Review: I Can Die Too – Pitlochry Festival Theatre

It’s no secret that I love Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Alan Cumming’s enthusiasm and ambition for the place, but sadly I Can Die Too – a bit of a nod to Cocteau’s La Voix Humaine didn’t do it for me. It felt like a work in progress, not quite finished, and, as a result, a bit messy and ragged round the edges. There was, of course, something to like about it, but there was just a bit too much going on, but not refined enough, in a very short piece: only 75 minutes.

Cumming describes it as ‘A play within a play, a gig, a song cycle, a fantasia on Cocteau…’ all of which is what I’m talking about. Too much. Director Bill Buckhurst says that it ‘totally nails the glorious, messy, sometimes chaotic, funny and surreal experience of making a piece of theatre’. I absolutely get the idea – ideas – but I found it unsatisfactory in that the chaos of the script seemed to leach into the production itself.

Something this chaotic needs to be honed to perfection, and this felt as if it perhaps hadn’t had enough rehearsal time to make its messiness seem like an observation on life, not a reality of this production. The whole thing left me feeling a bit like a parent watching their children performing on stage – being more worried that it will actually just all go wrong than being able to sit back and enjoy it fully.

Design Hits and Musical Misses

Simon Kenny’s design was eye-catching and perfect for the lovely Studio and captured the claustrophobia of the piece. What were all the telephones about? What might they signify? Would Gen Z even know what these museum pieces were? And what, if anything, was under the pile of fabric in the corner? And all of this before I Can Die Too even started.

Sound and lighting by Tom Marshall and Emma Chapman, respectively, were effective, and I especially liked the interplay of all of the design team on the backdrop which housed the musicians. I wasn’t sure of the significance of Frew (Musical Director), who was on stage pretty much all of the time but, unlike the other musicians, didn’t have a role as an actor in the play itself.

Having read the online programme since, I understand that he is a conductor and composer – not an actor – and, as he was part of the ‘band’ had to be on stage whenever they were. Now it makes sense and, writing this, makes me realise just how much of the play just didn’t make total sense to me.

I have to say that the musicians were excellent and very evidently multi-talented, though I didn’t feel that Ruffelle’s voice stood up to the demands of the 75 minutes required of it. None of the songs have stayed with me, but sadly the imperfections have.

A Final Verdict on the Chaos

And that is the problem with this piece for me – too many ideas, many of which are not explored in a coherent way. Even the title – I Can Die Too – was still a bit of a mystery by the end. Yes, it was made clear a couple of times that this was Cocteau’s response to hearing that Edith Piaf had died. So we can pick up on the ‘no regrets’ theme, but surely there’s more to it than that?

I do like messy – I just like it to be much more precise than this.

Featured Image: Frances Ruffelle and the cast of I Can Die Too – image by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

I Can Die Too will play the Pitlochry Festival Theatre until 2 August 2026. For tickets or more information, click here: https://www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com/whats-on/i-can-die-too/