[Tessa]

I've just read that Edinburgh Fringe terrorism musical "Failed States" has won stuff.

What? How? Why?

I saw it yesterday after a nice young man gave me a flyer which looked controversial and edgy. He told me about the huge numbers of stars it had earned from various publications...so I took his word for it. You'd think after 20 years of Fringe going I'd learn.

It was terrible. Completely terrible. A mish mash of The Fix and A Little Night Music with added torture (not just for the audience) and as edgy as a Muller Light yoghurt. The music was fine, but didn't have anything to do with what was going on on stage. The book was an idiots' guide to post 9/11 human rights...with rhymes. The actors were hopelessly miscast and forced into the curse of Sweeney Todd (ie if you have grade 3 trombone you are going to play your instrument on stage no matter how embarrassing that may be for you). The movement was from the sign language for the hard of thinking school of choreography and the whole budget appeared to have been blown on decorating a couple of top hats with Union Jacks.

I usually feel for the underdog during the Fringe and try to find something to love about each show. Halfway through I had decided it was clearly the sincere attempt of an earnest politics undergraduate to change the world, aided and abetted by flatmates and ex lovers that he was duty bound to cast. Turns out that they were professionals. Trained professionals who get paid for this nonsense.

Unbelievable.

On the up side, the cellist was quite good...