If it is done with enough passion, commitment and sheer musical ability, apparently you really can make a musical about absolutely anything.
HOLE! is the proof.
Created and performed by American Sing-Song’s Jake Brasch and Nadja Leonhard-Hooper, and directed by RJ Tolan, its premise is completely bonkers. A fundamentalist Christian community in Nebraska prepares for an apocalyptic event called The Great Sucking, and survival depends upon having something firmly lodged where the sun doesn’t shine. That’s probably enough plot.
What I wasn’t expecting was just how controlled, sophisticated and ultimately joyous this would be.
The musicianship is superb. Brasch and Leonhard-Hooper move from big, life-affirming harmonies into exquisitely intimate passages, sometimes accompanied by little more than a music-box sound and beautifully high tenor singing. They make it big, they make it small, and somehow they make this ridiculous story feel heartfelt.
There seems to be a rise in live Foley work across the Fringe, but this takes it to another level. A large circular sound station sits before us, packed with instruments and devices, as sound effects, music, voices and physical performance are constructed live. It is highly technical but wonderfully handmade.
Cowbarn is an excellent home for it. The long, narrow room focuses attention naturally towards a properly raised stage, with simpler seating at the front giving way to increasingly luxurious leather towards the rear. The sound and lighting are superb; among the best technical provision I have encountered on the Fringe.
Last year I watched an extraordinarily dull show squander this excellent room. This year HOLE! has landed in it perfectly. Take the leather luxury at the back if you fancy comfort, but I would sit near the front. Watching exactly how Brasch and Leonhard-Hooper manufacture this extraordinary thing is part of the pleasure.
By chance, I find myself sitting beside a lovely lad from Hamburg called Clara. She has seen HOLE! at last year’s Fringe and is first in the queue to see it again. That perhaps tells you everything you need to know.
According to Clara, they have taken the production to another level this year.
Who am I to disagree?
I had expected something considerably more flamboyant, outrageous and over the top. Instead, Brasch and Leonhard-Hooper demonstrate extraordinary restraint and precision. The filthy premise gets you through the door, but the singing, harmonies, musicianship, Foley and sheer commitment are what make HOLE! special.
Who cares that the story is bonkers? This is joyous, technically accomplished musical theatre, performed as though absolutely everything depends upon it.
Perhaps, in this case, it does.
Playing until August 30th 2026, https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/2026HOLE
Reviewer: Greg Holstead
Reviewed: 21st August 2026
North West End UK / Theatre Muse UK Rating:
Running time – 1hr 20mins
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