Golden Beryl: Special Oblivion
★★★★☆ Ludicrous
Pianodrome at St Oswald’s Centre (Venue 344): Fri 7 – Sat 15 Aug 2026
Review by Ed Boulter-Comer.
If you haven’t been threatened with assassination at the Pianodrome, have you really been to the Fringe? Leaning heavily on the other in the “Theatre, comedy, other” bracket, The Golden Beryl team invade the Pianodrome at St Oswald’s with Golden Beryl: Special Oblivion.
This is Morningside absurdity that is thoroughly comfortable in its weirdness. Surrounded by the carcasses of hundreds of abandoned upright pianos, this podcast crew are very much at home. They lull the audience into a sense of insecurity with a vaguely malign meditation on waves that returns throughout the performance.
Golden Beryl poster
Obsessiveness seems to link the disparate characters and sketches together.
Neon Stench sees Jamie Richard-Stewart’s pompous and deeply Edinburgh surgeon operating fairly unsuccessfully, accompanied by suitably stomach-churning sound effects. Watching Devon Peterson work his magic as a foley artist, creating those sounds live, is a huge part of the fun and continues to be for the duration of the hour.
In Batteries, Andy Pandini gives us a look at the lengths his exasperated shop keeper will go to protecting his goods. His voice and eyebrows rise in synchronised disbelief.
Holly Janowski hauls the audience through a tooth-hurtingly dull encounter in Bird Watching, her plummy accent dripping with sincerity. Whilst Danielle Farrow delivers the depressingly football obsessed John Bathgate in Abducted with a deadpan banality that says as much about parenting as it does about the beautiful game.
even weirder
It is when writer Matthew Oakley, uncredited as a performer, takes over the space in his Interjections that things get even weirder. With audience participation and the afore-mentioned threats of murder from on high, his input is as engaging as it is unnerving.
A liberal selection of cushions is handed out to counter the piano-seating, so it is well worth the (tiny) detour to get to the Pianodrome for Special Oblivion. This is very clever, very silly and very Edinburgh.
Running time: One hour (no interval).
Pianodrome at St Oswald’s Centre (Pianodrome), 41 Montpelier Park EH10 4NB (Venue 344).
Friday 7 – Saturday 15 August 2026.
Daily (not Tue/Sun): 4pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Golden Beryl’s Patreon: Golden Beryl on Patreon
Podcasts available from: Apple Podcasts
ENDS
