4 Stars ****

11 is a new musical composed by Ian Hammond Brown with book by Suzanne Lofthus and is presented by Cutting Edge Theatre.

From World War one to our present day the scenes paint a picture of stories that confront war, terrorism and our nature towards life.

Ian Hammond Brown’s music is well constructed, playful and varied played by himself with Alan Gibson. It is contrasted lightly to it’s dark subject matter.

The 6 strong cast hold the piece together with the fantastic songs and skilled singing, particularly the accapella sections, which are finely harmonised, all without the mic.

Where the piece confuses is in it’s way of cutting back and forth through the choices of historical moments making it hard to follow it’s drama, however the piece is bold and not short on depth and it is encouraging to see more musicals going for this kind of concept.

Reviewed by Andrew Gourlay