Theatre review: Fake News, Assembly George Square Studios, Edinburgh
Fringe first-timer and sometime television producer Osman Baig hits all the right thematic notes in his fictional – but somehow believable – portrait of a young newshound who battles against colleagues who are out of touch either through privilege or vacuity, and a management who demand a story be souped-up to serve "the three Fs… facts, finesse and finance".
Fake News, Assembly George Square Studios, Edinburgh * *
Baig’s impassioned assessment of news media as being largely filled with flawed people whose intentions range from the noble to the malign is spot on, yet the actual dramatic meat of his story - as his young protagonist accidentally strikes it big by publishing a bald conspiracy theory - is the show’s weakest element, with character progression which doesn’t ring as true as it feels cooked up to prod the plot along.
Until 26 August