I found that the amount of original musicals was not as vast this year at the fringe as other years, so when I saw a musical called "No Higher Purpose" about a cult who worship chickens after an apocalypse, I knew I had to go see it.

When the lights went down to start the show, there was an announcement made that one of the actors had fallen ill that morning and couldn't perform. Due to this, one of the performers was going to have to perform with a script in hand. It was the part of the lead villain that was being understudied so this did take away a little from the performance to see a character carrying an iPad around on stage in a cult with no access to technology. However, this is something that is excusable because they had only had the morning to learn their lines.

The show has a wonderful premise and some great jokes, but overall, it is in need of extensive rewrites. There are too many plot holes in the script that take the audience of the story. I also couldn't tell whether it was due to a switch-around of roles at the last second, but there were quite a few times that actors corpsed or just disengaged altogether from the scene, again making it difficult for the audience to stay within the story themselves.

There were some great aspects of this show though. I would like to commend Bill Burrows on his flawless performance in particular. He was the stand-out in the show and gave such an endearing performance of closeted Feather, not jumping to the easy overly-campy crutch, but instead playing his part with such beautiful sincerity. He was definitely a highlight in the show.

I had a fun time at the show, and it was a really strong effort. I wish I could have seen it with the intended cast, but alas, that is the world of theatre for you.

I would love for this company to take some time away from the show and come back to it with fresh eyes, find more plausible ways for the cult members to easily escape and return without notice. The show could be a fringe hit if it can put in the elbow grease and make the necessary changes.

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I hope you all found some great shows at the fringe, and I hope that you had a fantastic fringe! 😁

Love,

Tony x