Our Town Needs A Nando’s
★★★☆☆ Relatably painful
theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39): Fri 7 – Sat 15 Aug 2026
Review by Erin Frances Speirs
Our Town Needs A Nando’s, from Hot Mess Productions at theSpace on the Mile for the first week of the Fringe, is a relatable and lived-in coming-of-age comedy with dark themes.
The script, but BAFTA-nominated writer Samantha O’Rourke, follows five teenaged girls growing up in a small town, who have been assigned a project about their town for their drama class. The production marks the directorial debut of Milly Sweeney, whose own play WaterColours is making waves at the Traverse.
The cast of Our Town Needs a Nandos. Pic Hot Mess
Bored of their small town, where the only place open after 6pm is McDonalds, the five, Beth (Reese Hannah), Rachel (Lauren Mills), Ellie (Airlie Duff), Zahidah (Lovely Selwyn) and new girl at school Chloe (Eilidh Rose), bond over wishing for all the things they don’t have.
Over the play, O’Rourke delves into the lives and struggles of these young women, revealing that everyone is hiding from something, and that all any young girl wants is a bit of control over their own lives.
Each girl is facing her own problem: abusive parents; sexual assault; slut shaming; an eating disorder; pressure of leaving your home country behind; and being gay in a small, closed-minded town.
O’Rourke’s writing is sharp and funny. She expertly crafts the language of teen girls, from sly digs to slang to genuine support. The relationships between and status of all the characters are clearly shown from their opening lines, while still allowing these characters to develop throughout the play.
This is highlighted by the acting chops on display. The chemistry between the cast is palpable, specifically between Lovely Selwyn’s Zahidah and Airlie Duff’s Ellie who embody deep teenage female friendship.
devastating
Reese Hannah’s performance as Queer teen Beth is commanding, hitting each beat with meaning. Lauren Mills plays mean girl Rachel with pompous vitriol, while allowing moments for her true insecurities to leak through. As new-girl Chloe, Eilidh Rose is devastating, making both her strength and her vulnerability clear as her storyline ties the entire plot together.
Our Town Needs A Nando’s is dynamically directed by Milly Sweeney, an impressive feat for her directorial debut. The small space comes alive immediately, and the actors move through the fast-paced script expertly.
As brilliant as many of the elements of this production are, the script is over-burdened topics. Which means that instead of slowly revealing the issues the schoolgirls are facing, most are brought up and quickly tucked away without any resolution or time for reflection.
This might be the general teenage girls experience – of ignoring problems and smiling through pain to keep up an image and avoid conflict – but it also overwhelms the audience without leaving them with any answers.
When it is revealed that Rachel is struggling with the far-too-common experience of an eating disorder, the topic is touched so briefly that it comes across as filler, and a forced way to sympathise with the cruelest girl of the group. On top of this, the constant introduction of troubling but unresolved issues causes the play to drag in the final moments, despite the spirited directing.
Our Town Needs A Nando’s is an impressive display of talent, but falls short with the amount of content it wishes to fit into a fifty minute runtime.
Although the issues being discussed are necessary, the expansive quantity of topics being explored would be better suited to a longer play, or more ideally a serial drama. From the skilled writing shown in Our Town Needs A Nando’s, this type of development is certainly in O’Rourke’s wheelhouse.
Running time: 50 minutes (no interval).
theSpace on the Mile (Space 1), 80 High St, EH1 1TH (Venue 39).
Friday 7 – Saturday 15 August 2026.
Daily: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Tickets direct from venue: Book here.
Hot Mess on Instagram: @hotmess.productions
Linktree: @hotmess.productions.
