Sniperculture
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Group: underground utopia (Scotland)

Dolan Cummings

There has been some debate about whether the songs in this show are deliberately bad, and the same question might be asked of the production as a whole. I don't know about the first, but I think the second answer is no.

There is a lot to like about the play - in particular the performances are committed and the story deals with a fascinating phenomenon in pop culture. But it just doesn't work, and up till the last 20 minutes when things start too late to come together, it is agony to sit through, and the performers' commitment only grates like their bad accents.

The fascinating phenomenon is the aesthetic celebration of squalor and misery. The story concerns the relationship between Frank, a cheesy American country music star played by Tam Dean Burn, who also directs, and Furious, an exotic and damaged gothic rock star played by Tanushka Marah. Frank's label boss tries to arrange a marriage between Frank and her own blonde all-American daughter, but it gradually emerges that white corporate America can't shake off the dark side of pop culture as easily as she thinks. Furious turns Medea.

Sniperculture could have been something, but it simply failed. That's rock'n'roll, folks.

31 July to 10 August.

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