one4review | On 13, Aug 2022

On one of the hottest days of the year, it was a sheer joy to walk into this lovely and cool venue. To be entertained by one of Edinburgh’s favourite sons in such a comfortable space added to the pleasure. From the moment Jack Docherty walked on the stage, I knew we were in the hands of a master storyteller. He begins his story with a trauma at a birthday party which marked him out for a life of excited anticipation followed by crushing disappointment. We then move back and forth between time periods as he spins his tale of love at first sight at a gig in the Edinburgh Festival (where it always rains – heralding much laughter from the sunburnt audience!) and a subsequent night of bawdy love making followed by years of thinking ‘what if?’. With the arrival of the internet, Jack (now a husband and father) can finally find out what happened to his lost love. The fallout has a cataclysmic impact on his family and from the outset Jack hints that he has had a terrible argument with his daughter. Throughout the hour Jack compares his life to the wonderful films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset and his words paint such a picture that you feel you are sitting with him on Arthur’s Seat, looking down on Edinburgh. Jack does get a second chance with his dream girl, but I will leave you to guess the outcome. This was an often hilarious and frequently poignant piece of theatre and I left the museum with a huge smile on my face.

*****

Reviewed By Rona

Gilded Balloon At the Museum – Auditorium

8pm (1hr)