Highly Suspect Abbasolute Murder - Theatre 1 The Space @ Surgeon’s Hall

When it comes to shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, it would be stranger and harder to find a show that doesn’t feature audience interaction then one that does, but no other features quite as much as the work of Highly Suspect who construct and perform murder mysteries where the audience are the detective and have 70 minutes to catch the killer.

In Abbasolute Murder, it’s filming day for the Continental Song Contest and you are in the viewing room. The Host Hugh Eurovision, alongside German contestant Hans Oopintheair, Swedish singer Hoda Layheihoo and Estonian contestant Wyatt Mencantrap are all excited as one half of legendary winning act BABA are performing, but when the pair are due to come and meet everyone they fail to turn up. Within minutes we are notified that the two icons have been found dead, and it’s up to us as the audience to work out which of the four suspects did it.

What makes a Highly Suspect production stand out from the crowd of fringe whodunnits is the sheer levels of interaction. Audiences are handed incredibly detailed evidence packs, laden with clues such as coded text messages, social media messages and emails both to lead them the right path and to throw in some red herrings for good measure. This is a show that gets the brain working whilst remaining incredibly entertaining and funny as the performers walk around the space to check how you are getting on whilst remaining fully in character. There is also a number of more traditional theatrical moments as the case walk us through the case and each try to defend their own innocence.

I can only imagine the amount of work that goes into creating a show like this, constructing and deconstructing the mystery to make sure it all works and that the evidence makes sense. The cast and crew here are complete storytellers, able to tease just enough evidence to send your thoughts off in different directions as you scramble to solve the clues and crack the codes.

The evidence for the case in Abbasolute murder is so extensive that you do find yourself feeling a little rushed to cover it all, and keep hold of all the laminate sheets in the roughly 3 or 4 10 minute sections you are given  to look through it in between the acted sections but that doesn’t take away from the enjoyment. The cast work so hard to keep things under control and make sure that everyone feels involved, asking questions throughout on what we have found in the clues and it is all a part of the fun.

If you are looking for something different, unique and highly interactive to do at the fringe, mixing theatre with crime solving, then look no further than Highly Suspect.