EDINBURGH 2023: Review: FRIEND (THE ONE WITH GUNTHER), Gilded Balloon At The Museum

There are so many predictably phrased ways I could tell you how much I enjoyed Friend (the One with Gunther). Oh. My. God. Could it be any more satisfying? Out of five stars, it should be seven… seven… SEVEN... It’s just kick-you-in-the-crotch, spit-on-your-neck fantastic. (Will I promise my own references will end there? I wish I could – but I don’t want to. I just pivot back to them naturally.)

Just in case you haven’t guessed, I’m a big fan of the original show – but that doesn’t make my response to The One with Gunther a moo point. I’m fiercely overprotective of the TV and movies that shaped me, and I approached this adaptation with real trepidation. 

In this production, writer Brendan Murphy and performer Joseph Maudsley condense all ten seasons of Friends from 5,200 minutes to just 70 – and it’s exactly what I hoped it’d be. From Gunther’s perspective, we relive all of the key (and some of the more niche) moments from the series, along with a healthy dose of wider ’90s nostalgia and a sprinkling of eager audience participation.

The audience’s clear enthusiasm – ranging from gleeful to raucous – was in itself a pleasure to see. Maudsley was a master at reading and engaging his crowd, and clearly an expert transponster between their reactions and ways to shape his material on the fly. His characterisation was also spot on (and not only because of that hair), but more impressive and hilarious still was his ability to layer Gunther doing impressions of the Friends. I’d recommend going along to see him ‘doing’ Chandler even if nothing else.

Of course, the crowd’s appreciation wasn’t a surprise. Since Friends appeared on Netflix in 2015, around its 25th anniversary in 2019 and perpetuated by the reunion in 2021, it’s seen a resurgence of popularity and been parodied widely. I doubt that’ll tail off soon: after all, 2024 will be the 30th year since it began. 

It’s when parody crosses the line between affection and invective that my protective hackles are raised. No one could argue that all of the jokes in the show have aged well – and that’s something that the minds behind The One with Gunther do, admirably, acknowledge. However, the scripting’s so far on the side of affection that the line’s comfortably more like a dot to them. Knowing references, in-jokes and wry humour are brought together like chopsticks to create a device for poking fun, not criticism, at the original.

Gunther’s perspective is one that could’ve swung either way, I think: would he be bitter not to have been included by the gang at the coffee house, or have felt like a true seventh friend? Maudsley plays a subtle and effective compromise between the extremes: Gunther’s wistful and nostalgic. His unrequited adoration of Rachel is tender and protective (not, thank goodness, possessive or incel), and even his resentment of Ross feels good-natured. As he reflects on their friendships, his experience is recognisably like ours: we were close to them for over a decade, and then they disappeared from our lives, too. It was a cathartic relief to have them brought back for an hour.

I’m not the only one to have thought so, either (and this is how you know that I know you know the show’s great): I had the rare pleasure of overhearing two different people giving flinging-flanging good reviews of it to each other in a bar and in a ladies’ room by different venues – when, presumably, they were on a break between shows. One of them even used Chandler’s trademark phrasing.

Put simply, any friend of Friends needs this Friend in their life. If you get a chance, grab a spoon.

Friend (the One with Gunther) at Gilded Balloon at the Museum until 27 August

Photo Credit: Rod Penn

To post a comment, you must register and login.