Review: Supposing, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe | Travfest26

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2 days ago
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Updated: 4 hours ago

An extraordinary performance from Nicole Cooper anchors the Traverse Theatre Company's world premiere of Supposing, written and directed by Zinnie Harris. Supposing plays in Traverse 2 until Sunday 30th August as part of TravFest26 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Read my review below.

Supposing ★★★⯪☆

Review: 7 August 2026 | Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Sally (Nicole Cooper) thinks that she's been cursed. It all started when she fell down a hole in the street. Ever since then, she's been hearing voices in her head, and they don't have anything nice to say. Her next-door neighbour has cancer, a young pregnant girl will lose her baby, the world will burn.

As Sally learns to live with the incessant internal Greek Chorus and the alarming appearance of more and more frogs in her life, she is tortured by indecision. Do the voices want her to do something?

First she must open up to her husband (Richard Conlon), who is incredulous at the talk of visions and prophecy, and who thinks that maybe she just needs a change of diet... or some HRT.

Award-winning playwright Zinnie Harris' blends Greek mythology with sharp contemporary storytelling in her new darkly comic play for Traverse Theatre Company. Supposing, which Harris also directs, is presented in the intimate space of the Traverse 2 studio theatre, Alisa Kayanova's design centring on an unimposing circle in the middle of the stage floor.

But there is such creativity in the deceptively simple staging; the perfect metaphor for the contrast between the domestic reality of the ordinary married couple before us, and the inexplicable, extraordinary things that Sally claims to see.

Nicole Cooper and Richard Conlon in Supposing by Zinnie Harris at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. Photo credit: Mihaela Bodlovic — Nicole Cooper and Richard Conlon in Supposing. Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic

In a world of predictable storylines, it's so refreshing to see an original, unique play crafted by a skilled writer - I had no idea where the narrative of this play was going to go.

It transpires that there are weighty themes at the core of Supposing: mental health, the climate emergency, Trump, immigration and racism, to name but a few. But it's the impact that Sally's visions have on her personally, her marriage and her sanity that I found most compelling. This new work sits perfectly in the TravFest26 programme, which aims to provide a platform for female voices and new writing.

With impeccable technical presentation and stimulating lighting design (Lizzie Powell) that accentuates her confusion and blurred reality, Sally's voice is brought to life by the wonderful Nicole Cooper. "I used to be rational", she tells us.

No stranger to leading powerful stage shows with an impressive run of memorable parts in recent years, Cooper is remarkable here in a complex, demanding role. She's the perfect, modern-day Cassandra.

Richard Conlon is wonderfully straight-faced as her impassive husband who works for the council and who, despite standing for Labour in a local election at some point in the past, now seems to have little care for the alarming rise of fascism, or even for the whereabouts of his immediate family.

Supposing is funny, unsettling and ambitious; but that ambition is also its weakness. It's so good, but it also tries to do too much. What starts as an eerie, intriguing, almost supernatural mystery, ultimately becomes a little too political and heavy-handed with its social commentary. Nonetheless, Zinnie Harris has a beautifully complex and rich premise for a play here; one overflowing with topical talking points and sure to generate a buzz. ★★★⯪☆