Handy on The Keys

Every few weeks, I get a rush of over-excitement when I start thinking about the boundaries of performance. Eventually, performance will become the dominant art, leading to other, minor genres, like TV or film, begging to be let into minor productions at make-shift theatre spaces.

Evidence that performance is, actually, more important than classical music arrives with 2 Pianos 4 Hands, a comedy at Edinburgh's King's Theatre. It seems, at first, an odd collaboration: there's a script, there is a musical comedy duo and there is a pair of concert pianos. Katzenjammer - Kevin Farrell and Steven Worbey - tinkle up a storm on the ivories, as well as playing multiple roles- to describe the musical dreams, and failures of two young boys.

Despite the cheerful premise - the road to success as a classical pianist - the show promises plenty of agony, family expectations and strange educational processes. Its tag line - "a universal story that will touch the heart of anyone who has ever dreamed of doing one thing and ended up doing something else" is one that resonates with me, as I try to remember that I started out writing a novel before becoming a theatre critic with delusions of self-importance.

Musical comedy is often seen as "light entertainment": Katzenjammer are able to switch between rock'n'roll and Beethoven with ease, yet the production has a tragic at its heart. The gap between great and good might be small, but it is all important.