Deliberately ramshackle and cleverly homespun, Fledgling Theatre Company has created a Fringe piece which is both humorous and poignant.
Brother Tobias and Brother Alexander have started a commune—well, not recently, twelve years ago to be precise—and they've been waiting for someone to join them ever since. Wearing (creased) cream linen and accompanied by cheeky Bennie (Edoardo Elia) on guitar, they present their story about Humbletown and how Brother Pablo changed their lives.
The energy between Tobias and Alexander (Christopher Neels and Patrick Holt) is infectious as the couple convey their carefully rehearsed tale through duologues, heartfelt contemporary dance and the occasional squabble.
The arrival of the fabled brother Pablo is brilliantly funny and Callum Cameron (playwright) provides a great bemused contrast to the earnest founders. As he gently questions their very existence, the pair feel the need to justify their lack of strategic direction for the commune in a conversation reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch.
It is not all fun and games at the commune though and the twists in the tale are handled simply but effectively adding an almost unexpected depth to the piece. The impact of bullying on these three grown men is ultimately disastrous and the fact that they could offend whilst going out of their way to be inoffensive is sadly reflective of society at large.
Radiating warmth and with a very tight script, They Built It. No One Came is a style of storytelling that sits perfectly within its 1-hour time slot and also features an unusually comedic stage exit that fully deserved its spontaneous round of applause.