★★★★★
Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder comes to the Edinburgh Fringe this year with a big reputation. It had a sold out run last year at Summerhall, and this year’s production at Underbelly is an expanded version that is set to go on a mini tour immediately afterwards. It has big shoes to fill.
There is no doubt, however, that it does everything and more that it promises. Big, flashy and fun, hapless wannabe detectives Kathy and Stella have their own true crime podcast, but they need to solve something big—the murder of their favourite true crime author—in order to make it a full-time job and get out of their very own murder mystery story. Bronte Barbe and Rebekah Hinds play the duo, the best friends who hate everyone else but each other: it is characteristic of Jon Brittan’s writing, it seems, to be cheesy in this, and yet self-aware to acknowledge this, with the pair singing that “if I didn’t have you I’d die”, only for this to be turned into a commentary on fan culture later in the show. Barbe and Hinds are West End staples, fresh out of Newsies and Oklahoma respectively, and the two are spellbinding, balancing each other out and complimenting the ensemble with a prowess rarely seen.
For a predominantly sung-through musical, the music does indeed shine. A song called ‘Welcome to MurderCon’ is, as the lyrics say, “surprisingly respectful”, and indeed very funny. The fourpiece band on stage shine, and yet, with the movement and dancing from the ensemble, all clad in different coloured jumpsuits, they seem to blend seamlessly into the backdrop.
The show has a somewhat minimal set, designed by Cecilia Carey. Both Kathy and Stella are moved around on chairs, which they record the podcast on, but these also become the police station and a pub: even with just the chairs and the lighting, you believe that you are in these places completely, such are the performances. It is wholly immersive.
Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder is a warning about what happens when you begin to live for the approval of strangers on the internet. It is also a love letter to being excited about whatever you want to be excited about, be that death and corpses or true crime. The staging isn’t big and flashy, but the music is. The standing ovation at the end of the performance was more than deserved.
Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder will be performed at Underbelly George Square (Udderbelly) from 16-27 August (not 21) at 7:30pm.
Words by Jess Boot-Cowie
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.