Writer: Euan Munro
Director: Katya Searle
There are laughs in this show but it’s quite emotionally draining; a lot happens within its one-hour duration. What starts off as an apparently nostalgic look back at performer Euan Munro’s career as a YouTuber between the ages of 10 and 14 soon becomes something much darker.
Now in his twenties, Euan dons a baseball cap, roams a set that stands in for his childhood bedroom and acts as he might have done over a decade ago. He chats online with his friend and rival YouTuber Cammy (Yana Harris, appearing on a large screen that replicates what Euan’s seeing on his laptop). He marvels as the number of his followers climbs, first in tens, later in thousands. We get to see some of his archive videos. They’re billed as cringe-making but actually young Euan comes across as a nice kid – witty, charming, keen to win viewers’ approval.
And that’s where it all goes horribly wrong. What his audience can see but young Euan can’t is that he’s falling into a net of online exploitation. There are some off-colour comments about his videos which simply baffle him. A man called Bill warns him off responding to an online predator.
Bill claims to be a single dad whose son loves Euan’s videos. He offers to boost the number of Euan’s followers via a shout-out on his own channel. This is spectacularly successful. Bill starts sending cloying messages that seem to feature innocuous over-sharing – about the weather in Iowa, his ailing mother’s health – but it’s clear that Euan is being manipulated in some way.
To say much more would be a spoiler and this is a show with a strong plot. Many Fringe performers create works that process their grief and trauma, believing that laying bare their lived experience is the main requirement. Perhaps it is for some audience members. However if you want to connect with a wider audience and move them emotionally as this play does, you need to tell a great story too.
Now an actor and writer trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Euan Munro has demonstrated in this piece how to create an effective story arc that draws the audience in and works it hard. His standing ovation is well earned. Perhaps we’re seeing him becoming famous after all, but this time it’s on his own terms.
Runs until 30 August 2026 | UImage: Contributed
