Crocodile Tears
★★★★★ Hilarious
TheSpace @ Venue 45 (Venue 45): Fri 8 – Sun 17 Aug 2025
Review by Eilidh Sim
Crocodile Tears by Shark Bait Theatre at TheSpace @ Venue 45 for the middle week of the Fringe is a thrillingly comedic take on a survival game show.
Written by Jess Ferrier, Crocodile Tears is set on a desert island during the filming of the survival reality tv show, Survival Island; which is suffering from disastrously low ratings and lack of audience enjoyment.
The Crocodile Tears contestants. Pic: Shark Bait
The show features five contestants, who signed up for the fame and the prize money… But seem to have got more than they bargained for: facing exhaustion and starvation, in addition to a string of peculiar challenges.
The set remains minimal throughout, with a straw backdrop and wooden crates that are moved around, and used as chairs, a campfire. Multiple cameras which are filming the contestants. Director Ivan Hamshaw Thomas makes effective use of this staging, particularly when one of the crates is placed centre stage to act as the confessional during moments in the performance.
charming
Ash Elliot’s lighting and sound impresses throughout. Spotlights used during the confessional, give it a more private feeling. Recordings acting as adverts are played throughout breaks in the reality tv show.
Abi Price is a charming Cassia Whittaker, the witty show host and the face of Survival Island, presenting the contestants with their challenges and revealing who the audience has chosen to send home.
The cast of Crocodile Tears in rehearsal. Pic: Shark Bait
The contestants are vastly different in their personas, representing different stereotypes of reality tv – the guarded Rueben (Rory Drinnan-Murray), paranoid conspiracy theorist Faye (Darcy De Winter), compulsive liar Margot (Jess Ferrier), comedic Jake (Lex Joyce), and the dramatic Christian Daisy (Robyn Reilly).
The contestants are convincing, each with their own secrets and lies which begin to unravel as the performance goes on. Questions of authenticity are raised when a contestant fails to return to camp after being sent home on medical terms, forcing the show to take a darker turn as the producers seek to get the drama to bring the ratings up, no matter the cost.
The hilarity of the characters are perfectly executed, with the contestants becoming more desperate as the production goes on, their energy never faltering.
The significant amount of effort put into this production is clear. The result is a delightfully entertaining experience, filled with laughter and tension.
Running time: 55 minutes (no interval).
theSpace @ Venue 45 , 63 Jeffrey Street, EH1 1DH (Venue 45).
Fri 8 Aug – Sun 17 August 2025.
Daily (not Sun 10): 1.20pm.
Tickets and details: Book here on EdFringe.com.
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The cast of Crocodile Tears in rehearsal. Pic: Shark Bait
ENDS
