★★
Kestrel Eye Production’s No Room At The Inn promises a witty and absurd comedy, but sadly, fails to achieve that. Opening in the depths of Hell, good angel Verchiel has received a message from God commanding they fix the cold-hearted innkeeper Issac and convince him to let baby Jesus be born in a manger in his stable. After lots of persuasion, pessimistic Belial comes to help, but the pair find they have very differing views on how best to sway Issac.
There are strong performances from the three actors, but the actress playing Belial completely steals the show. She delivers most of the show’s one-liners, and her cackles when Issac asks Verchiel if they are the devil and shrieks when she is torturing Issac are hilarious, perfectly suiting her character. When Verchiel’s attempts to convince him fail, her head pokes out from the curtains with a smug “I told you so” expression. Verchiel’s running gag is saying “oopsies” every time Issac or Belial swear. This has the potential to be funnier, but unfortunately falls flat.
The dialogue lets the performers down, often feeling a little clichéd and unnatural. For the angels, it could be forgiven, but when it comes to the innkeeper, it sounds very odd. He is supposed to be drunk or hungover, but his lines are too eloquent to make this sound realistic. He also describes those who aren’t from his country as “vagrants”, which gets overused and feels extremely jarring.
Good use is made of the sizable theatre, particularly to depict the journey from Hell to Earth. They wander amongst the aisles, occasionally asking audience members if they are Isaac. Particularly effective is the decision to have them walking behind the curtain, as it emphasises the length of their journey, while making it more interesting. Similarly, the use of soft red lights and a backing track of crackling coals when they are in Hell really help to set the atmosphere.
There are some promising moments, but ultimately, the plot has some holes that I can’t see past. In the first scene, where the angels are discussing Issac, it’s not clear enough who he is. Furthermore, if angels know everything about mortals just by looking at them as Verchiel says—and it must be true; angels cannot lie—then it raises questions about why their efforts to “fix” him are so unsuccessful. Considering Issac sees something in the mirror which results in him changing his mind and providing Mary and Joseph respite in his stable, it doesn’t feel like there was much point in them even trying. Neither the attempts or their discussions are particularly thought-provoking or insightful, resulting in No Room At The Inn unfortunately feeling like a waste of potential.
No Room At The Inn was performed at theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall as part of Edinburgh Fringe 2025.
Words by Ellen Leslie
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.