Cosmic horror and its louche cousin, creepypasta, are both genres that work with minimal set-up and work well in low-budget environments. The former is because creeping madness requires no props to perform, and the latter is because it’s a subversion of the comfortable and familiar. As such, a combination of the two sounds like an ideal show for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
4 girls the first letter e is a creepy tale of four teenage girls who become obsessed with a video game, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. The narrative is such that we are never entirely sure if this is a story about a supernatural incursion of some sort of cosmic The King In Yellow-style entity or just a shared psychosis. This blurred space is used cleverly to make the story very creepy.
Unfortunately, the ambiguity means that certain story choices should have been avoided. The narrative goes down a particularly dark path at one point, and this feels like it’s only really done for the shock value. Worse still, the implied supernatural effect alters the impact of abhorrent and unforgivable actions by key characters. This is jarring and pointless. It’s an attempt to make a fairly odd story all the more disturbing, but all it does is present upsetting subject matter in a way that weakens the story. Less really would have been more.
The performances are solid. Adults playing children is always a challenge, and though the show drifts a little bit into the overdramatic on occasion, this suits the ‘going insane’ vibe of the story. The script itself unravels in key places, with characters delivering clunky dialogue to tell the audience exactly how clever the story is. Ironically, this makes the piece feel under-edited and lacks rigour.
This is a bold attempt to emulate much better horror stories. It lacks the heart-pounding sorrow of Picnic At Hanging Rock or the steady meta-narrative of Slay The Princess. It’s closer to 80’s Tom Hank’s vehicle Mazes and Monsters in the sense that it seems to fundamentally miss the opportunity to explore its potential. This is a work full of interesting ideas, but ones that horror STARBURST readers are all too familiar with. It comes close to being something remarkable but never quite makes it, alas.
4 girls the first letter e is a solid example of why shows should come to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; there’s an interesting story underneath the messy direction and underdeveloped script, if you’re willing to go looking for it, and we will follow the show’s creators with interest in future.
