REVIEW: Bean vs The Robots: A Solo Show Musical - EdFringe 2026

Star rating: ★★★

Photo taken by Cody Jacobs

Bean has been trapped inside her spaceship for a very long time; when she discovers the audience, she takes the opportunity to sing them sad little songs. As she starts singing, little by little her memories come back, and a heartbreaking question rises up: what if she lost someone important? Afraid of remembering or, even worse, disrupting her solo show, she deems it easier to trap the audience inside her spaceship forever! Who needs memories anyway?
Be prepared for audience participation in this heartwarming and intimate musical story of memory, connection, and survival.

The show was a wonderfully charismatic and engaging performance, where the audience interaction was definitely one of the main highlights, together with Midge's performance and energy. However, in the beginning, we got a lot of Lord of the Rings references, which felt quite unconnected to the show and made it hard to follow the plot. In the end, there was no ‘right answer’ to the story, and I think everyone's interpretation could have been different.

I felt confused at some points, as I had no idea what the plot was. As part of the story, Midge sings little sad songs to help get her memory back. However, the songs throughout the show are repetitive and carry the same tune, simply adding different lyrics, which becomes uninteresting quite quickly.

Overall, Bean vs. The Robots is a fun and bonkers Fringe experience.

Bean vs. The Robots: A Solo Show Musical is playing until 29th August as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at Theatre 2 at theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall.