The show got off to a slow start as the doorman/techie wandered off to check something and the pre-show music (Red Army Choir) ended, leaving the cast members on stage looking a little worried. Still, once the show started there was barely a room for breath as the cast had an amazing amount of dialogue in the show.
The story is set in the 1950’s at the height of the cold war. Two Russian agents are going to plant a bomb on the Lodon to Glasgow train, a pair of rival scientists are competing to try and stop them. Well I say scientists, but they are really philologists for some reason. One of the scientists has a devoted secretary following him and his sister was seduced by the other resulting in a child who was being cared for by a nanny who turns out to be a robot scouting out the planet for an impending alien invasion (to make us all slaves or dinner). Got all that? Good, so I won’t mention that both the Russian spies also have a connection to the ‘good’ scientist as this will only confuse things further.
So everyone is on the train together. The stage is set. Will the bomb go off (and will your heart hold out when it does), can love conquer Russian (Albanian/Ukrainian) bullets? Will the cast die of asphyxiation from the amount of dialogue and just how do they remember it all? Is it just me or is this the sexiest alien robot killing machine at the festival? And just what is this unhealthy obsession with household appliances? To answer all these questions as well as having a good laugh at some of the death scenes, I thoroughly recommend seeing this show.
Visit the Fringe website for bookings details.