Hope This Helps!
★★★★★ Ridiculously Funny
TheSpace @ Venue 45 (Venue 45): Mon 17 – Sat 29 Aug 2026
Review by Eilidh Sim
Hope This Helps! Presented by Shark Bait Theatre at TheSpace @ Venue 45 is a comedic play about a Highland retreat where internet addicts go for time offline and couple bonding activities
Lex Joyce and Jess Ferrier script finds two couples and an influencer type, who have come along to find something within themselves with the help of host David. However the activities, with the addition to some time offline, help the visitors figure out rather more than they expected.
The cast of Hope This Helps! Pic: Jed Bury.
Director Liam Rees makes effective use of a minimal set comprised of a few Loungers and a wall of boxes, used to put things in. It allows different props such as yoga mats, to create different areas over the performance. His dynamic direction ensures that, despite this minimal staging, he the space never feels empty.
Lex Joyce is an amusing David. He finds the hilarity of the character, and reveals how this batch of customers might be the most challenging he has ever had to deal with.
Siblings Cailtin (Robyn Reilly) and Declan (Rory Drinnan-Murray), seem at odds when they arrive. The characters are drastically different, which allows for Reilly and Drinnan-Murray to bounce off of each other, in their realistic portrayal of a sibling duo, which also allows for their characters to shine through.
obnoxious
Elizabeth Robbins is an obnoxious Mabel – a stereotypical American influencer type, who brings a much needed light-hearted feel to the whole play. While Robbins finds the humour in Mabel in the delivery of her lines, she also displays her more vulnerable side, revealing how badly she is looking for love.
Willow (Jess Ferrier) and Liv (Minnie Cross) face their own struggles as a long term couple who do not fully understand each other anymore. With Liv’s addiction and Willow’s questionable relationships, the pair butt heads through the majority of the performance. Ferrier and Cross bring out this comedic tension, making for some particularly hilarious moments.
Hope this Helps! In rehearsal. Pic: Jed Bury
The characters are convincing, each with their own secrets and motives, which come to light as the play goes on. The hilarity of each character is effectively executed, with the cast’s energy never faltering over the performance, even when the characters are faced with ongoing weather struggles.
The lighting and sound by Ash Elliot creates admirable tension within the play. With voiceovers of weather updates, and red lights when things get serious, the severity of things becomes clear, and allows for different atmospheres throughout different scenes.
Hope This Helps! is a hilariously entertaining production, which reveals that the solution to your problem is not always the simplest one.
Running time: 55 minutes (no interval).
theSpace @ Venue 45 (Venue 45), 3 Jeffrey St, EH1 1DH. (Venue 45).
Monday 17 – Saturday 29 August 2026.
Daily (Not Sun 23): 12.40pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Tickets direct from venue: Book here.
Facebook: @sharkbaittheatre
Instagram: @sharkbaittheatre
Linktree: @sharkbai.
ENDS
