As plays within a play go, this production certainly follows the script.

The play with music about a play with music does exactly what it says on the tin and the concept beautifully sets up a star vehicle for the original Eponine, Frances Ruffelle, to deliver a lung-busting musical performance that showcases the very best of London’s West End in Pitlochry.

The town must be pinching itself at the miraculous transformation that Alan Cumming has delivered in his debut season as Artistic Director, with a hatful of musical treats including this production, Once and the upcoming A History of Paper and Ceilidh.

I Can Die Too refers to Jean Cocteau‘s response to the death of Edith Piaf, and he didn’t waste any time in following his beloved friend to the grave; he died later that very day.  The significance of this is set out in the opening scene where dozens of telephone handsets dangle above the prone body of fading performer Lily Turner (Ruffelle’s star character). It’s a visual reference to Cocteau’s monologue La Voix Humaine.  And although this play is a six-hander, in reality it’s a Ruffelle monologue.

The writers, including Cumming, use the rehearsal of a potentially disastrous production as the vehicle for telling Turner’s tragic back story that leads to doubt, alcoholism, and despair as she seeks resolution for the loss of her baby daughter, Lily, as a 15 year-old mother.

The music is powerful. Ruffelle excels in her torch song moments and is the real reason to see this production, but the story itself and the supporting performances from gifted musicians can’t compete, even if their musicianship can.

Ideas are bursting out of this production on many levels, but less is more, and there’s a sense that throwing the kitchen sink at a studio performance is just a bit too much.

There’s a lot to admire about this brave, bold production (maybe too brave, too bold, for the theatre’s traditional constituency – if the repeated deep sighs from the lady in the back row were anything to go by) but towards the end we’re told, ‘I know it’s not Shakespeare,’ and in that respect it’s true – the musical power of the production significantly outweighs its sometimes clunky script.

It’s not every day the West End comes to anywhere outside the big city theatres, and for that reason you could do yourself a favour and pay a visit to this glorious place.

I Can Die Too is at Pitlochry Festival Theatre until Sun 2 Aug 2026