WRONG NUMBER, The Edinburgh Makars - Edinburgh Fringe (Online)

The residents of Heather Avenue are being plagued by mysterious phone calls. Stuck in lockdown and reliant on the telephone and zoom to communicate, will the residents figure out something is not quite right? Will the local neighbourhood watch come to the rescue? What has happened to Mr McTavish? And most importantly, can the quiz evening go ahead?

Wrong Number, written by Mike Appleby and directed by John Scott Moncrieff, is performed by The Edinburgh Makars via Zoom. It’s a farcical piece exhibiting the communications of the usually quiet street in this small community.

As a pair of inept burglars plot to cash in on the street’s confusion, do they really expect the neighbours not to talk and figure out what they’re up to?

Sheila Clarke stands out in her comical turn as Susan McIvor, with a warm and apparent relationship between her and daughter Cheryl, played by Allie Henderson. Muting herself on Zoom is something most of us can now easily relate to!

The only distraction is that the majority of the time we can see the actors looking down and reading from scripts. Whilst the dialogue still flows seamlessly, it feels unnecessary at times and could be easily avoided.

Overall though, an entertaining piece with some good likeable characters.

**** Four Stars

Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin

Wrong Number is available at Fringe Online.