Midsummer review – joyful tale of wild sex and terrible hangovers

The Hub, Edinburgh
In David Greig’s delightfully expanded revival of a fringe show from 2008, a couple look back on an eventful night long ago

A man stands with a microphone in one hand and a champagne glass in the other. He raises the glass: a toast to the happy couple.

When Midsummer debuted at the Edinburgh fringe a decade ago, it was a quiet affair. Two actors on a stage with guitars, slowly falling in love. Today, David Greig’s explosive revival pairs young Bob and Helena (Sarah Higgins and Henry Pettigrew) with older versions of themselves (Benny Young and Eileen Nicholas) to create a joyful story of love, uncertainty and stupid decisions.

We’re in Edinburgh on midsummer weekend. It’s raining. At 35, Bob and Helena both feel like failures, and, during one drunken night together, they rip the the place apart before vowing never to see each other again. As they recount the following days – featuring tambourine-playing goths and a Tesco bag containing £15,000 – the four characters share the storytelling with delight, dipping into the past, squabbling over and savouring the details.

Kate Hewitt’s direction finds pleasure in every scene – Bob and Helena’s first night of wild sex is transformed into an obstacle course – and, as they race around the theatre, sweat dripping, it all feels both homemade and excessive. Gordon McIntyre’s songs are wonderfully tipsy, too, with an effortlessly cool band supporting Higgins and Pettigrew as they lollop around in sunglasses bawling: “If my hangover was a country.”

Midsummer wears its rose-tinted glasses proudly, asking how we choose to remember our own stories. The play’s first outing in 2008, just after the financial crash, was designed to be an experience of pure joy for its audience. Ten years on, we have different reasons to need a pick-me-up. With its simple love story, a great cast and a significantly larger budget, this Midsummer is a glorious tale of making the most of it.

• At the Hub, Edinburgh, until 26 August.

Contributor

Kate Wyver

The GuardianTramp

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