A review of Mothman: A Romance Musical, Fringe 2026

I didn’t know what to expect when going into Mothman: A Romance Musical, but I was delighted by its silliness and charm. Written by Alex Franklin and Nikola McMurtrie, who also star in the show along with Alex Prescot and Hudson Hughes, it’s an impressive DIY production for a cast of just four.

Vibe

The vibe is surreal musical sci-fi comedy with subtle notes of The Mighty Boosh about it, including a host of unusual characters that are achieved by quick changes and inventive switcheroos. You might think that with what I’ve said so far, this show might only be so-so, but it’s also an accomplished musical production, with some great tunes, my favourite being Monster in the Dark (official name unknown).

The show itself

Mothman: A Romance Musical begins with an origin sequence dating back to 1943 Wisconsin, at a time where America was fighting against the Nazis and a secret super-soldier experiment goes wrong and creates an accidental moth… person… man??!

We’re then introduced to characters in search of the mysterious Mothman – including Professor Dumbleshaft who seems to have gone missing and is relying on drinking his own urine. We meet three friends; Anna 5678 who thinks she has a boyfriend and has an anxious attachment style, misunderstood Kevin who really just wants to focus on shadow puppetry, and Natalie who’s… a great listener.

The character of Franklin’s Anna is the one constant in the show (with her ‘non-descript regional accent’), however for me McMurtrie’s Mothman was the main attraction. I very much enjoyed how the pair interacted with each other for the romance part of the musical, and there are definitely some great payoffs between the two where you find yourself rooting for an unusual love.

As for the music, I particularly enjoyed the performance of Monster in the Dark and I’m Just Kevin, the latter being utterly inspired. And I mean that quite literally, as it’s a particularly well-done parody of I’m Just Ken by Ryan Gosling. With the dance moves to go with it! Loved this so much, and a really fun effort.

The final song where the cast began to sing John Denver’s Country Road along to a video of their email request to get permission to sing Country Road, that permission being denied, and the lyrics changing to a similar West Virginia sentiment, also got plenty of laughs.

Because it’s still very early in the run, there was the occasional slip-up and character break where the stars couldn’t quite hold in their laughter – but that’s okay; we were all laughing along with them.

Overall

Mothman: A Romance Musical is an ambitious, ingeniously fun show with a great performance by all involved. The four cast members make it work by pulling off quick costume changes and smart switches (I particularly liked when Mothman ‘catches’ their wooden cup from Mole, earning an ‘oooh’ from the audience). Really cleverly written and Franklin and McMurtie are a delight to watch together.