Review: A Giant on the Bridge, Fringe 2024

The Roxy is an appropriately gothic and sombre venue for A Giant of the Bridge. 

The story, the songs, and the performance poetry are about crossing the bridge home. In this case, that is a reflection on the criminal justice system and what it means to finish your sentence and then try to come home. 

A flyer handed out before the show reveals how deep this project is. A Giant on the Bridge was co-created in the four-year “Distant Voices: Coming Home” project, which involved Vox Luminus, the University of West Scotland, the University of Glasgow, and the University of Edinburgh.

If I understand the writing credits, some of the performers’ names are stage names for Doctors at the University of West of Scotland and Napier University.

Yes, A Giant on the Bridge is clever.

I’m stupid. Some time into the show, the penny dropped in my brain that a Bridge could also be a musical thing, part of the song, the change part. 

Wait. A Giant on the Bridge is also entertaining. These are good songs. There’s an excellent nobledark fairytale. 

Tone

I can’t pigeonhole the songs into a single genre here. I thought we’d be folk songs or their ilk at first, but there’s a rapper (Solareye) in the group, and we get treated to that, and there are pop elements and songs further into the rock spectrum than folk.

A favourite is a song called “Fuck it Button”. I found it pretty upbeat. I, too, hear the siren call of the Fuck it Button.

There’s also poetry, albeit very musical poetry.

There’s even, if not dance, some physical theatre. I was especially impressed at how wolf-like the wolf movement was in the fairytale and the scene of the Prince riding.

At the start of this review, I used the word “sombre” to describe the set-up. The Roxy can sometimes be a bit like the inside of a Poe-Esq House of Usher. Today, we had performers arranged in a half-ring with psychiatrist leather chairs for many of them, keyboards almost hidden by desks covered in books, albeit with a small forest of house plants to try and bring a little life.

The story is cause for mournful reflection. It’s frighteningly brutal to survive in the prison system and just as hard to leave it. It’s not only the people behind bars who serve their sentences but their dependents, too.

Sadly, the system is broken, too. Just weeks ago, it was all over the news that our jails are full and the system busted beyond measure. 

There’s a mix of song and storytelling, but I will stick with sombre for the story’s backbone. 

What to expect

Expect a good seat with a clear view, as the Roxy has comfortable, stacked seating. However, don’t expect to easily get to the loo.

The performers of A Giant on the Bridge are arranged in a ring in front of us and step forward one at a time to portray their characters. This means a song, a poem, or a spoken word solo. Between these scenes, there are group songs.

Essentially, A Giant on the Bridge is a musical performance. In fact, this tapestry includes a thread about the role of music in helping people manage their time in prison.

Expect to be made to think. I suspect A Giant on the Bridge is a bit of an emotional ride for many people, and as we dig into the fears and hopes of our characters, we unearth lots of them.

I think you might feel a bit dismayed at the state of the criminal justice system. To wit, I wish to point out Community Justice Scotland, who are not connected to A Giant on the Bridge in any way, but someone needs to introduce them. If you leave the show feeling that we’re sending too many people away from their families for the wrong reasons and to be turned into hardened criminals with no other choice than crime by the system, then take heed that CJS have a proven and better alternative.

Overall

I was pleasantly surprised by A Giant on the Bridge.  Yes, it’s early in the 2024 festival season, but SO FAR, A Giant on the Bridge is my surprise hit. 

It takes a huge amount of brain power to weave together so many story strands and complex emotions into such an easy-to-understand narrative. I’m impressed.

Recommended. Go meet A Giant on the Bridge.