one4review | On 11, Aug 2016

Sweet Child of Mine is an award winning show by Bron Batten and I am sure all being well it would have been an enjoyable performance. What we should have seen on stage is a father’s bemused attitude to his daughter’s choice of career in the arts, interspersed with her demonstrating the ‘high points’ of her career to date. Unfortunately, ill health has meant that Bron‘s father is unable to travel to Edinburgh and so Bron has had to do a quick rewrite and also recruit a selection of local men to stand in for her father. The result of this unexpected change of circumstances is awkward interactions between Bron and a stranger which are painful rather than funny. These interactions are further undermined by frequent video clips of her real father and mother (by far the most amusing sections of the show) which add to the sense of confusion that surrounds this piece. You can’t fail to be moved by the obvious love between father and daughter but her attempt to salvage her show needs some work.
**
Reviewed by Rona
Gilded Balloon 1.45pm 11-29th August (not 16th or 23rd)