Theatre review: Cherry

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: This fresh and funny show about losing your virginity should shame many professional productions on the Fringe.

the Space @ Venue 45 (Venue 45)

***

Performed by Loose Cannon, a newly formed company made up of students from a variety of disciplines at Bristol University, it’s a remarkably fluid collage made up from 300 recorded interviews and anonymous written submissions (the audience is invited to submit their own after the show).

Six talented young performers (four women and two men – a pretty accurate gender split when it comes to talking about emotions there) recite a variety of frank, funny or embarrassed testimonies, mime to the audio of actual interviews, perform a stand-up comedy routine about “losin’ it” and, in one extremely funny moment, the dialogue track to 50 Shades of Grey’s “contract” scene. It could so easily be an unwieldy mess but the supremely confident staging keeps proceedings (and the cast) constantly moving without misstep. Although front-loaded with humour to break down the taboos and embarrassment there’s also a serious side to the show as demonstrated in a substantial dramatic monologue towards the end about a young Christian girl’s first time with an emotional manipulative older boy which is sensitively performed and rather heartbreaking.

Until 26 August. Today 11:25pm.