Mothman: A Romance Musical
Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and cult podcaster Professor Dumbleshaft has not posted any new content for two weeks, his last exploration the forests rumoured to be home to the Mothman, the world’s ninth most popular mythical creature in the all-important 18-30 demographic, his fans Anna, her boyfriend Kevin and their bestie Natalie and her gun collection seeing if they can retrace his steps.
What they find is a mystery dating back to the last days of the Second World War, the story of local milkman Roger Stevens who said goodbye to his girlfriend Betsy Flappingbutt to volunteer for the supersoldier programme only for a cruel twist of fate to bring a moth into the mix, making a monster of glowing red eyes, furry legs, a six foot wingspan, and admirably meaty physique.
Written and performed by Alex Franklin, Nikola McMurtrie, Alex Prescot and Hudson Hughes, the opening night chaos of recalcitrant props only adds to the enthusiastic audience interaction in Mothman: A Romance Musical, a tale of unrequited mutated love and unexpected costume changes which becomes increasingly surreal as it progresses, and it was already pretty far off the path to begin with.
The dialogue fast and the voices strong, occasionally swamped by the backing tracks but better on the softer numbers and the sound improving as the evening passes, puns, rhymes, guns and crimes are revealed beneath the glowing gossamer wings of the Mothman while Annie brings a Powerpoint presentation, and with fight choreography by Adam West and William Shatner it is the romantasy crossover cryptid event the Edinburgh Fringe has been waiting for.
