Uncertainty, confusion and the desperate desire to fit in dominate the themes of Something In The Water as a freshly born girl called Grumms discovers the gender typical activities she would associate with her sexual category don’t quite feel right. In an effort to conform, she acts in a way she believes she needs to but in the end she can’t ever be comfortable.

Grumms, after some unsuccessful Tinder dates with some questionable people, has an unexpected liaison with a puppet squid. She undergoes a shocking change where she become a half squid half sexually confused human monster! The very worst sort of infection you can get from a Tinder date. Even when hounded by the world as an evil creature from the deep, she is presented with the decision to embrace her monster ways or to be a hero.

A partly autobiographical show, it uses a projector and some appropriately chosen nostalgic tv toy commercials to emphasise the unpleasantness life is at times for Grumms and many other people in their situation. A number of difficult costume changes, although well managed in the circumstances, is a simple yet effective method to further the narrative of the story. There are a number of low level audience participation moments that were principally having the audience call out ‘Normal’ or ‘Not Normal’ at certain moments. Although they were comically timed and funny, they held a certain level of brevity.

Also performed as a separate children’s theatre show during the Fringe, that performance addresses the same issues with the same plot structure but with the obvious changes in performance and language in an effort to make it accessible for an underage crowd. As a virtual children’s theatre show it already is, the change from an adult version to a children’s one would essentially be seamless. The children’s performances are staged at the same venue at appropriate times in the afternoon to be manageable for after school hours.

Very funny but also a show with a very strong sexual equality theme, which at no point felt like it was preaching to the audience, rather presenting a journey that the audience is able to follow and understand the difficulties of people in that position have.