‘How do you describe that to someone,’ a man in the row behind me says to his companion as the crowd begins to filter out of Summerhall following today’s performance of Todd Almond’s new musical I’m Almost There, performed by Almond with Erin Hill on harp and Luke McCrosson on bass.
The involvement of Audible as a producer perhaps gives a clue to the reason for the musical’s format and suggests a life beyond Edinburgh Fringe for Almond’s intriguing work. Certainly, its staging suggests that Audible’s platform is an appropriate place for it, coming across as more of a live recording than a fully staged performance.
This is essentially an interior monologue in musical form. There is minimal action, bar a couple of moments of dramatisation of the events Almond is recounting to us from the moment he finds himself coaxed into joining a friend at a party he doesn’t want to go to. At the party he meets Guy – they hit it off and abandon the party for a walk around New York.
Following a slightly embarrassing end to their evening outside Almond’s apartment, Guy shows up with coffees the next morning but Almond finds getting out of his apartment and down the stairs to let Guy in surprisingly challenging. Inspired by Homer, Almond has his character face an Odyssey as he attempts to descend the few floors to where Guy patiently waits.
It’s a bizarre journey that repeatedly hits you with diabolus ex machinas – his simple journey is blocked by incredible plot twists that feature reincarnated family members as cats and a real-life vampire. It’s something of a fever dream in which these surreal circumstances are greeted as entirely normal by Almond – and it’s his deadpan delivery as he considers these problems that makes it all work.
There is a drive to the music too that brings you along as it ebbs and flows with the plot, though the musical’s biggest problem for some might be that the compositions don’t quite stick with you. Maybe that’s because the show doesn’t exactly have individual songs in the traditional sense. It is more like one long piece that acts as a soundtrack to this adventure. On that basis, it’s a musical that will likely improve through repeated listens – which, with Audible involved, seems like something we’ll all be able to do soon enough.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (Very good)
I’m Almost There is at Summerhall, Edinburgh until 26 August
