Note: This review is from the 2019 Fringe

Róisín and Chiara serenade us as we take our seats and momentarily fool us with this gentle entrance. A few moments later and they’re welcoming us like two drunk TV preachers on an American cable channel. What on earth are we a part of?

The search for love might sound like the simple conceit of many a comedy set at the Fringe, but Get Nupty is the most unexpected, bizarre take on this theme (made clearer by giant letters held up to us) imaginable. Together, the pair create a wacky visual tapestry of the traditional quest for love and highlight the ridiculousness of it all. It’s not quite sketch comedy but something much more abstract. We’re led through the show via eccentric personas rather than situations, and somehow, it works.

Róisín and Chiara work like a kids’ TV presenting duo. On speed. They morph from Edina and Patsy-a-likes to Made in Chelsea rich kids to cartoonish physical comics. It’s manic and dizzying, but they sell it, even reminding us of some of Smack the Pony‘s more surreal sketches. There’s also no real boundary between audience and performers. We are as much a part of the show as they are, and various members of the crowd become essential factors in scenes. Wild props are used on stage and costumes and wigs thrown on and off in a whirl. Just as we acclimatise to one scenario, the performers alter their accents and mannerisms and we’re in a new situation.

Get Nupty might not work for all audiences. There’s nothing traditional or routine about it and the success of the show relies on our willingness to let go and join the pair on the ride. But Róisín and Chiara’s commitment and force is utterly admirable, and for this particular crowd, we are swept away in a wild flurry without regret.