Tomatoes

tried to Kill me

But Banjos Saved My Life

Paul T Davies reviews Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life at Space @ Surgeon’s Hall as part of the Edinburgh Fringe.

I missed this show in 2022 and was keen to catch it early this year. Now an established international success, it’s a fine piece of American storytelling....

A banjo, the lean and kindly man tells us, draws a line to the past – back to circles of players whiling away pre-electric evenings in the Blue Ridge Mountains, back to the vestigial sound of bagpipes urging Scotsmen across a battlefield, back even to primeval times, with people sitting around campfires and vocalizing with grunts and hums.