EDINBURGH 2023: Review: FOUR FELONS AND A FUNERAL, Pleasance Courtyard

Content warning: brief mention of misgendering and transphobia/gender identity-discrimination.

Four Felons and a Funeral, a production by GOYA Theatre, manages to pack a lot into an hour. Like the central plot of the musical – the stealing of a friend’s ashes and subsequent cross-country race to find a suitable final resting place – the performance is equal parts ridiculous fun and raw emotion. Yet the cast and crew have managed to keep this balanced, and it never feels like the humour and over-the-top fun is competing for space with the emotional aspects. As Four Felons and a Funeral is very much character-driven, the way the characters oscillate between a sense of purpose and freedom on their adventure and their grief feels realistic.

The characters (and cast) play off against each other well. Each personality is big, and they complement each other as contrasting energies, but these differences also present a believable tension when they clash. Four Felons…speaks to chosen family as the four friends (or rather, felons) briefly manage to flee the rest of the world together, collectively outrunning the disapproving parent figure.

There’s a strong coming-of-age feel to the musical, each of the four central characters trying to escape the conformity and monotony of society in search of something bigger, more meaningful. It’s a desire to give their friend and brother a proper goodbye that lights the spark.

The performances of the cast – both in terms of acting and vocal performances ­­– are unwaveringly excellent, each of them embodying the characters they’re playing perfectly. Each song lands exactly as intended, whether it’s comic relief or bringing the emotion of the characters and their relationships to the forefront, with some truly stunning vocals on display by each of the performers.

The musical also touches on current issues in the queer community such as lateral discrimination, specifically that of transphobia and gender identity. The way newcomer to the group Saz (Rua Barron) and Wilf (Jordan Broatch) interact shows how unintentional harm is still harmful, and that it often hurts that much more when coming from someone within the same social margins. Broatch’s portrayal of Wilf is that of a free-spirit, sensitive yet eternally optimistic, and to see that falter for the first time when they’re misgendered and asked to explain gender to Saz (who can’t seem to get it right) hits hard. Wilf makes the point that they aren’t an expert on gender and shouldn’t be expected to be; they are who they are and they’re not a vehicle for someone else’s education or a talking point to argue about. Broatch plays this character to perfection, their performance making Wilf a truly endearing and lovable character (even if they can’t stop live-streaming their crime spree).

Yet, contrastingly, the musical also highlights Saz’s frustration at herself as she can’t get it right and makes it clear this isn’t intentional. Her demands of Wilf to teach her about gender identity are unfair but they come from a genuine place of wanting to understand to do better.

GOYA theatre state that their work is “full of contradictions” and this is exampled by this sub-plot. It makes the point that although harm is still harm regardless of intention, accidental ignorance is different from active discrimination and sometimes people need to be given the grace and space to learn. People can do better if given the chance.

Simultaneously, it examines the contextual nature of social privilege – within society, Saz as a queer woman holds less privilege than straight men, yet in queer spaces she can easily exert her cis white privilege without being aware of it. It’s an interesting analysis that never comes across preachy, only ever as explicit or as subtle as it needs to be to make its point within the over-arching plot.

The subplot between Millie (Gabrielle Friedman) and Bex (Maddy Maguire) is also deeply emotional, as they reconnect after their break-up years previously to mourn the loss of their best friend and brother, respectively. Maguire’s performance of Bex is fantastic, her “too tough to cry” mentality paving the way for a moving character arc, and Friedman as Gabrielle is the true driving force (sometimes literally) behind the gang and their journey, a mask of coolness hiding the vulnerability.

Four Felons and a Funeral is a wonderful representation of found family, queer love and joy, whilst also exploring grief and marginalisation. A powerful and fun production that delivers in every aspect.

Four Felons and a Funeral is playing Aug 21-22, 24-27 at Pleasance Courtyard.

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