EDINBURGH 2023: Review: STRING V SPITTA, Pleasance

The show starts with a bit of background about the two performers. Both feel that they had a very normal childhood, String (Ed MacArthur) at a private boarding school in Geneva and Spitta (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) sharing his bed with three siblings in East London. String is a popular children’s entertainer who suddenly finds himself being replaced with grime performer Spitta.

String goes undercover to try and find out what it is that Spitta has that he doesn’t and decides to use deceit to team up with him for the 6th birthday party of a very influential Russian. The reason for Spitta’s sudden success is Tiktok, he’s gone viral and suddenly all the kids want him at their party. 

They’re an odd pairing and what starts as quite competitive becomes utterly charming when String embraces Spitta’s freewheeling improvisation method of children’s entertainment. The uptight posh boy embraces the fun in the unknown and follows Spitta’s lead in making something more exciting for the kids. 

This is a brilliantly fun show that the whole audience embraces. There’s a bit of audience interaction which is all done in good humour. There's beatboxing, sing-a-longs and a little bit of magic giving this show a proper party feel.

String V Spitta is a comedy with a lot of layers and callbacks, making it a really clever show. This is definitely something I would love to see adapted into a longer piece as the hour flew by. 

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