The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world, with nearly 3,500 shows. This year, Playbill is in Edinburgh for the entire month in August for the festival and we’re taking you with us. Follow along as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, aka our real-life Brigadoon!
As part of our Edinburgh Fringe coverage, Playbill is seeing a whole lotta shows—and we're sharing which ones you absolutely must see if you're only at the Fringe for a short amount of time. Consider these Playbill Picks a friendly, opinionated guide as you try to choose a show at the festival.
Deliciously dark, sadistic, and smart, Sam Hooper is death personified…but not as the usual chilling depictions of death such as Hades or the grim reaper. Instead, Death looks like a clean cut, buttoned-up office worker, with a shiny comb over, and a deep-seeded grudge of feeling under-appreciated.
As you enter the Bedlam Theatre you see piles of file boxes and Death intently shuffling through stacks of papers: profiles of how the living will perish. We discover that beneath his “regular Joe” surface is an undying mission to curate the perfect demise for each and every one of us.
Hooper, who also wrote and choreographed the piece, strikes the perfect balance between humor and haunting. Throughout the hour, Death passionately recounts his favorite death scenes. He pulls out the case file for each victim, or as he put more artfully, his “canvases,” and re-enacts an elaborate play-by-play of each death. The show is an inventive way of portraying the inevitable, and Hooper captivates through stirring songs composed by Robert Tripolino and accompanied simply on piano/guitar by Math Roberts.
But just as soon as we get a grasp of the shows pace, Hooper pulls out another facet of his storytelling—he wows us with agile movement sequences to simulate the more physical death scenes. As we approach the end of the hour, we are also reminded of the ticking of our own clock and to make the most of the precious time we have left.
And we're also shown that there is one thing that is as certain as death, and it’s that Hooper is a force to be reckoned with.
Death Suits You runs at Bedlam Theatre until August 27. Get tickets here.
Sam Hooper in Death Suits You
Sam Hooper in Death Suits You
Sam Hooper in Death Suits You
Sam Hooper in Death Suits You
Sam Hooper in Death Suits You
Sam Hooper in Death Suits You
Sam Hooper in Death Suits You
Sam Hooper in Death Suits You
Sam Hooper in Death Suits You
