Edinburgh Fringe Review – F**king Legend

Ollie Hawes paints at times a disturbing picture of the rollercoaster that is modern masculinity but in doing so brings a freshness and intelligence that gives it a palatable edge. F**king Legend will challenge your cognitive dissonance, says Phoebe Bakker, reviewing at the Edinburgh Fringe 2024. 

Edinburgh Fringe Review – F**king Legend

F**king Legend looks at the cognitive dissonance of trying to live your day to day life – whether that be choosing socks to wear in the AM or just trying to enjoy your stag do – while handling the knowledge that the world is headed rapidly downhill. And then asks, within that, if it’s possible to be a good man. A big ask for a 60 minute play. Thank god, it delivers. 

Hawes has special gravitas on stage, an ease of speech that tumbles out of him sounding almost like a lullaby – he plays the audience like puppets, totally precise with the journey he’s taking us on. We’re captivated by him from the moment he gets on stage, filled with energy, humour and at times a tenderness that navigates the different thought patterns. He’s effortlessly easy to watch, a multitude of masks that he pulls off one after the other leaving him raw, vulnerable and even bleeding by the end of it.

The show beautifully seesaws the contradictions inherent to enjoying your life while being hyper aware of the state of the world, navigated through the inner monologue of a stereotypical ‘bloke’. Hawes is keenly aware of how uncomfortable this is to watch. The character work is superb in this in particular – Hawes takes moments to break, provides us palate cleansers of laughter which deftly segue into new sections that demand the audience ask questions, shifting their image of the man created throughout. At points we find ourselves agreeing with the depressing reality presented, a feeling of dirt under our fingernails by the grit of it all. By the end I’m sure for some it feels like holding up a mirror in what creates a moral grey area.

You can buy tickets for F**king Legend until August 25th here at the Edinburgh Fringe website.