Musicals & Opera review: Buried: A New Musical

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: There's a curious rhythm to this new musical by Tom Williams and Cordelia O'Driscoll about young serial killers in love: when it sings it soars, but the scripted scenes frequently sputter.

C too (Venue 4)

***

Rose (Lindsay Manion) meets Harry (Sebastian Belli) on a blind date and invites him back to her flat with the sole intention of killing him. Unbeknownst to Rose, Harry has exactly the same impulse and faced, for the first time, with “another me” romance blossoms.

It’s an interesting conceit and the songs are surprisingly catchy and excellently sung (Manion particularly is a real find). However, the cast have been chosen for their singing voices rather than their acting talent and – good as they are – they can’t quite sell the rather awkward comedy scenes that are meant to advance the plot but actually halt the momentum the music provides. Understandably, it’s very hard to care about the final fate of Harry and Rose as they go on a road-trip killing spree (Bonnie and Clyde they’re not) and the change of tone towards the end when the script has a stab at serious drama is jarring. The music and songs give this the bones of a very good show but the script needs a scalpel taken to it.

Until 28 August. Tomorrow 2:45pm.