‘Dare to Discover’ is the leitmotiv of the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe running from 1st to 25th August. In the introduction to 384-page programme, Tony Lankester, the recently appointed Chief Executor, advises Fringe-goers to “Go wild, set your creativity free, and discover an unbeatable one-off experience you can’t find anywhere else!” On this year’s Fringe, there is an estimated number of 3853 shows in the printed programme, so there’s plenty to go wild about.
The first play I saw this August, Buen Camino (in Spanish, A Good Walk), sees American author and performer Susan Edsall embarking on her own journey of self-discovery as she follows one of the trails leading to Santiago de Compostela. Since the Middle Ages, Santiago de Compostela has been the final destination of a religious pilgrimage dedicated to Saint James, and, in 1985, the city’s Old Town was designated a Unesco World Heritage site, boosting the reputation of this iconic site. Having heard multiple reports and stories from people who have gone on the walk, my curiosity was sparked by Edsall’s promotion, where she mentions her 540-mile trip, characterised by “rain, resentment and redemption”. Edsall has turned her experience into a solo show, playing for the entire Fringe in a tiny studio theatre in the Gilded Balloon’s Appleton Tower venue. At the top end of the studio, there’s a minute playing area, where the performer sits and sometimes moves around, her physical movements and gestures deftly conveying her anguish and uncertainty. From the word go, this playwright-performer seized our attention as she talked about the sudden death of her partner, causing feelings of loss and resentment. His passing had happened so quickly that she simply hadn’t had time to prepare; she had gone to pieces, her state of mind deteriorating so badly that she considered suicide. Her self-confession sometimes alternates with phone conversations with her best friend, who tries to persuade her to be more positive. These conversations continue throughout the play, during which the performer deploys a very effective technique in order to play both roles, by assuming a different pose, each time she switches to her friend’s voice. This initial sequence was tragic, but at the same time coloured by playfulness and humour. It was also well paced, video projections, indicating the passing of time, when two years flash by from the death of Edsall’s loved one to the moment she hears a Voice, telling her to make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Campostela. It is at this point that the story lost its momentum for me. There were very few details about the precise landscape the walker was encountering, nor did the people she meet on the way come fully to life. And not least, a sense of her physical fatigue and spiritual quest was largely missing. If theatre’s greatest resource is the human body, this performer relied little on her physicality to convey her fatigue, her vulnerability and her perpetual searching. Instead, she told us about her need to move on, to let go, to love and to hope, without fully embodying these feeling and emotions. Having said this, Buen Camino was very moving at times, presenting a woman’s heartache and grief in the aftermath of a great loss.
Buen Camino, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025
The show premiered at Solo Stars, Los Angeles, and won the Encore Award at the Solo Stars series in 2024. It was directed by Jessica Lynn Johnston, who also helped with development, and produced by Fringe Management.
This post was written by the author in their personal capacity.The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of The Theatre Times, their staff or collaborators.
This post was written by Margaret Rose.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.
