Content Warning: this review discusses a show with adult content and themes
Hole! has the most gloriously bonkers premise. It’s a musical about a conservative Christian sect in Nebraska, and what happens when they survive an apocalyptic event.
The background is that Garth, a church minister, has had a vision from God. And God has told Garth that he and his congregation must all start to wear butt plugs, to avoid ‘the Great Sucking’.
Immediately convinced, Garth orders eight thousand wooden butt plugs on Amazon, for overnight delivery. By the time they arrive, Garth’s wife has left, leaving him the sole parent for their son, Luke.
Mostly sceptical, the majority of the congregation walks out, but 80 faithful remain. And they remain plugged up for the next two years, as absolutely nothing happens.
And then, one day, the wind rises, and everyone on earth who wasn’t wearing a butt plug, or ‘doing butt stuff’ gets sucked up into the sky, backsides first. The Great Sucking has occurred!
Garth doubles down on his fanaticism, and begins to heavily impose a christo-fascist, hetero-normative, highly proscribed lifestyle for his devotees.
And then we move forward another seven years, as we follow Luke, and his best friend Connor, as they enter adult-hood, and begin to question everything they’ve been told. They’re also wondering if they perhaps like each other, in a romantic way.
Cast out into the Nebraska plains, Luke and Connor first encounter Gary, who is the sole occupant of the city he lives in. He shows them how he has survived, but, over-hearing Connor’s excitable plans to ‘un-plug’ him, casts the boys out, sending them towards their intended destination of Cincinnati.
Arriving there, they encounter the ‘Cincinnati Daddies’, who are not the dangerous sinners they have been told to expect. Rather, this group of gay men have organised themselves, elected a leader, worked out how to deal with the need to be plugged to stay earth-bound, and developed a community.
At the end, there’s a twist, which we won’t spoil. It is, however, very narratively satisfying.
This is a show about the dangers of toxic masculinity. About how blindly believing what may be initially good advice, can turn out to be a terrible idea. It’s about how, however much you try, you can’t stop someone from being who they truly are.
What writers and performers Jake Brasch and Nadja Leonhard-Hooper have achieved here is staggering. Playing one keyboard, and live mixing a huge number of sound effects, Brasch and Leonhard-Hooper create the world of the Nebraska cult, and the journey to Cincinnati vividly.
The songs are catchy, covering a range of styles. There’s an air of early productions of Operation Mincemeat here, as the duo sing, play, and multi-role, presumably as much due to budgetary constraints as for artistic reasons.
Presented concert-style, Brasch and Leonhard-Hooper have leaned into the budgetary constraints, decorating their keyboard stand and SFX table with glittery hula hoops that convey an alien aesthetic.
From the pre-show information, it’s unclear whether there is any intention to develop this show further. Is there scope for adding more performers, and an actual band or SFX track? Or is the beauty in the size that it is now?
This is a great show. The story makes coherent, narrative sense – even if the plot is outrageous. There is foreshadowing that pays off, at least one moment of which I did not see coming.
Brasch and Leonhard-Hooper play the entire confection totally straight, despite the increasing amount of chaos going on around them. It’s a great display of stagecraft, and the amount of care and thought which has gone into crafting this production is obvious.
Given the title, premise and overall content of the show, this is not for younger teenagers or children. The age guidance provided by the show makers is that it is suitable for ages 16+, and we think that is reasonable.
This show may have a ridiculous idea. It may be deliberately provocative. But, at its heart, it is about love – of many different kinds. It’s about trusting yourself, even when you’re being told not to. It’s also about holes – not just that one, but all our others – the ones we use to see, hear, speak and listen – and how we have to use all of them to become whole people.
Hole! continues at 20:20 in Belly Button at Underbelly Cowgate, daily until August 24 (not 11)
All images, including Featured Image courtesy of Michelle Mangan PR