Double Drop @ MultiStory

At MultiStory, the Edinburgh Fringe’s newest COVID-safe venue situated in the Castle Terrace car park with a spectacular view of Edinburgh Castle, I sat down for an unfamiliar experience. Replacing the usual arched, underground venues of the Old Town with an outdoor stage, I wondered if the intimacy of your standard Fringe performance might be lost.

I needn’t have worried – set in raves in Welsh quarries and the Eisteddfod festival of Welsh culture, Double Drop is perfectly suited to its dramatic outdoor staging. Add to this the infectious energy of its two performers, Mirain Haf Roberts and Lisa Jên Brown, and the high-energy joy and festival vibe of Double Drop spreads from the stage.

The focus of Double Drop is Esmi, a teenage girl growing up in Wales in 1995. Esmi loves nothing more than the raves at nearby Dorothea quarry, reveling in the feelings of communion and radical equality amongst the slate and bracken. She is much less enthusiastic about the upcoming Eisteddfod, an annual celebration of Welsh culture that is the highlight of her mum’s year. Esmi has won singing competitions at the Eisteddfod every year and is about to be made an honorary druid, but finds the traditionalism and competitive creativity ‘cringe’ – and the Eisteddfod holding a rave to keep up with the times only makes it worse.

It’s not until she ‘double drops’ two ecstasy pills on the dancefloor, and in her euphoric haze is visited by the spirit of modern Eisteddfod founder Iolo Morganwg, that she recognizes its collective joy and cultural importance. In a climax soundtracked by rave beats, Esmi embraces her role as a druid and her Welsh culture, with a delight that had me beaming in the audience.

Double Drop is fun, infectious, and a wonderful reminder of the joys of clubbing after a year of isolation.

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Double Drop, MultiStory (Main Stage), until 13 Aug, 4.30pm, £13