Edinburgh 2002

Fringe

The Bubble
Southside Theatre

Dolan Cummings

The Bubble is a love story about speculative capital. And it's a school musical. Despite these apparently insurmountable handicaps, it is also a hugely enjoyable show.

The action begins in 18th century London's Bedlam lunatic asylum, where the idle rich gather to gawp at the amusing lunatics. One of the madmen believes that he can make jewels and is sure to become rich. In fact, he is simply blowing soap bubbles.

The soap bubbles give the musical its central metaphor, representing not only the illusory nature of stock market wealth (the show is ostensibly about the South Seas financial bubble), but also the lure of the superficial lifestyle, precarious riches and success gained at the expense of real human feelings.

This is of course just the kind of conflict that lends itself to music, and John Moore's score is quite charming from start to end. Our heroine Polly, played with some accomplishment by Roz Case, gets the pick of the show-stoppers. The poor naif is convinced to fake it as an actress on Drury Lane, and to choose the dreadful Mr Rich over Martin, the simple country boy who loves her…

The financial side of the plot is bizarrely well-researched, but if the message is simplistic, this is more than compensated for by crowd-pleasing performances and outstanding professionalism. A sound investment.