Like it or not, Twilight continues to be a cultural juggernaut, though as its fans get older, there’s a tendency to take this epic supernatural love story a lot less seriously. At last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Dusk: A Bite-Size Love Story presented an abridged parody of the series to rave reviews and much applause from the Twilight fanbase. This year, the folk behind that show, Wishbone Media, decided to do something a little bit different.
Dusk: A Bite-Size Celebration is essentially a comedy revue/sketch show that changes things up every night and rips into the Twilight stories with fangs bared and a smile on its (blood red) lips. It’s a very knowing, very in-joke sort of show, and they cover much more than the original musical ever did.
They are many, many gags. When we saw the show for review, the main ‘host’ was meant to be a parody of the vampire hybrid character from the book called Renesmee. Except that the character’s ridiculous name is unique to the novels, so for legal reasons, they called the character anything but that. This was a genuinely funny, silly gag that is really only funny if you’re familiar with Twilight.
The cast combines pre-recorded skits with on-stage musical numbers. There is a lot to laugh at when it comes to the world of sparkly vampires, and Dusk: A Bite-Size Celebration does this in a way that comes from fondness and nostalgia. A lot of the comedy is situational – both love stories and supernatural tales rely on characters acting irrationally and foolishly, and this is even more obvious with the Twilight series. This means that the Wishbone team is spoiled for choice when it comes to things to mock.
In a way, this show feels like a very specific variant of the Starkid series: absurdist humour, amateur trappings, professional performers, and a very specific sort of geek humour. Those unfamiliar with Twilight will be amused, but it’s a lot funnier if you know the source material. This is a show with its own fanbase and its own following; if you’re familiar with Dusk via social media then you should seek out this show.
Find out more about Dusk here.
