Sydney Theatre Company, Merrigong Theatre Co and Richard Jordan Productions present the Traverse Theatre Company production of
Midsummer
(a play with songs)
By David Greig and Gordon McIntyre

It’s midsummer in Edinburgh. And, of course, it’s raining.

Helena, a divorce lawyer, and Bob, a petty criminal, were strangers until only a few hours ago. Now they stumble to Helena’s apartment where they share a drunken but surprisingly enjoyable one night stand. Then they say goodbye. After all, these two romantic failures agree that ‘love is just another word for need’.

The Berocca has yet to kick in when chance reunites the two and, through the hangover haze, they make the wildly impulsive decision to spend the 25 grand of hot cash that Bob is en route to deliver to a low-level gangster.

So begins the legendary lost weekend; a joyous 24-hour spending spree that sends Bob and Helena spinning through the soggy city. As they roam the familiar streets the unlikely pair discovers that even the most committed solitaries have the potential to change direction.

A hit at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival, this romantic comedy with songs was created for the Traverse Theatre by playwright David Greig and Gordon McIntyre of indie folk-rock group Ballboy.

With more than a dollop of Scottish toughness, Midsummer (a play with songs) is an ocean away from the shimmering Hollywood rom-coms that have skewed Helena’s ideas about love. These characters are real and watching them break the shackles of everyday life with a reckless act of rebellion is both liberating and uplifting.

Warning: contains coarse language and sexual references

1 hour 45 minutes, no interval

Drama Theatre, SOH