The Show

In the disabled toilet in Tesco, we meet Billy and Neil. Dressed in combats and carrying enough explosives to blow the place sky high, they examine life and attempt to decide whether violence is sometimes the only way to be heard.

Billy: ‘This is it, ten minutes and it’s all coming out. I feel like I’ve been holding it in for so long. That’s how I feel, like I can’t bloody breathe.’

Neil: ‘ Mum’s doing steak and kidney pudding today. I ain’t dying on a steak and kidney pudding night.’

With a title inspired by Kurt Cobain’s suicide note, this is a darkly comic exploration of the lives of young, working class men in austerity Britain. Vividly exploring boys’ relationships with their dads, toxic masculinity, and our attitudes to terrorism; it shows how two seemingly ordinary people can be pushed to shocking extremes, without even realising it.

Reviews

Broadway Baby - Richard Beck

"Gritty, chilling drama spiced with a shot of black comedy."

‘.. gripping, dark and funny; a powerful blend that this company knows how to put together. Kurt Cobain once said, "The worst crime is faking it". There’s no hint of that in Reece and Glen who are genuine and authentic.’

"Winner of the Bobby Award 2019 – the best theatre show at the Fringe 2019."

Broadway Baby see 2000 shows, give about one hundred and fifty ‘5 star’ reviews and then select one or two of them as their best of the Fringe. This year they gave one to a Taiwanese Dance Co, and one to Letter To Boddah.

The Wee Review - Richard Stamp

"A powerful script, two gut-wrenching performances ….a masterclass in tension"

After seeing the show, Richard Stamp came back to see it again a couple of days later and tweeted: ‘Saw this again, to check if I still thought on mature consideration that it's one of the most powerful and affecting productions I've seen in years. Verdict: yes. ‘

At the end of the Fringe, Stamp tweeted his top 5 shows: ‘1: Of course, Letter to Boddah. The complete package: a nuanced, moving script, two powerhouse performances, vital social insight and a story that keeps you in suspense till the end. A dark comedy to start with, but you may leave in tears.’

The List - Gareth Vile

"A tough, loud hour that depicts radicalism without flinching, and asks questions about the culture that allows it to thrive.’"

Theatre, Films & Art Reviews

"..absolutely flawless.... a rare gem at this year’s fringe and deserves to be seen. Leaving a theatre thinking “wow” because it leaves you speechless, speaks volumes."

Opening Night - Matt Forrest

"Powerful, dark, shocking and packed full of humour, with a finale filled with tension."

Everything Theatre - Rob Warren

"A clever and funny piece of writing… add in the fine acting of its two cast members, it’s a play that has enough about it to have a bigger life after Edinburgh is over."

THE DEREK AWARDS

Awarded by a team of 50 local amateur critics organised by Derek , these are increasingly recognised as significant Fringe awards. They do not publish reviews. However Derek himself said ‘ If Shakespeare was alive today, this is the play he would write.’

Number 9 - Kerry Ely

"Explosively good. Jordan Reece and Sam Glen had the audience on the edge of their seats, explosively good. A pleasure to see two talented Northern actors given such a rich script refreshingly set in the North’"

The GM Reviewer

'..an unsettling and very, very dark comedy that explores how two seemingly ordinary people can be pushed to shocking extremes without even realising it.’ ‘As a piece of performance theatre (it) manages to achieve the seemingly impossible….to viably explain away the deranged irrationality of mass-murdering hatred towards Britain’s largest supermarket chain by gently unpicking how each character came to find himself in his extreme mental state.’