Bedford School makes its debut at the Fringe with this new musical from James Lark their composer in residence. Lark wrote the 2007 Fringe First award winning Tony Blair The Musical so there were high expectations.
The musical was based on the short story by Saki, who was also known as H H Munro, a former pupil at Bedford School, so it was interesting to note that the production was directed by the school's Head Master.
The play is set in Lady Bemley's house where she is holding a house party for an eclectic group of assorted guests. Each has a secret and there are some fine performances from this cast of six formers and gap year students, although many are rather stereotypical of the upper class and their servants.
Chaos rules when it is discovered that the pet cat can actually talk and begins to tell the truth about the guests in the house with catastrophic results.
The small stage at the Gryphon limited the staging possibilities which resulted in this musical feeling more like a concert performance rather than a full-blown production.
There was excellent support from the on-stage band and the cast performed with gusto.