By Grace Hatchell
Now then, we’ve all got them.
The people who wandered into our lives, made themselves comfortable for a while and then, for whatever reason, didn’t make it into the next chapter.
Some disappear quietly. Some leave a whopping great emotional crater behind them. And some occasionally pop into your head years later while you’re making a cup of tea and leave you wondering, “Whatever happened to them?”
Well, Edinburgh Fringe musical You Never Know: A Song Cycle is delving straight into that wonderfully complicated territory.
And frankly, I’m intrigued.
Featuring songs from Joey Contreras’ In Pieces, You Never Know is a contemporary musical exploring life, relationships and, perhaps most interestingly, the people we didn’t end up with.
Through a pop-driven score, we follow seven classmates through memories of love, loss and self-discovery as they attempt to work out who they are and where life might take them.
So essentially, relationships and questionable life decisions set to music.
Excellent.
At the heart of the show are several intertwined relationships.
Charlie is a socially awkward teenager who finds himself tutoring popular boy Grey in computer science. An unlikely friendship begins to develop, but Grey soon discovers that his feelings towards Charlie might be something more.
Then there’s Sam and Hunter.
They also meet at high school, but as Sam’s career begins to blossom, Hunter increasingly feels as though he’s being left behind.
Something isn’t working between them.
The question is whether their shared history is enough to keep them together.
And that’s an interesting one, isn’t it?
Sometimes having years of history with somebody can be the very thing that keeps a relationship going – even when both people might quietly be wondering whether it should.
Meanwhile, Austyn and Alex are working at the local coffee shop, watching their peers experience parts of life they themselves desperately want to live.
Then we have Jael.
Oh, Jael.
She’s obsessing over her dream man.
He’s perfect.
He’s smart.
And he loves Britney Spears.
There is, unfortunately, one tiny flaw in this otherwise flawless romantic plan.
He doesn’t know she exists.
She’s building up the courage to send him a Facebook friend request.
Any day now.
Come on, Jael. Grace believes in you.
These individual stories give You Never Know plenty of territory to explore, from unrequited love and changing relationships to sexuality, ambition and that uncomfortable feeling that everyone else appears to be getting somewhere in life while you’re still trying to work out where you’re going.
There’s another reason this production caught my attention.
The cast consists of ten graduate performers and performers approaching the end of their training at leading London drama schools, while behind the production is an all-female production team.
For several of the performers, this could be the beginning of some very interesting careers too, with cast members already booking UK tours and other projects for the coming months.
And you know what I’m like.
I love this bit of the Fringe.
Yes, Edinburgh attracts established names and big productions, but somewhere amongst the thousands of shows are performers taking those first big steps into the industry.
You might be watching someone whose name you’ll be seeing considerably more of in a few years.
That’s rather exciting.
Behind the production is Laura Sofia, an emerging producer and performer currently studying for a BA in Musical Theatre at Italia Conti.
She’s due to return for her third and final year in September, having previously performed in concerts and released the Christmas single Kisses to Christmas in 2019.
Now she’s taking Laura Sofia Productions to Edinburgh for its Fringe debut.
No pressure then.
Just take a company to the biggest arts festival in the world and see what happens.
What could possibly go wrong?
Actually, I rather admire it.
The Fringe needs young producers willing to take risks and put their ideas in front of audiences, and this production will also mark the Scottish debut of Joey Contreras’ music in You Never Know: A Song Cycle.
You Never Know: A Song Cycle plays at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall from 17–22 August 2026.
Performances begin at 7:25pm and run for approximately 55 minutes, with tickets priced at £13 or £12 concessions. It’s also listed as suitable for all ages.
Fifty-five minutes.
Perfect Fringe territory.
Pop-driven musical theatre, emerging performers, complicated relationships and somebody desperately trying to summon the courage to send a Facebook friend request.
I’m invested in Jael already.
But underneath the humour is a rather lovely idea.
Not everybody who becomes important to us stays with us.
Some relationships last. Others change. Some disappear altogether.
But each can leave behind a little piece of the person we eventually become.
And perhaps that’s why a musical about the people we didn’t end up with might resonate with rather a lot of us.
Grace x
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/you-never-know-a-song-cycle
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