#EdFringe: How to use a Washing Machine – Review

★★

Yes there’s a washing machine on stage, but this show would make a great, intense family play with musical rather than a new musical.

 A chamber musical with a string quarter, a relatable storyline of family and siblings, finding your way as a young adult in your career, and the concept of selling out, the show should really work, but I don’t think it does.  Two siblings return to the family home to box all their things up, as it turns out their parents are getting divorced. He, a banker who wanted to be a ballerina, and she, a struggling artist, reconnect and then fight over their chosen career paths and their relationships with their parents, themselves and others, as history and memories are dragged up through the packing process.  

The songs are a little pitchy, the sound is hard to balance in the small space with no mics and the strings often overpower the vocals. The strings produce a rich and lovely sound that doesn’t always suit the vocals and the storyline, and there’s no underscoring to dialogue, sometimes leaving the space feeling a bit empty. Performances by Emelye Moulton and Max Cadman are energetic but stronger in the dialogue, and Cadman really lets loose in his later songs about his practical life choices, showing off his belt.

There’s a huge amount of work that needs to be done around the dialogue as well as the songs, to really dig into the emotion of these situations and to flesh out the story lines and character development. So far, it’s a little bit, woe is me, I’m an adult (washing machines are pretty self explanatory to be honest), life is hard – but when it digs into their past, how it shaped them and how it led to where they are now, and how their parents break up might affect their mental health, that is when they dig into the drama and potential in the story, and why in my opinion this might suit being a play better. The songs and vocals are nothing special, but the string quartet adds a special element to the show.

 Back to the washing basket on this one to separate out what works and doesn’t, and put on a new load.

How to use a Washing Machine played at Zoo Venues until 26th August. More info.