Clad in fine tweed and leather brogues, one man band, writer, director and performer Bennett Cooper Sullivan certainly looks and sounds the part of the Victorian gentleman adventurer. In this supremely well-crafted piece, narrated by a highly skilled storyteller, we follow our rakish raconteur as he travels from the bazaars of Afghanistan, via London to the foggy streets of 19th Century Edinburgh.
As Egyptomania sweeps over the UK our hero becomes embroiled following the strange disappearance of a good friend with a pile of mummies hidden in his basement.
Sullivan manages an impressive turn of hand, foot and mouth along the way, bowling maidens as he goes. An impressive looping storyline has the audience leaning into this and willing our hero to get his man, and his woman!
But it’s all done in the best thigh slapping style.
The only shame is that in Sullivan’s slick speech the occasional word of this fine script is lost as it bounces around the hard surfaces of the Anatomy Lecture Theatre but given the clever site specific nature of this piece, that is a problem I’m willing to live with. About an acre of black velvet would make this even better, but hey, this is the Fringe, not Carnegie Hall!
10:15 Daily (Not 11th or 18th) – Till 25th August
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-cadaver-palaver
Reviewer: Greg Holstead
Reviewed: 4th August 2025
North West End UK Rating:
Running time – 1hr
Nestled in a Grade II-listed church in Silvertown, the Brick Lane Music Hall prides itself…
Set around the kitchen table in the farm kitchen, The Farmer’s Wife holds nothing back…
The Brown Suite where Soul Tells the Story: Six lives, One night, One dance floor. …
There are few venues better suited to a night of unapologetically bold cabaret than the…
There is something particularly satisfying about watching a young theatre company begin to find its…
Brush up your Shakespeare and begrime your mind ahead of time to wring all possible…