A Better Memory
★★★☆☆ Smart and tender
Pleasance Courtyard (Venue ):Wed 5 – Sun 30 Aug
Review by Julia Amour
A Better Memory at the Pleasance Courtyard for the whole Fringe is a fresh, smart and tender exploration of family secrets and how AI can change your life.
Initially described as a sweeter memory of a Black Mirror episode, in this version it brings to mind a cross between Diane Morgan’s new series Ann Droid and beloved Scottish sitcom Two Doors Down.
Lubna Kerr and Kathryn Marper. Pic: Kerr Arts Collective
Eleanor – engagingly played by Lubna Kerr – is a wry and canny widow who has moved to an independent living facility while still enjoying painting, pilates and frequent visits by younger family friend Mia (Kathryn Marper).
Mia encourages Eleanor to use a new AI assistant, programmed for her with the entire digital footprint of her late husband Harold: the clinical explanation is that a familiar voice can help to slow mental decline. Although initially reluctant to switch it on, Eleanor’s caution is gradually outweighed by the comforts of companionship and remembering their shared life together.
Codge Crawford excels as AI Harold, investing him with a gruff wit and charm that fully explains why Eleanor is drawn into ever-more intense engagement at the expense of social contact.
ingeniously staged
The reality of the relationship is also ingeniously staged with subtle direction from Ihsan Kerr and Kathryn Marper with assistance from Chelsea Grace. A smartspeaker on a little memorial shelf in Eleanor’s flat pulses with light while the actor speaks as the AI agent, looking at Eleanor and pacing the room; whereas she mainly engages with him at one remove, as if speaking on the phone.
This is entirely successful in focusing the audience on the emotions of the piece rather than the technological conceit.
Codge Crawford and Lubna Kerr. Pic: Kerr Arts Collective
And it is an emotional rollercoaster, with a sweet sense of familiar mutual affection soon overtaken by nagging doubts about whether the AI is telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Not only does Eleanor have to confront some of the failings and sadnesses of her marriage, she also uncovers a posthumous family secret that Harold had wanted to conceal from her forever.
AI Harold has a manipulative agenda of his own, and the incisive script by Ihsan Kerr shows how insidiously pressure can be exerted by a controlling man even beyond the grave. The spot-on soundtrack adds to the uneasy ambience, from romantic but creepy Elvis ballads to the jingly melancholy of Abba breakup songs.
The role of Mia is perhaps under-written, and the relationship with her AI boyfriend feels purely a plot device when compared to the real pathos between Eleanor and Harold. Marper does a good job in this role of upping the pace and providing comic relief, but her opening scene with Eleanor seems overly dependent on wise-cracking and the tonal transitions can feel occasionally clunky. A few very minor line hesitations across the cast also suggest the play is still settling into a final rhythm.
But this show is a rare gem that only needs polishing. It credibly imagines our near-future with a light touch but real emotional depth around timeless themes of grief and moving on, while exploring the inner lives of a generation of women who are too little heard.
Running time: One hour (no interval).
Pleasance Courtyard (The Green), 60 Pleasance, EH8 9TJ (Venue 33).
Wednesday 5 – Sunday 30 August 2026.
Daily (Not 17, 25): 4.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Tickets direct from venue: Book here.
Lubna Kerr website: www.lubnakerr.com/
Facebook: @lubnakerr
Instagram: @lubnakerr
TikTok: @lubnakerr
ENDS
