Pot Noodle - The Musical

Assembly @ George Street    31 July - 10 August, 12-17, 19-25 @ 22.30    Mother Vision

There is a tradition in Fringe-goers to find a show of such lunacy that you couldn’t possibly be anywhere but the Fringe – Pot Noodle - The Musical fits the bill.

Parallel stories – one of a reluctant bridegroom and his mate; the other set in the idyllic Pot Noodle Farm – are played before a golden noodle fringe curtain with a relish owing a great deal to pantomime tradition.

The songs are catchy, accompanied by an onstage keyboard player who actually relates to the action! A few tongue-in-cheek references to musical theatre greats like Phantom, Cats and Riverdance pepper the eclectic score.

The plot is fantastically ridiculous, sweeping from soap opera to Hamlet with the punch of a 60 second commercial, carrying the audience along with sheer exuberance. Direction is slick, spontaneity abounds, but this show needs to make a few more choices about what it wants to be – or is it like the Pot Noodles on the farm – full of monosodium glutamate rather than real ingredients?

The cast of five are undoubtedly talented, but maybe Pot Noodle is more potential than realisation.  A fake snack rather than a nourishing meal – but sometimes just what you want to tuck into late at night.