Elisabeth Flett
“Memory meets Melody in the Song Society”
Deep in the underground tunnels of Underbelly Bristo Square, a Songkeeper is ready to welcome her audience – and collect their less than ideal memories. Accidentally called your boss ‘Dad’? Liked a coworker’s 42 week old Instagram post? Never got over that lost love, or that lost opportunity, or that lost dream? Never fear: the Songkeeper is here to take care of all your unwanted memories, and to neutralise the ones too painful to remember. At least, she would be – if her device would only stop malfunctioning….
Created by award-winning writer and performer Florencia Iriondo, Song Society is a one-woman show which combines the sound world of Argentinian folk and acoustic pop, the humour of a family friendly stand-up routine and the plot premise of a bittersweet sci-fi novel. If you could give your unwanted memories to a machine and receive a song instead, which memories would you hand over? What would you lose in the act of forgetting?
Audience members are invited to write their own memories on scraps of paper as they queue to enter the theatre. Those memories are then read out loud onstage, and added to the Songkeeper’s collection. The anonymity of the interactive element enables everyone to join in with the show at their own comfort level, with even the youngest visitors to the Songkeeper’s workshop able to contribute something to the show.
The stand-out element to Song Society is the magnificent prop which rightfully takes up centre stage for the duration of the show: the Songkeeper’s Device, OLGA. OLGA came alive during a full moon when a chocolate wrapper accidentally fell into her circuits. OLGA has mysterious musicians ready to play magically created songs on her little video screen. OLGA is a gloriously steam-punk creation of buttons, levels, switches, dials and even an old-fashioned telephone receiver.OLGA is named after the Songkeeper’s grandmother. OLGA has had quite enough of the Songkeeper’s emotional dysregulation.
Song Society doesn’t quite have the feel of a traditional musical, but it is a show which focuses around music making and includes several enjoyable songs. Iriondo is a talented musician with a strong, sweet singing voice, and the backing tracks from our unseen ‘musicians’ are tonally well balanced, with the string accompaniments for ‘Blue Heart’ a particular highlight. The touches of Argentinian folk within the backing tracks add a great deal to the overall feel to the compositions, and more of this element would be welcome.
Towards the end of the show our Storykeeper muses that, “if you file away pain, you file away purpose.” Underneath the quippy dialogue and fun special effects, Song Society is a show about exactly this dilemma. How do we sit with the uncomfortable things in life? In this 2025 world full of AI chatbots keen to tell us whatever we want to hear, endless emotion-numbing distractions and rampant toxic positivity it’s refreshing to find a performance all about the idea that just because a feeling is hard doesn’t mean it needs a quick fix.
Song Society is a show which feels like it isn’t quite done just yet. The dialogue stumbles in places, the staging could be realised on a larger scale – OLGA’s video screen in particular is a wonderful piece of stage craft which is unfortunately only properly visible from the first two rows – and it sometimes felt as though the tone of the show was unclear. More elements embracing the eccentric steam-punk energy at the start of Song Society would be welcome, as would clearer ‘lore’ as to how OLGA actually works. Overall, however, there is plenty to enjoy in such a big hearted show with such an imaginative concept. Song Society is advertised as suitable for ages 8+, and it is a perfect watch for anyone with music-loving children looking for a fun performance with a thoughtful message at its heart.
Recommended Drink: This show pairs perfectly with a warm, comforting cup of tea. (Ideally served in a family heirloom teapot.)
You can see Song Society at Dexter at Underbelly, Bristo Square at 13:15 (60 mins) playing from now until 25th August at 13:15. Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake Mace
