EDINBURGH 2019: Review: HOTTER, Underbelly

Mary Higgins and Ell Potter interviewed women and trans people from the age of 11 to 97 about what gets them 'hot'.

Some of the accounts are about being sweaty hot, some are about feeling *wink, wink* hot, and some are simply what makes a person tick.

Their findings are presented through the audience being given a big, thick, leather-bound books involving lots of graphs...

JOKING.

If they'd have asked me what makes me hot, I might have said verbatim theatre involving pink faux fur, red stretchy PVC, and an infinite amount of human stories about what makes people feel alive.

Mary and Ell mime to audio clips from their interviewees, which are minimally, but HILARIOUSLY, edited. They dance, and they do little moments of direct address which makes you feel like you've found your two new best friends

Woven through Hotter are intensely personal autobiographical sections, which give the audience a glimpse into the two women's break-up from each other. It's a bit juicy, and very moving.

It's a show that has been painstakingly crafted. It's akin to a scrapbook: a jumble of elements, but every part coheres delightfully with the next. Mary and Ell are worthy gatekeepers of the most intimate thoughts of the people they've interviewed.

Hotter is at Underbelly until 25 August