The Ugly Sisters should not work. It should, when discussing its contents and its general feel, come across as the Heat Magazine of theatre. However, put in the sincere and skillful hands of RashDash, a play that turns the story of Cinderella and her stepsisters into two council-estate twins being raised in a classy household and finally trying to woo the prince on a reality TV show that tests their every fibre has potential. It could have been panto, but RashDash never is. They straddle a fine line between cliché and sincerity that is the signature of their finest work, taking tropes of fiction and giving them real depth. The childhood role-play of abusive couples, the ingenious use of a loop pedal, and a fantastic movement sequence that displays both the hopelessness and unification with others that comes in complete despair, make this one of the best shows I have seen or heard about at the festival so far.
RashDash’s collaboration with the band Not Now Bernard has been less than perfect previously, it is now a faultless combination. Although the preset is an awkwardly pretentious display of musical confusion, the music within the show is superbly powerful; Cinderella’s performance is a brilliantly catchy indie rock number, and Emerald’s loop pedal song - yes, I am referring to this again, it was that good - is a sensationally powerful use of music at a difficult moment in the show.
What the two girls do best is deadpan performances and sincerity through the medium of music and dance, and here that is exactly what they present. The ugly sisters are beautifully performed, at once wonderfully severe, and yet incredibly playful. You feel everything they want you to feel for them; pity, empathy, love, hatred, its all there. Appealing to a post-Ablisa and Jade Goody age, the show proves that anybody is worthy of respect for whatever reason.
Although St Stephens is completely outside the normal festival area, the venue is beautiful enough and this show fantastic enough to deserve you to make the trek there and climb the hills all the way back home. A real return to form for the women who deserve to be as famous an institution at the Festival as the rest of the Edinburgh pantheon.
