Edinburgh Fringe reviews: The Techtonics: 44 Days of Liz Truss | Nerine Skinner: The Exorcism of Liz Truss
Not one but two shows centred around short-lived Prime Minister Liz Truss have come to the Edinburgh Fringe this year, as seen and reviewed by Fiona Shepherd.
The Techtonics: 44 Days of Liz Truss (A Capella) 2 stars
Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose (Venue 24) until 26 August
★★
Nerine Skinner: The Exorcism of Liz Truss 2 stars
Just the Tonic @ the Caves (Venue 88) until 25 August
★★
You might think that the chaotic 49-day prime ministerial reign of Liz Truss in autumn 2022 would be beyond parody and so it seems with these two contrasting productions struggling at times to make a comedy out of a farce. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t all laugh along in appalled relief at what we already know is gone but clearly not forgotten.
The Techtonics, comprising fourteen STEM students from Imperial College London, are an award-winning male a capella outfit and their vocals are as sharp, soulful and playful as their satire is flabby in 44 Days of Liz Truss. There is no explanation where the lost five days have gone but even one day of Truss is the comedy gift that keeps on giving. Their parody musical simply traces her “strong and stubborn” premiership from Boris Johnson’s resignation – to a doctored House of the Rising Sun – to her own precipitous fall from grace via unfunded tax cuts, limp lettuces and her enthusiasm for British cheese, shoehorning their slickly choreographed repertoire (Labrinth’s Earthquake, Bruno Mars’ When I Was Your Man, Ariana Grande’s One Last Time) into the “utterly ridiculous but depressingly true” story.
Nerine Skinner also breaks out the cheesy quips in The Exorcism of Liz Truss, attracting a full and sweaty house for this non-solemn ritual intended to uncouple Skinner from her compulsion to mount online Truss skits. Before the main order of business, there is a disorder of service including pop-up appearances from Skinner’s other characters such as her dotty therapist and personal trainer as well as a eulogy from Angela Rayner. Skinner is sweet, enthusiastic and worryingly fond of cringey puns but fails to land any punches while the exorcism itself, conducted by a fanged Maggie Thatcher, won’t turn any heads.
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