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Agent Red's AUDITION

 
Victor Black Review by Victor Black 1 Published: 20 Aug 2025 The Speakeasy at The Royal Scots Club Show Dates: 5 Aug 2025-24 Aug 2025

Reviewers never set out to tear a show apart, we want to be entertained. But our job is to give an audience a realistic expectation of whether a show is worth their money and time, and sadly, on occasion, we will stumble across a show somewhat lacking in artistic merit. Enter Ruth Rosie.

Lacks Tommy Wiseau’s magical touch to make a disaster into a cult smash

Ruth opens Agent Red’s AUDITION with an overview of what awaits us: one audience member will be interviewed in front of a green screen and then superimposed into a video of a completely different scene. Ruth proves not to be a natural performer as she nervously ambles her way through an unscripted introduction, sharing how she was a Fringe-goer who had an idea so exciting that she dedicated herself to writing and learning the complex tech requirements to make it a reality.

To her credit, the idea is promising, and in the hands of a charismatic performer with a team of experts supporting her, she may well prove to be an able producer. But as it transpires, this is the closest Fringe show I’ve ever seen to being The Room, except our auteur lacks Tommy Wiseau’s magical touch to make a disaster into a cult smash.

Nearly everything that could go wrong here goes wrong, and yet it appeared to run smoothly for her. My friend was selected to be the ‘candidate’ and was briefed in private while the audience was ignored, when there was no reason to exclude us – the first of many extended periods of dead air. She was then involved in a prerecorded video interview with an actor, where she was presented the opportunity to give generic scripted responses to questions about whether she would make a suitable secret agent.

We were then subjected to a video lasting over ten minutes of Ruth explaining in excruciating detail the challenges she faced along the way – how she learned coding, issues with the tech, and the plethora of curveballs that every Fringe show faces but usually has the grace to conceal from audiences in favour of putting their best face forward. Were this script a Facebook post for the select audience of her friends and family, it would be TL;DR a mere 5% in, but being subjected to her joyless ordeal became one in its own right for the audience. And so, when the video ended and she continued with live updates of issues since the video was shot, this just added insult to injury.

Finally, we made it to the headline event where we could assess whether the ends justified the means as we watched the eight-minute video into which the auditionee was inserted. We were warned in advance that she would appear ‘ghostly’, but she was basically transparent, sitting awkwardly on the end of a table while prerecorded actors played out a meaningless scene around her, with a handful of lines randomly interjected by our spectral addition. It was only after we left that my friend pointed out that it wasn’t even her featured in this screening.

Agent Red’s AUDITION is a strong idea, bringing modern concepts and tech to the festival at the beginning of the AI and accessible high-production tech revolution. Sadly, though, the premise fell into a woefully underqualified pair of hands. Here’s hoping future iterations can drag it closer to its potential.

Amir Nisi

Victor Black

Victor Black has been performing magic since childhood, and enjoys working on cruise ships and in light entertainment platforms across the country. He has worked as a cabaret producer, comedian and entertainment consultant, as well as being in the audience for hundreds of Edinburgh Fringe shows.

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The Blurb:

Want to be a film star? Come watch a live audition, or will you brave the stage and try it yourself? There might be a twist though... Exactly how much is captured during a short audition? During the show, the CANDIDATE is invited on stage for an audition. Will they follow the prompts or go their own way? Every show is different! Later, you'll be able to see how they got on. Disabled-led, accessible, interactive theatre. To sit the audition, you need a CANDIDATE ticket. agentredarts.com
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