Fringe review: CHASING BUTTERFLIES, Naysay Productions - Edinburgh Festival Fringe

There's been a murder in London. It looks like the Butterfly Butcher has struck again. Detective Richards and the Police are under continuing pressure to catch the culprit, a serial killer that has been haunting Whitechapel since 1985. Is Richards up to the job? Can he save the people of London? Or will he fall in to the path of wickedness that has corrupted the very soul of the man he's chasing? Anyone can be a victim of the Butterfly Butcher and everyone should be afraid!

Written by Ella Seber-Rajan, Chasing Butterflies has a good script, although there are a few points that keep the audience guessing. Not wanting to give away any spoilers, but it's not totally clear who is actually dead or whether the killer has actually been caught or if someone has just been made a scapegoat - it would be nice for a bit more clarification as an ending.

There are also a few questionable directional choices. For example, the story plays out in the Detective’s office, yet there is no desk, merely papers and cigarettes scattered across the floor. The introduction of a desk would have given the performer more to work with instead of giving the audience the top of his head every time he reached for a prop. Also, we listen to a conversation on speaker phone between the Detective and his colleague, yet the phone is a 1980's rotary dial phone, which doesn't have a speaker phone ability. These are small details, but a little distracting none the less.

Overall, it is an interesting and engaging story. We all love a tale about a serial killer, particularly one that is unsolved. With a few tweaks and less distractions, the audience would be able to grasp more of the internal monologue of the storyteller, instead of leaving with more questions than they began with.

A regrettably unresolved murder mystery.

*** Three stars

Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin

Chasing Butterflies plays in 10 Dome at the Pleasance Dome at 10.55am until 28 August.