Wild Onion @ Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

At the start of the show, the audience are warned that the front-row seats are in the 'onion splash zone' – and this is a threat which should not be taken lightly. Orange Skies Theatre's production Wild Onion throws many things at you: themes of grief, friendship, growing up... and a seemingly endless supply of onions. 

The onion metaphor which flavours the piece is, appropriately, layered. A group of high school friends try to come to terms with the death of a classmate, as we are guided, cabaret-style, through the trio's shared grief in the run-up to the school's memorial service. The onions are an open-ended symbol, and they feature in some thoughtful sequences; at other times, however, it seems like it's just finding something to do with the onions, since, you know, there's hundreds of them.

The performers have palpable chemistry as a group, and make their story of friendship not just believable, but incredibly sincere. They each get their shining moments too – passionate lip-syncs, impressive leek-smashing, and a beautiful routine on a Cyr wheel.

However, the production runs into issues when it tries to become too many things. It flips through stand-up audience interaction, Fleabag-esque introspectives, circus, farce, and dance without ever quite developing any of these elements enough to gel properly with one another. The show's secondary, and ultimately less compelling, plotline is a great opportunity for audience particiaption, but when major plot points are being delivered by a random member of the audience, these seemingly pivotal lines are prone to getting lost in the shtick.

Although a bit too roughly chopped, Wild Onion is still a fun, fairly earnest tale of friendship. And, despite its shortcomings, we still leave content with what it could deliver… and with some smashed onion in our tote bag.

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Wild Onion, Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose (Doonstairs), until 27 Aug (not 14 or 21), 3pm, £12-13