one4review | On 04, Sep 2026

At the beginning, there is a screen announcement. Names have been changed to protect the guilty. Well almost.

Bounding onto the stage, Morton is glowing, primed and ready for action. Last year, having caught her partner cheating, she spent the aftermath dealing with the stresses, strains and baggage that come with it. Somewhere amid the uncertainty and carnage though, there’s a voice in her head saying I’ve got my new Fringe show!

The first section has a “How Did I Get Here?” vibe, where she analyses her ex-boyfriends and school relationships with scalpel precision. There are a few WTF moments, but it lays the groundwork for what’s coming up.

The analysis of millennial crushes is a delight, from the hotties of a certain film franchise to pop, goth and punk love songs, Morton knows exactly where the laughs are.

A big question running through the show is how she gets the adulting crap together. Should she pay for Tinder Gold? How do you go looking for clues and crumbs of romance? Getting back out there, meeting people again and negotiating those inevitable walks of shame are discussed with equal aplomb.

There’s also an interesting diversion into how much she thinks she can blame her parents for some of this, and it could easily have become a nepotism sideshow. Not a chance. Morton is standing firmly in her own Doc Martens, delivering the story in her own voice and avoiding the pity party and bloody heart held aloft on stage tropes.

However, it’s the excellent “Why Am I Not Angry?” section that raises the bar, where Morton lets her guard down and allows some vulnerability to creep through, where you get a glimpse of the person behind the punchlines.

Crushed is a well-executed and ultimately damn funny show, where Morton takes the shitty arse end of a relationship baton and shakes it to the naked bark. OK, the smell never disappears, but you can still pick it up and conduct your own tune with class, style and dignity.

A Scottish voice well worth discovering.
****
Reviewed by Steve H
17.00 to 18.00
Basement at The Gilded Saloon