This is part of a series of shorter reviews from Edinburgh Fringe, August 2024.
Telling the story of Australia’s Great Emu War of 1932, this new musical, presented by Pearl Whirl Productions, begins by assuring the audience that this story is indeed true. Seemingly taking inspiration from other niche historical musicals such as “Operation Mincemeat”, “The Emu War” begins with local wheat farmers and WWI veterans Greg (Violet Morris) and Steve (Tom Brace-Jenkins) struggling to grow enough crops since their farm has become overrun by emus.
When emus get out of control, the obvious first step is to get in touch with the government, and that is exactly what Greg and Steve do, contacting Minister for Defence Sir George Pearce (Lotte Pearl), who in turn enlists the help of Major Meredith (Lili Mohammad). Together they hatch a plan to massacre the emus, and therefore save the crops.
It turns out the emus are basically tanks on legs, and George and Meredith fail in their initial attacks. The audience then gets the emus’ side of the story, via actors Spike Maxwell and Alyssa Thabisile Sibanda. (Yes, there are actors playing emus and they sing and the emus are sock puppets.) These songs are incredibly funny, and also surprisingly moving – and a special mention must go to Maxwell’s incredible facial expressions throughout, constantly demanding attention in every scene.
The music, composed by Lotte Pearl and Toby Little, is sensational, and sure to become a hit. The storyline is well put together, although as the show goes on, more fantastical elements come into play (yes, there is a sort-of love story between a human and an emu). The battle between humans and emus comes to a thrilling conclusion with around 15 minutes to go, and a forced love story seems to drag the final scene out slightly too much. Perhaps if the scenes had been reordered, with the love story playing out before the culmination of the war, this would have felt better paced.
Overall, this is a fantastic new musical, and one that I doubt we have heard the last of. I look forward to following the development of the show in future, as well as the work of Pearl and Little, who have created a mini-masterpiece in this bizarre and fascinating production.
Tom Morley, August 2024
“The Emu War: A New Musical” plays at Pleasance Two, Pleasance Courtyard at 12pm until 25th August.
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