This Little Thing of Ours
★★★☆☆ Rumbustious
theSpace @ Venue 45 (Venue 45): Fri 14 – Sat 22 Aug 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
This Little Thing of Ours, from MB Musicals at theSpace @ Venue 45, is a slice of late-night entertainment whose scattergun approach largely pays off.
Frankie Coglione, a member of a long-standing Mafia family, is caught up in a power struggle, with his ill-assorted cohorts and hard-nosed Nonna among his allies. But more hard-bitten mafiosi stand in his way.
A scene from This Little Thing of Ours. Pic: Alastair More Photography.
The musical, created by James Bruce and Michael Mackay, is built around some contradictory impulses. It has a relatively complex plot, crammed into what seems to be a typical late-night Fringe knockabout.
Bruce’s script is a mixture of straightforward narrative and parody, at times knowingly camp (explicit references to characters in the Godfather, much breaking of the fourth wall), and at others somewhat darker.
odd counterpoint
There’s a great deal crammed into a running time of just over an hour, which means that it isn’t always that easy to follow. There are just too many characters for comfort (with most of the cast doubling up), meaning that it isn’t always easy to remember who they are.
The framing device of a cabaret MC introducing the play (and returning after the imaginary intermission to ‘recap’) also seems unnecessary. The whole problem of making fun of those jolly organised-crime murdering types does also come up, with the reality of ‘whacking’ providing an odd counterpoint to songs about it.
A scene from This Little Thing of Ours. Pic: Alastair More Photography.
However, there is a huge amount of energy throughout, with some expansive comedy performances compensating for characters that are not always as fleshed out as they might be.
Dorian Todd’s Frankie has presence and authority, while James O’Neill’s Don Lorenzo is hugely funny and has real impact. Kevin Parr’s snarling Tony provides a nicely dark contrast to the more broadly comic characterisations such as Fraser Wood’s Uncle Chicky.
pace and purpose
The other performers – Meredith Rey, Arland O’Hara, Megan Wright and Joan Smith – all throw themselves into their various roles with gusto. Alice Humphries’s direction has pace and purpose.
The eternal question of why something has to be a musical at all is not necessarily answered here. The songs do not always seem indispensable or add too much narratively or emotionally. Some of the lyrics are repetitive and make (like the rest of the play) liberal use of swearing, which seems to be done mainly to provoke and gets a little tedious.
The This Little Thing of Ours band. Pic: Alastair More Photography.
The musical backing for the songs is, however, very impressive. Musical director Mackay, backed up by second guitarist Calder Houston, bassist Shaun Alderman and drummer Calum Thomson, provides tunes influenced by old fashioned rock’n’roll, with the end results having the power only a live band can provide. The sound is also impressive, with each of the singers being heard clearly.
To work in a more sedate environment, this would need some tightening up. But as a noisy, frantic late-night entertainment it works well.
Running time: One hour and 10 minutes (no interval).
theSpace @ Venue 45 (Venue 45), 3 Jeffrey St, EH1 1DH. (Venue 45).
Friday 14 – Saturday 22 August 2026.
Daily (not Sun): 10.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Tickets direct from venue: Book here.
Production website: www.thislittlethingofours.com
Instagram: @littlethingofours
A scene from This Little Thing of Ours. Pic: Alastair More Photography.
ENDS
