★★★

“Packed with technology-related puns, the script is generally entertaining”

In ‘Nerds’, Steve Jobs is a hippie-turned-leather-clad bad boy and Bill Gates a traumatised but vindictive incel. In an hour and a half, this musical charts their trajectories from garage-based geeks to some of the richest and most powerful men in the world, paying little mind to fact all the while. Despite the relatively weak script, director Nick Winston has managed to craft a highly entertaining show.

Kane Oliver Parry (as Steve Jobs) and Dan Buckley (as Bill Gates) both deliver stellar performances. Buckley’s treatment of Gates’ evolution from the butt of the joke to jeering bully is particularly satisfying, and his rapping is an unexpected treat. Jobs transforms from an idealistic hippie into a greedy tech bro, but Parry is given much, much less space in the script to flesh out this change. Teleri Hughes gives a particularly strong vocal performance as Myrtle, Gates’ love interest, while Elise Zavou as Jobs’ principled crush contributes a refreshingly critical note. The ensemble works well together and makes the creative choreography look effortless.

The set, designed by Sophia Pardon, consists of a table and a few shelving units, both on wheels, allowing for sleek and satisfying transitions. Paired with gorgeous lighting design by Matt Hockley, the show is a joy to look at. Additionally, the off-stage band, led by Chris Duffy, delivers a pleasing 80s-rock soundtrack that makes the piece feel cohesive where the writing falls short.

Packed with technology-related puns, the script is generally entertaining. However, various plotlines are abandoned as quickly as they are introduced. We hear something about a guy at IMB, a legal battle, intellectual theft, Jobs’ sudden interest in religion, etc, but all are discarded by the end of the relevant song. The ending, in which Jobs and Gates predictably give up their feud, felt unsatisfying.

Created by Jordan Allen-Dutton, Erik Weiner and Hal Goldberg in the 2000s, the tone of the musical is definitely silly, but it is not necessarily satirical. While Gates and Jobs are portrayed as self-centred and greedy, this is presented as a personal rather than a larger structural issue in Silicon Valley, and their flaws are mostly resolved by the end of the musical. The upbeat interpretation feels entirely disengaged from the right-wing, neoliberal thrust of Silicon Valley today, making the script feel rather outdated.

Nerds is not the topical, thought-provoking musical satire I was hoping for, but the talented cast and high production value make this worth a watch.

HOW TO WIN AGAINST HISTORY

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★

“an hour-and-a-half whirlwind of a spectacle”

Henry Cyril Paget, the 5th Marquess of Anglesey, converted his family’s ancient chapel into a theatre and quickly squandered his entire family fortune, only to die at the age of 29. His kin then attempted to erase him from the historical record by burning all his letters, after which one historian summarised his life as ‘in vain’. ‘How to Win Against History’ (ably directed by Lisa Spirling) takes the audience on a romp through Paget’s short life in the late 1800s: witty, ridiculous, upbeat, and fabulous, you quickly forget just how sad the premise is.

Seiriol Davies (who also wrote the book. music and lyrics for the show), dressed in increasingly outrageous glittery dresses (designed by Ryan Dawson Laight), plays the Marquess with complete conviction. Hayley Grindle’s exquisite set adds to the spectacle and is further enhanced by Robbie Butler’s glorious lighting. This is not an uncomplicated celebration of Paget: taught ‘dressage, oppression, oppressage’ at the ‘Eton School for Posh Boys’, the musical acknowledges that Paget’s extravagance is paired with little concern for the less fortunate or even the people around him. In Davies’ depiction, Paget’s naivety and ignorance become endearingly otherworldly, though his stylised performance leaves the ‘real’ Paget feeling elusive. To me, Matthew Blake steals the show, playing an impressive variety of characters, from Paget’s bisexual wife Lillian to an unforgiving Eton schoolmaster and a Daily Mail journalist a.k.a the Devil himself. While none of these characters are fleshed out in the script, Blake’s performance makes them instantly entertaining.

Davies and Blake are not the only actors on stage: the five-head band (musical director Dylan Townley) is perfectly choreographed and clearly engaged in the story, whether they are playing or not. Their instrumentals are sleek and upbeat, and their unfailing energy carries the show. Not all the songs in the show are memorable but ‘Mainstream Entertainment’ was an instant hit with the audience and is still stuck in my head the next day.

The show tells Paget’s life story in a clear-cut chronological order, though we are given a summary of what happens to him in the opening song. This rendered the story’s trajectory rather predictable, and leaving just a little bit more to the audience to discover themselves would have easily remedied this.

Viewers should not expect a careful examination of late Victorian England or a close look at the ‘real’ Marquess. Instead, strap in for an hour-and-a-half whirlwind of a spectacle, almost as over-the-top as Henry Cyril Paget himself.

Tag Archives: Pamela Raith

NERDS

★★★

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

NERDS

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★

“Packed with technology-related puns, the script is generally entertaining”

NERDS

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Reviewed on 15th August 2025 at Cowbarn at Underbelly, Bristo Square

by Lola Stakenburg

Photography by Pamela Raith

NERDS

NERDS

NERDS

HOW TO WIN AGAINST HISTORY

★★★★

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

HOW TO WIN AGAINST HISTORY

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★

“an hour-and-a-half whirlwind of a spectacle”