Blood Ties[author-post-rating] (4/5 Stars)

How far would you go to help a friend? That’s the question put to the characters in the musical Blood Ties who go to throw their friend a hen party, and end up having to help her clean up the bloody mess left behind by her uncle who committed suicide that morning. But it soon unfolds that there is a lot more to the situation than first meets the eye, and the friends are left wondering just how much of a mess they are willing to deal with to get their old friend out of a very sticky spot.

Despite the seemingly heavy subject matter, the musical is actually very funny. It’s not often that you hear the words “bloody” and “bath mat” in the same sentence (the uncle died in the bathroom), and whilst the situation is extremely sad and unsettling there is also something hilariously ridiculous about it. It is as much about old friends as it is about a mysterious death, and these friends decide to get through the horrifying situation with laughter, as one could imagine many friends might.

The music is almost flawless: catchy but not repetitive, and it makes particularly brilliant use of four-part counterpoints with many songs having each character singing something different over the top of each other, but it all fits together perfectly. The musical has been written by the two women who also play the main characters – Canadians Anika Johnson and Barbara Johnston, and judging by this we can expect some great things from them. I cannot think of anything to fault them on.

My only disappointment was how short it was – it finished at the right point in the story, but I was so completely engrossed that I could have watched it unfold for hours.  With an excellent cast, gorgeous songs and a completely unique story the like of which I have never seen in a musical this is definitely one of my top picks of the Fringe, and one of the most original but completely watchable pieces of theatre I have seen in ages. An absolute hit.

Blood Ties is playing at The Space @ Venue 45 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival until 24 August. For more information and tickets, see the Edinburgh Fringe website.