Who Are You Supposed To Be?[author-post-rating] (2/5 Stars)

Join us on a turbulent, intergalactic voyage into the fetid depths of obsessive fandom. Very recently, in a convention not nearly far enough away, two Whovians meet and strike up an unlikely fan-fiction friendship in Who Are You Supposed To Be? The performance begins as it means to go on, by launching an endless torrent of pop-culture references at the audience like handfuls of blunted ninja stars. The onslaught is ceaseless. More often than not, the deluge will pass you by bewildered but largely unharmed. But on occasion one will hit home. These projectile allusions will send you into a disheartening tail spin having your franchise knowledge force you to associate with this dreary production. Who Are You Supposed To Be? is appropriately named given its identity crisis. It’s an entity made up entirely of other people’s creativity, with little distinguishable life of its own.

Here we take a brief aside to address a cultural phenomenon that seems to be becoming endemic in many shows with any pretensions to geek-dom. We’re all sad about Firefly (a briefly run space western drama) being cancelled, but it’s time to move on. With our supposedly feisty female protagonist dressed as the fifth Doctor, inevitable feminist themes lurch in an ungainly manner onto the stage. Tired forum disputes are wheeled out in front of the audience, dressed up as challenging debate. The most infuriating part of this pointless endeavour is that none of the geeky gender politics finds any resolution with the characters. The Han Solo to our protagonist’s Leia carries all the peculiar sexism inherent in a pop-culture conduit.

If you wish to be bombarded with repetitive stream of references I’d recommend buying a parrot and Star Trek box set instead.

Who Are You Supposed to Be? is playing at C Aquila as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival until 26 August. For more information and tickets, please see to the Edinburgh Fringe Website.