As a musical theater lover, there’s a countless number of shows that I want to see. I’ve seen many, but there will always be more – which is the beauty of creativity. While looking through the Fringe shows, I kept a keen eye for musicals that were being performed, whether or not I had heard of them. Many of the musicals were originals from the performers, which were just as intriguing to me as any other kind of show. I found a show that excited me to my core almost immediately, thanks to the “by name” search feature, and the fact that this musical starts with numbers. The musical that I speak of is 35MM: A Musical Exhibition. I originally got into this show because of my good friend Syd (hi Syd!), who showed me a song from the musical titled The Ballad of Sara Berry.

The song entranced me with its originality, and I dove headfirst into searching up the show itself. 35MM’s concept fascinated me; each song, of which there are 17 (not including the transition pieces), is inspired by a photo, the two styles of art colliding in a very unique show. Unlike most musicals that have a direct, straightforward plot attached to characters and song, 35MM takes on the approach of “snapshot stories.” You are told 17 stories that, if you squint, you may put a singular tale together, but that is up to the viewer, rather than it being an intent. It’s not a show that goes on tour, and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get to see it live.

The Festival Fringe offers many opportunities, however, and it presented me 35MM: A Musical Exhibition performed live. I immediately bought tickets, making it the first Fringe show that I planned to see on my own.

The show was at midday, and I was very excited to go. It was my first outing by myself, and this was a show I had been looking forward to since I bought the tickets. The venue was in the exact same direction as The Three Sisters, making it very easy to get to. I made it with ten minutes to spare, just as they began letting in the guests. It was a very small venue, hardly a theater, which was a surprise. It almost resembled a wide hallway that had been given layered platforms for chairs and, much like No Dragon No Lion, a black marley floor with black curtains. The far curtains had the logo of the show projected on it, staining the room with red light.

I chose a seat that was at the end of an aisle, being one of the last people to enter. I was in the fourth row, giving myself a good view of the stage while also being away from other people. Unfortunately, I was still the victim to someone sitting in front of me, but not next to me. Even so, the small stage was on full view to me, but more importantly, the music was everywhere. Small spaces are beautiful and captivating when music fills them. 

The performers that put 35MM on were from the Musicality group at the University of Nottingham, and they were amazing. There were five singers and one pianist. Although a “small” number of performers in total, the energy and talent that they all had filled up the space. They had the chaotic technique that 35MM demands, along with the chemistry that is necessary for the songs to be so impactful. Although there isn’t a heapload of choreography that is a part of 35MM, the performers put in their all to make each movement count. The storytelling aspect of the musical was not lost on these performers.

After the stunning show, the coordinator came out to give a few words on behalf of those that were involved. All shows at the Fringe do this, often requesting, if possible, donations to the performing group. This isn’t an unreasonable demand, given the expenses of the Fringe along with the fact that the attendees of the festival are there to support the arts. The coordinator gave context to the group that was performing, and informed the audience that the show we had all watched was the last show that they were putting on for the Fringe. I hadn’t realized this originally, and couldn’t believe my luck that I had been able to see it.

As I exited the venue, I was able to scan the provided QR code for donations and information regarding the very talented group. I was so glad that I was given the opportunity to see such a wonderful show live, and performed by such a dedicated and skillful group. 

The walk back from 35MM was calm, uneventful, and refreshing from the intense time that I had spent in the theater. 35MM is nothing if not demanding of your attention in the best possible way, and although I loved it, the simplicity of walking towards the hotel was comforting. The weather was generous in the sunlight, but the street that I walked down created a funnel for the breeze. When I got back to the hotel, we decided that we would be having dinner at a restaurant we had passed the night before, a place called Mum’s Comfort Food.

We were seated at a table at the very front of the establishment, right in front of the window that allowed the street to peek into the restaurant. This really wasn’t a problem on its own, but the sunlight that had bothered me earlier had come back with a vengeance. The sun was setting, and the gaps between the buildings allowed the light to directly hit our table. Unlike before, there was no breeze to save me from baking. Our comfort (no pun intended) became the refills of our water and the topnotch, quality food that was presented to us. I had gotten a steak and ale pie with chips, chips that were perfectly crisp and meant to be shoveled into one’s mouth.

At dinner, I debated going to see a free show that was a ten minute walk from our hotel. This show was a Dungeons & Dragons show that I had been handed a flier to on our first day in Edinburgh. We had been walking up towards Bertie’s Proper Fish & Chips when a man had stopped me. He asked me plainly, “do you play Dungeons & Dragons?” to which I replied, “yep.” He handed me a flier and said, with a hint of humorous edge to his voice, “I could tell.” Looking back on my outfit, my big glasses and slightly oversized Godzilla sweatshirt might have given me away as a massive nerd… or maybe that’s just the energy I give off. Either way, he had given me a flier to a D&D show called Character Building Experience, which I was mulling over seeing. It was at 9 o’clock that night, with no ticket purchase needed, and the walk wasn’t that far from the hotel. Once I had finished my dinner and fanned myself about one thousand times from the cruel sun, I decided I would, indeed, be going – further confirming myself as a massive nerd.

After dinner, we all went back to the hotel. I had a bit of time to kill before I had to head over to Character Building Experience. My mom was flipping through channels and eventually we settled on reruns of Friends, which is a show I always forget I love before I rewatch it. Monica and Chandler – I love you.

After watching Friends for a little bit and desperately ignoring the frustrating Rachel and Ross scenes, I tied my shoes and pulled on a sweater as I prepared to make the trek to the venue. Walking through Edinburgh at night during the Fringe is an almost surreal experience, the city coming even more alive than it was during the day. Music fought from every corner and venue to be louder than the competitors while people filled the streets, heading to their hotels, to a bar, or to a show. It felt magical.

I had arrived at the venue for Character Building Experience about thirty minutes early, fearing that if I had gotten there any later, I would have been too late to be let in. The venue I was at had a very strict “no latecomers” policy, and I didn’t want to be caught up in that. I waited patiently in line with the rest of the people that were there, waiting for their show to be let in. As I studied those around me, I realized with delight that I could almost certainly pinpoint who was there to see the Dungeons & Dragons show. Nerds recognize nerds, after all.

I had brought a sweater with me, since the Edinburgh nights had the tendency to be chilly, but once we were all packed into the small room where the show was taking place, I had absolutely no need for it. The room was small and without A/C, like most Edinburgh buildings, with about 35 people packed into it. At the front of the room was a slightly elevated stage with dramatic curtains framing a TV screen with the name of the show glowing on it. Although my original plan had been to get water before the show started, I had chosen a seat at the very end of a row – and had been boxed in between the wall and the people that had filed in behind me. My politeness – curse it! – overrode my thirst, and I prayed that the show would be entertaining enough to get my mind off of it.

The show was, in fact, exactly that.

First, the DM of the night came out, wearing a cheap cloak and holding her microphone close to her mouth in order for the dramatics to really pop from the speakers. Sasha Ellen was her name, and she carried all the chaos of an experienced and comedic D&D character in her form. Whether or not she was one was yet to be determined. Following her came the three players: three other comedians that were performing shows at the Fringe that had agreed to play the chaotic game. 

Much like the Dungeons & Dragons show that I saw with Jamie, the session that would become the show was altered a bit from the original game. Rather than having multiple kinds of die, there was one big die that Sasha would roll. Along with that, the character sheets were a bit less detailed, and much more… comedic. For example, the first character that we are introduced to is the wizard of the playing party, known as Jai the Thigh Wizard. His origin story is that he was bullied as a young wizard for having weak legs, so what did he do? Study magic while never missing a leg day. Ever. 10/10 D&Ding right there.

The next hour was full of chaos, though it was much more adult than the chaos I had seen with Jamie. There was a specific plot to this session, and a lot of cursing, alongside unexpected angst that punched me in the gut at the end of the supposedly silly and comedic game show. There was so much laughter and fun that I hadn’t expected the one shot session to end with the three heroes failing in their mission to stop the bad guy. One could blame that on the fact that the three comedians were absolute menaces with their skills and were terrible at combat (Jai the Thigh Wizard had stripped down at one very chaotic point), but still – I came to Character Building Experience for the laughs, not for the actual character building!

Despite the angst, the show was truly a delight. I marveled at how widespread D&D is, and how the entire room was full of people that loved the game and took an hour out of their night to go see people play it. It was a room that represented a community, a community all across the globe, one that I was a part of, as well as Jamie, and most of my friends.

I walked back to the hotel feeling very satisfied with the day, having enjoyed the freedom that came with two shows that I had gone to see on my own. Though, I was still mulling over the angst, and a bit mad that I would never see those characters again. Oh, well – there’s always the next Fringe.