Squeezing into the slightly cramped space at Greenside’s Olive Studio, the space isn’t quite the size I expected to see Koi Collective’s newest outing at the Edinburgh Fringe. However, having seen their first foray into fringe life in 2022, I knew that the next 50 minutes would be filled with laughs, surprises and exciting theatre.
Hysterical is a free fall through a categorically inaccurate history of mad women. Based on real women in real times, this host of hysterical harpies kick, scream and waltz their way into the modern day. But has much changed? Or are the structures that held them back still in place?
Jess Ferrier plays Catherine. She portrays a woman so misunderstood she was burned for witchcraft. Bringing an incredibly human and down-to-earth portrayal of Catherine makes the audience truly see how betrayed this woman was. Religious men decided she was evil and killed her for it, but Ferrier’s Catherine just wants to learn and read and live life. Telling her story in a rather nonchalant way, the audience warms to Catherine and wants to hear more of her story.
Evie Mortimer portrays Mercy. Mortimer gives such a gentle performance here. Her Mercy is good and kind. Becoming blind while she’s in an orphanage at a young age, but finding solace in singing and eventually becoming a famous touring singer is a whirlwind of a story. Again, as is the theme, Mercy finds herself being left and unloved by a man, but still joyed to have experienced the life she has. The range Mortimer delivers is impressive and helps gives Mercy realistic depth.
Georgia-Lee Roberts is Augustine. Augustine often seeks the limelight while listening to the other women’s stories, but never comes across as annoying. If anything the audience can’t wait to get to her section. Roberts owns the stage and gives Augustine a larger-than-life personality that is very fun to watch. Her story is heartbreaking; being used by a male doctor to ensure his career takes off boils the blood. Roberts makes us feel every ounce of the pain, while remaining charming and funny.
Zara Louise Kennedy plays Celia. Celia checks herself into a psyche hospital for hyper-sexualisation due to neglect from her husband, learning that if one is starved of something for too long, they become insatiably hungry. Kennedy plays these intricate moments very well, making her section very relatable and hilarious. She uses physicality and a dynamic vocal performance to portray a lustfulness that is understandable and incredibly entertaining to watch.
Robyn Reilly plays Anne. Her story is less known, but is relevant to the history teacher at the centre of the story learning about all these incredible women. Reilly handles Anne’s darker story with sensitivity. Anne’s section is unexpected and is withheld from the audience for a short time but is well worth the wait. Reilly gives Anne a very believable side and makes the audience truly feel and connect to everything she says.
Eilidh West portrays Jenny, a History teacher reading about women from the past who were misunderstood and seen as “hysterical”. She is brought in nicely and the format of the show connects to her own story perfectly. Her presence is a mystery for most part and the reason for her being there is revealed effectively. West gives her all in the climax of the show after her motives are revealed and connects all the separate stories nicely.
The script from Sally MacAlister is fantastic. She writes her characters to effortlessly fit into the modern day and gives them all individual, unique personalities. It’s touching and funny, while making these stories accessible and digestible for a fringe audience. Her writing feels really detailed, even though each woman has limited time to tell her story, they manage to fit lots in. The stories aren’t generalised either, which would have been something easy to do for time and to make the work load easier. It’s clear Koi Collective don’t shy away from this and embrace the challenge. The characters are full of comical aggression, passion or feist to tell the story rather than rage, even tho rage would be fitting. MacAlister does well to restrain herself here; never coming across preachy either, another trap that could’ve been easy to fall into.
The Koi Collective make the creative decisions for themselves in this production and they’re the better for it. These are stories of misunderstood and mistreated women that need to be told. This version is nicely edited for the Fringe and the fourth wall breaks that acknowledge the Fringe-ness of the production and hint at some cuts that had to be made for time are very welcome and refreshing. This piece is quite different to other work I’ve seen from Koi Collective. Utilising singing; some gorgeous and emotive vocals are on display here, and outright talking about the limitations (and benefits) of Fringe madness during the piece make them feel mature, experienced and like they’re having fun.
Ultimately, the line “Maybe the hysteria was old men we met along the way” is a perfect way to sum up what Koi Collective are doing with Hysterical. This fantastic addition to their roster solidifies them as a Fringe stand-outs. The paying Fringe audience would do well to catch anything Koi Collective put out, as I myself will keep coming back year after year to see what they have in store next.
Theatre Scotland 
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