{"id":767043,"date":"2026-02-15T23:11:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/767043\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T23:11:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:11:40","slug":"review-of-unloveable-a-work-in-progress-performance-traverse-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/767043\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of [UN]LOVEABLE: A work in progress performance @ Traverse Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Birdy made it down to the Traverse Theatre once again, this time to partake in not one, not two\u2026 but FIVE work-in-progress performances from the Not So Nice! Theatre Company. Its name? [UN]LOVEABLE. <\/strong> <\/p>\n

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I was really hyped for [UN]LOVEABLE, a pre-Valentine\u2019s Day show taking place on Friday 13th \u2013 because, why not?! With bizarre breakups, absurd affairs and eccentric entanglements, the show invites us to \u201cdelve into the other side of love: being \u2018unloveable\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

I took my seat in the Traverse 2, and got settled in for what was sure to be an entertaining night. <\/p>\n

Clown Divorce by Russ Russell<\/strong><\/p>\n

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We kicked off with Chris Veteri <\/strong>on stage as a clown character attempting to push an extremely heavy suitcase, before giving a very energetic monologue about his failed marriage with a fellow clown. She even took his clown shoes and his red nose! (Granted, he has red face paint for his lips, but hey ho, you don\u2019t necessarily think straight when you\u2019re going through trauma). <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bitter but entertaining rampage of emotions as we get to hear about what went wrong in this doomed relationship. A great start to the night. <\/p>\n

Wish Me Luck by Melissa Ainsworth<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Next up is Wish Me Luck, and we\u2019re presented with Cassie, played by Hannah-Mae Engstrom<\/strong>, looking a tad distressed of an evening by a bus stop in the dark. We soon find out why, when a confused stranger called Tony (Jamie Cowan<\/strong>) stops her from throwing herself in front of oncoming traffic to \u201cmaim or seriously injure\u201d herself. Her reasoning? Getting hit by a car might bring her ex back to her.<\/p>\n

This performance feels reminiscent of some of the strange coping methods we all delve into when a breakup occurs \u2013 although, throwing yourself in front of a car is definitely on the extreme end! Tony is the voice of reason, but has his own hurt to work through. It\u2019s an anti-Valentine\u2019s Day meet cute between these two hurting strangers, and could be just what they both need.<\/p>\n

Tit For Tat by Ryan Lithgow<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Tit for Tat takes place in the (I\u2019m assuming unisex) toilets of an awards show, where two playwrights, Nathan (Chris Veteri<\/strong>) and Darcey (Stan Ross<\/strong>) go at it over their failed relationship\u2026 despite their breakup having occurred four years ago, it\u2019s still raw and rubbing the spot only makes it rawer as the two confront each other over their weaponised art. <\/p>\n

Thankfully, their friend Ellie (Samuela Noumtchuet<\/strong>), who\u2019s sick of being in the middle of this fight, finally comes in to tell it like it is. It\u2019s a very welcome break in the vitriol (as an audience member, it was getting a bit much) and we hear the perspective of someone who knows how badly they\u2019re both hurting, and can make them realise it, too. Will they ever get through this? It\u2019s an emotional slow-burn performance that kind of sneaks up on you. <\/p>\n

La Solitude by Emma McCaffrey<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The standout of the night for me was La Solitude by Emma McCaffrey<\/strong>. This solo powerhouse of a performance won me over pretty much immediately, starting when Lee is eight years old in the doctor\u2019s office, and diagnosed with autism. At the time she\u2019s happy, and doesn\u2019t realise exactly what\u2019s going on \u2013 but the toll it takes on her life soon becomes apparent as we follow Lee in different stages of her life. <\/p>\n

We feel the pain of Lee\u2019s struggles with the way people treat her both at school, and at home. Her parents love her, but assume she doesn\u2019t want to find love elsewhere. Lee wants to be able to get a job, meet people who want to get to know her, and maybe even find love one day \u2013 but there are so many walls stopping her. It\u2019s a poignant comment on the reality of loneliness for so many of those with learning disabilities. <\/p>\n

Defective by Grace Ava Baker<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Set in a dystopian future, Defective is about what might happen if we work out how to detect from birth the people who will grow up to be serial killers, rapists, terrorists, genocidal maniacs, et al. The ones who\u2019ll cause harm to society. The solution? Euthanise the baby upon detecting the defective, for the good of humanity tomorrow. <\/p>\n

One mother, Abigail (Indigo Buchanan<\/strong>) finds herself in the situation where her baby is deemed \u2018defective\u2019 by an assessor (Eleanor Tate<\/strong>) and has to make a quick decision on how to handle this emotional and profound situation. I\u2019m not sure anyone in the mother\u2019s shoes would have done any differently, which brings up some questions (such as nature vs nurture). I really enjoyed this one \u2013 what a great performance to end on! <\/p>\n

Overall<\/p>\n

I very much enjoyed [UN]LOVEABLE, which served as a pre-Valentine\u2019s Day Anti-Valentine show! It wasn\u2019t in the slightest bit romantic, but there\u2019s still love in each and every one of these stories, which is what makes them so powerful to watch. I had a fantoosh time.<\/p>\n

Explore More On Edinburgh Reviews<\/p>\n

Searching for related content…<\/p>\n

[UN]LOVEABLE: A work in progress performance<\/p>\n

Bronwen Winter Phoenix<\/p>\n

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Summary<\/p>\n

A fabulous set of five work-in-progress performances from the Not So Nice Theatre Company. If you get a chance to see it, I highly recommend! <\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birdy made it down to the Traverse Theatre once again, this time to partake in not one, not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":767044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,16,7498,15],"class_list":["post-767043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edinburgh","tag-britain","tag-edinburgh","tag-great-britain","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-un","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116077179116026621","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}