“Freak Out!” A Heady Cocktail About Climate Change

On the Edinburgh Fringe the number of plays investigating climate change is growing each year, and in the 2024 programme, there’s a Climate and Sustainability section. At the Pleasance Dome venue, I caught Freak Out!, co-written, co-devised and co-directed by Coin Toss, a new collective determined to waken audiences up to the hazards caused by our fast-changing climate. The set couldn’t be simpler: several model houses are positioned downstage, while upstage, cardboard boxes are piled up. As the show opens, seven young performers, their bodies, writhing frantically, conjure up a storm at sea. Based on the group’s research, during a year’s residency at Bristol’s Old Vic theatre, Freak Out! explores how some UK communities are being affected by coastal erosion, which is accelerating due to climate change. More than 35 homes have been lost to the waves in Happisburgh, Norfolk, in the last two decades alone and 19% of the Scottish coastline is vulnerable to erosion as sea levels rise. In order to voice their concerns about this coastal area of Norfolk, Coin Collective deploy a variety of techniques. In a video we watch interviews on a beach with local people, who talk about the place they live, the older ones, noting how the beach is slowly disappearing, a far cry from how it was in their childhood. The ensemble also wages a heated debate that goes on intermittently among residents and a councillor in Portsford, the fictitious town, where the action pans out. The moment in time is crucial, since some residents have recently lost their homes due to erosion and are awaiting government compensation. They animatedly discuss what is the best thing to do, some wanting to take a pay out, others more inclined to deal with wider issues, like getting a huge seawall built. However, the realism stops here and there’s much clowning, choreographed movement, audience interaction and games. While a performer offers some audience members a slice of cake, a young man, wearing a flowery swimming cap and trunks, invites a couple people to play a fun game. Armed with a bucket and spade, they build two little sandcastles. To the tune of the old song, “I do like to be beside the seaside,” the young man gets the players to compete, asking them about their favourite beach and encouraging the audience to award points for the best sandcastle. Still, the harsh reality of climate change is never far away. In the video, a raging coastal storm sweeps a panicking crowd away. The concluding moments likewise spiral into something pretty messy. The young man in the bathing cap, previously full of life and joy, has collapsed centre stage, surrounded by debris brought onshore by the mighty storm. He ends up soaked in water and covered with brightly coloured plastic bits, a stage picture that works effectively to warn us of the encroaching danger. FREAK OUT! first opened at Bristol Old Vic. It has since received a Show of the Week nomination at VAULT Festival 2023 and completed short runs at Camden People’s Theatre, London, and Tobacco Factory Theatre, Bristol. Their run at the Fringe is supported by Keep it Fringe Fund. This mix of comedy, verbatim theatre and hard facts, presented by this talented ensemble, seems to me an excellent way of heightening people’s consciousness about what is a very urgent issue.

Freak Out!, co-written, co-devised and co-directed by Coin Toss, at Edinburgh Fringe, photo credits: Chelsey Cliff.