Review: Our Martin in the Background, Fringe 2026

Mark Kydd’s Our Martin In The Background expertly weaves the story of a love and loss that exists in whispers and winks rather than shouts from mountaintops. With notes tucked into books and meaning-laden pleasantries, our Martin and his Hugh cobble together as much happiness as they dare allow themselves, while working as background artists on the set of Brief Encounter. And bringing this all to us with nothing apart from an armchair and a small side table with drink to hydrate, Mark Kydd provides a spellbinding hour of masterful storytelling.

Arriving at Carnforth

Upstairs at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, a space to which this particular work returns in a new stage of its development, pipe and drape block out the outside world and allow all focus to be given to the modest platform where, appropriately to the venue’s purpose, this story is told. Lighting is extremely effectively used in this show, as multiple colors and angles allow us to understand time, place, perspective, and emotion.

Mark Kydd does not have exhaustive propping nor costume changes, but in crafting the story and the performance as he has, there is absolutely no need for them.

To me, this is the kind of storytelling I remember hearing from a young age whether it was delivered by a relative, a teacher, or a friend, that feels as though it has fallen by the wayside, and that I desperately wish would come back to us more prevalently. All consuming, abundantly detailed, and with real emotional and plot depth.

Further along the line

As the piece progresses, and the excitement of the connection begins to face real world hurdles, our characters drift away from each other, left to wonder if this chance meeting may ever be revisited. And in the time shared as well as apart, our Martin runs the gauntlet of the queer male experience in 1940s England.

This story explores, at its core, the lives we want for ourselves, the lives we make for ourselves, and if those two things can ever fully be aligned. And, if they can’t, how we move forward toward dreams revised on a road paved in sacrifice.

While these concepts are indeed quite universal, seeing them played out through an intentionally queer historical lens offers additional impact and magic to the story that is inextricable from it and all the stronger for it. There are certainly no shortage of historical fictions from this time period that revolve around the love between two gay men, but rarely are those stories permitted to exist in such subtlety as is the case here, allowing the tempest to truly be in a teacup rather than raging all around. And it is all the more devastating for it.

Overall

If you love a good story, want to be swept away into a vivid and heartfelt romance, and have a healthy understanding of Lancashire culture(not essential, but definitely helpful), this is absolutely a performance not to be missed. I enjoyed every aspect of Our Martin In The Background, and look forward to seeing where and how this work may grow next.