Anna Burnside reviews a production with a lot going on but becomes ‘a multimedia mess’.
What happens when a failing podcaster goes home to look after her dying mother and discovers a potentially career-reviving true crime story in the woods behind the house?
Meles, a burned out party girl whose Coffee Shop Conversations series has reached the end of its natural life, can’t resist overegging the mystery of a folk musician who disappeared and his witchy landlady who is obsessed with badgers and has a family song that may or may not have magical powers.
There’s a lot going on in Malaika Kegode’s tech-heavy folk horror show. She’s the narrator and controller of the audio-visual effects. The audience is Meles, allowing her to ask questions about the ethics of using recorded material without permission.
On stage there are two musicians playing creepy folk music in a black box. Screens on the three visible sides crackle into life when recorded material is playing.
Kegode is an engaging presence. Joe Williams and Beth Roberts provide an atmospheric soundtrack. There are important questions in among the flickering screens. What happens when a podcaster who asks guests what kind of sandwich they would be stumbles on a story that requires rigorous treatment by an ethical, experienced journalist? How should you navigate caring for a dying mother? All the fun stuff.
With so much backstory and plot to shoehorn in between the songs this just sits on the right side of becoming a multimedia mess.
Badgers is part of the Traverse Theatre’s Travfest 26 and performs until 30 August 2026. For further details, go to the theatre’s website.
RSS