protagonist is likely to have interacted with his audiences. The direction is the glue holding these decisions together, as they could easily become a little ‘OTT’ for fringe viewers, but the talented cast of actors and live musicians bulldoze through the 90 min piece with flare and fabulousness.
You can book tickets to see How to Win Against History, here.
Review by Katie
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