If fringe favourites Sh!t Theatre had a military wing, it would look like In Bed With My Brother. The company’s three members Nora Alexander, Dora Lynn and Kat Cory walk the line between entertainment and assault, revelling in their own messiness and being thrillingly awkward. They make punk theatre: funny, relentless and furious.
And if In Bed With My Brother had a role model, it would be the Shaggs. Dubbed the best worst band of all time, the New Hampshire trio were drilled by an authoritarian father who kept them in isolation to perfect a sound that was gloriously imperfect. They were mocked by audiences and even the sound engineers hired to record their 1969 album, Philosophy of the World.
In a different universe, this show would be a jukebox musical. It is anything but. Alexander, Lynn and Cory kind of tell the story of the Shaggs (in captions accompanied by a pummelling soundtrack by Brain Rays and Quiet) but their greater purpose is to celebrate the band for ploughing such a singular furrow. They see in these sisters an inspirational failure to conform – whether by accident or design.
Their purpose is also to rail against patriarchal forces. Austin Wiggin, father of Dorothy (vocals), Betty (guitar) and Rachel (bass), is an obvious target: a small-town svengali who, believing his children would bring him fame, forced them to rehearse and perform. Their target is also a patriarchal system that meant only with the endorsement of men such as Frank Zappa and Kurt Cobain could the Shaggs be rehabilitated.
The three actors, in cave woman wigs and often not much else, are furious with the lot of them, their rage channelled against guest performer Nigel Barrett, variously playing a stage manager, Austin and Austin’s ghost, and suffering a sustained attack for his trouble. It is unkept, unseemly and chaotic. And that is exactly the point.
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At Summerhall, Edinburgh, until 25 August
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