EDFRINGE REVIEW: Broadside (April Alsup Productions)

Broadside – ★★★☆☆ – Underdeveloped 

April Alsup Productions
7-15 Aug
Review by Rebecca Mahar
 
Packing a fifteen-strong company into the intimate Willow Studio at Riddles Court, April Alsup’s Broadside asks its audience to consider an overlooked aspect of Revolutionary American history: the broadsides themselves, and how these short, printed documents acted as the social media networks of their day, spreading viral messages from hand to hand like wildfire.
 
The musical is an ambitious proposal, bringing with it a full-scale cast and weaving in traditional tunes (such as “The Liberty Song” and the ancient refrain of “Derry Down”) alongside creator Alsup’s original compositions. Unfortunately, however, it is the production’s great ambitions that are its greatest weakness.

A scene from Broadside. Pic: April Alsup Productions.
 
Broadside’s stated focus is intriguing, but the broadsides themselves get little more than a mention throughout the hour. Clearly intended to be a thematic through-line, they instead pop in incidentally to the larger story at hand. What that story is, however, is also somewhat confusing.
 
The Sons of Liberty appear, with classic characters such as Paul Revere and Sam and John Adams. They are joined by the Daughters of Liberty, such as Abigail Adams, Sarah Revere, and Mercy Otis Warren. On the other side of the revolutionary divide (described as “a messy breakup” in promotional material) are General Gage and his wife Margaret, assisted by Governor Hutchison. Out of this large cast of characters many highlighted moments appear, snapshots of revolutionary history, but they can’t seem to agree on what the overall story is supposed to be, with the single most followable thread being that of Margaret Gage and her journey towards patriotism.
 
The greatest misfortune of Broadside is its introduction but criminal underuse of Phillis Wheatley. Born in West Africa, Phillis Wheatly was a formerly enslaved Black American, emancipated in 1773 after becoming the first Black American author of a published book of poetry. A remarkable (if not undivisive) figure in Black literary history, Wheatley has been the subject of previous plays such as Mary Church Terell’s Historical Pageant-Play Based on the Life of Phyllis Wheatley and Phillis in Boston by Ade Solanke. In Broadside, however, she sits on the outside of the narrative, providing narration but without participating in its events, or tying back the idea of the broadsides and the power of print to her own story. She is introduced in the play as someone whose work was questioned due to the colour of her skin and her gender, but Broadside offers Wheatley no platform from which to assert herself. This jarring lack opens the question of why she was included in the first place, if not to be integrated as she deserves.

Antigone Bittle as Mercy Otis Warren and Sonsharae Tull as Phillis Wheatley. Pic: April Alsup Productions.

Is this a Phillis Wheatley play, a Sons of Liberty Play, a Daughters of Liberty play, or a play about broadsides and their revolutionary role? Each of these aspects is at war in the structure of the piece, leaving insufficient room for any, and an unsatisfying it’s-over-now sort of ending.
 
Despite the shortcomings of the material, the company provide excellent performances that lift the whole piece, fully committed, comically cheeky, and holding beautifully to their harmonies even while dancing and dodging each other in a venue that is rather too small for them (plaudits due to director Kelly McAllister, also Johns Hancock & Adams, and choreographer Heather Westenskow, also Abigail Adams). Live music, provided by Alsup on keyboard and Patrick Allen Hyatte on violin, is simply arranged and refreshing, recalling the kind of tavern rooms and meeting halls parts of the show take place in.
 
Sonsharae Tull holds power and poise as Phillis Wheatley, making the most of her role. Olivia Kisicki as Maragaret Gage and Antigone Biddle as Mercy Otis Warren are standouts among the Daughters (though all are brilliant— where is the Needle Guard musical?), with Tanner Kelly (also Musical Director) as Sam Adams and Gunnar Bettis as Paul Revere highlights among the Sons. These last two are unfortunately also the bearers of a couple of strange design choices, with Kelly victim to an unlined thin cotton vest and Bettis utilising what looks suspiciously like a Jøtul waffle iron as a printing press (made stranger by the printing house equipment having previously been mimed).
 
While Broadside is a piece that clearly needs more work, it’s also clearly fuelled by a passion for the period and its un- and under-told stories. With further development, and a longer running time, it has the potential to be the next fascinating musical about early American history.
 
Running time: One hour with no interval
Venue: Willow Studio, Greenside @ Riddles Court (Venue 16), 322 Lawnmarket EH1 2PG
7-15 August 2026 
Time: 17:25am

The cast of Broadside, with set from a previous production. Pic: April Alsup Productions.


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