The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much ★★★★★

Imagine the suspenseful twists and turns and the irresistible intrigue of a Hitchcock movie like North By Northwest. Imagine the international glamour and the high-octane spy thrills of an earlier James Bond movie like Thunderball or You Only Live Twice.

Now imagine that onstage at the Edinburgh Fringe with only four performers, a musician, a couple of hats, a few newspapers…AND IT BEING JUST AS GOOD! Look no further than Voloz Collective’s The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much.

The story begins in New York City with Roger (it’s pronounced as in the French ‘Ro-jay’ rather the English ‘Rodger’), an advertising copywriters so suave and sexy that Jazz music follows him. He has a very precise daily routine en route to the office. So far, so establishing. But then, one day, stroking a cat, slightly delays him. He then misses his regular train, and a subsequent series of mishaps in his usual coffee shop means he arrives notably later than he would normally do… only to see the windows of the building explode!

This is just the beginning of a thrilling, stylish, international escapade, packed with genuinely delightful moments and unexpected reveals that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

While the story is great, the telling of it is even better. From superb instant characterisations of a dramatis personae from across the world to anthropomorphising into whatever object the narrative needs (a typewriter, the sight of a rifle or the dial of a telephone), the sheer array of accents and meticulous choreography will leave you breathless at the talent and skill of this quartet of performers. Slow-motion, fast rewinds, a hilarious underwater sequence: nothing is beyond their inventiveness.

It’ll make you Ooh! It’ll make you laugh. It’ll make you want to tell everyone to go and see The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much.