Review: Toto Kerblammo – Edinburgh International Children’s Festival 2026

Tim Crouch has never been a theatre-maker to patronise young audiences. In Toto Kerblammo!, the playwright and director delivers a sophisticated, emotionally bruising, and ultimately beautiful exploration of childhood trauma and unconditional love. It is a production over two decades in the making; originally conceived as a stage-and-radio hybrid that needed to be listened to as much as watched, the concept sat dormant until finally commissioned by London’s Unicorn Theatre in 2024.

I’d say the wait has been worth it. Currently running at the Studio Theatre for the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, this is not a conventional, heartwarming tale of a girl and her dog. Aimed at ages ten and up, it takes place entirely within a coma-induced limbo, asking its audience to don headphones and actively ‘see’ with their ears.

A Liminal Space: Comas and Talking Dogs

From the moment Helen Skiera’s stunning 3D binaural sound design assumes control, we are plunged into a disorienting world of screeching brakes, driving rain, and wailing sirens. As the auditory dust settles, the premise comes clear: twelve-year-old Effy lies in a coma following a devastating traffic accident. Visually, Lily Arnold’s set design offers a striking, minimalist counterpoint to this intense reality. The black-box stage is stripped down to a vast, bright white sheepskin rug, serving as a tactile, cloud-like purgatory cut through by Will Monks’ precise lighting.

In Toto Kerblammo!, the playwright and director delivers a sophisticated, emotionally bruising, and ultimately beautiful exploration of childhood trauma and unconditional love.

Suspended delicately between life and death, the extraordinary happens: in this liminal space, Effy’s faithful rescue dog, Toto, can talk. Acting as her guide, he encourages Effy—and the audience—to listen ever deeper. Like a hound tugging on a lead toward promised treasure, he pulls us through the nowhere/everywhere auditory maze of her scattered memories to uncover exactly how they ended up in the path of oncoming traffic.

But what he really wants us to listen for is the vibrations of the heart: it’s in hearing Effie’s emotional states that he understands her best. If we listen carefully, he suggests, maybe we can all ‘hear’ how we and others around us are really feeling.

Any early fears that the binaural technology might prove to be a mere theatrical gimmick are swiftly put to rest; it is the vital, immersive bridge into Effy’s mind: a world where talking dogs have wisdom to share.

Unspooling the Past: Sensational Chemistry

As the narrative reconstructs the past through their discussions, we learn of her mother’s sudden hospitalisation and a profoundly mistrustful Effy being sent to live with her aunt and uncle in a pet-free block of flats. With her life in freefall, she smuggles in Toto, the only creature whose love she feels capable of accepting.

**Lily Olufemi Bywaters Oliver Baines Credit Marc Brenner**

The two on-stage performers, Lily Olufemi-Bywaters and Oliver Baines, are sensational. They share a crackling chemistry that brilliantly underlines the production’s funniest and most touching moments, making it easy to care about these characters and feel deeply invested in their choices and futures. Olufemi-Bywaters portrays Effy with a fierce, defensive shell, perfectly capturing the emotional inarticulacy of a wounded child.

Opposite her, Baines executes the dual roles of Toto (vocalising in limbo, physicalizing in the memories) and the persistently friendly neighbourhood boy, Noah—a self-appointed ‘cat-fish’ who cheerfully cleans up the messes—with superb agility. He is enormously likeable in both parts, offering a vital anchor of warmth. Crucially, the adult figures—the mother, aunt, and uncle—exist entirely as disembodied voices piped through the headsets, brought to life through excellent, deeply character-filled vocal performances. It is a strong directorial choice that traps the audience squarely within Effy’s isolated reality.

Heart, Humour, and Defying the Straitjacket

Despite its intense premise, Toto Kerblammo! boasts an enormous heart and a razor-sharp sense of humour. Crouch understands that comedy attends even the lowest points of human experience, and he isn’t afraid to weave it organically through this life-or-death story.

Ultimately, the play is a poignant plea to remain open to love and to defy the traumas that threaten to wind a straitjacket around the heart. He doesn’t pretend this will lead to a happy ending, but he’s convinced it will be happier than the alternative.

It’s in acknowledging such nuance that he ultimately brings our time with Effy to a profoundly satisfying, optimistic close. This is a brave, inventive, and deeply meditative piece of theatre that lingers long after the headphones are removed.

Featured Image: Oliver Baines Lily Olufemi Bywaters Credit Marc Brenner