What Girls Are Made Of

Cora Bissett's superb production about her early career as lead singer in a band, which succeeded until it (inevitably) failed. Performed by a talented 4 piece band who played all the other parts. A superb production, well worth catching. ****

I stumbled into your show at the Assembly Rooms, invited by Clea Friend who has worked on a Gerda Stevenson production with one of your cast. I expected a run-of-the-mill fun fringe show but ended up catching the whiff of greatness.

Why? Because it has truly great theatre and music energy. Fabulous acting and music skills rolled off the stage almost informally, one after the other, like some church hall production that the angels had decided to kiss with brilliance.

I am sure your show provokes many reminiscences from many people (as it should). In my case, having lived the “slugs and snails” version of the story in its entirety, cared for a father with vascular dementia, survived bankruptcy court, felt the numbing impact of literally hundreds of wrecking-ball reviews, and having narrowly and not-so-narrowly escaped fame both as a rock musician a composer (in other words, Iiving the life you described at least twice over), it was all very close to the bone - but it was WONDERFUL!!!!

The wonderful thing is that it could not possibly happen on Broadway. It is far too good, far too much fun, and far too real. It is meant for unpretentious social gatherings, just like the Fringe (most of the time). So it is exactly where it should be. I am tempted to invite it to a beautiful island in the Adriatic, but you have to know the patter to get the jokes and appreciate the fabulous pish-takes of the jerks of the British pop world.

Even the playing of your band is tighter and more communicative than either the likely lads of Blur or the languid toffs of Radiohead when they play live. I assisted a friend on tour with Radiohead a few years ago. They all went for “a lie down” between sets! What kind of rock’n roll is that?

Among the most enjoyed shows so far. Good music, That Thing You Do with a grittier Edinburgh script. Great acting and singing.

This is a must see show. It’s powerful, inspiring, brilliantly told with excellent musicians and a true story of success, failure and rising from the ashes. Don’t miss it!

I can't think of a better show that I've seen at the Fringe after all the years I've been going. Absolutely brilliant. *****

Really enjoyable - brilliant music and writing. Funny, sad and uplifting at various points. I would highly recommend.