Penny Dreadful's Etherdome

Penny Dreadful, the company behind Etherdome, say they are committed to telling “fascinating true stories of ordinary people who have been overlooked by history”. Certainly, nobody can accuse Etherdome of using a clichéd premise. In a vaudevillian, melodramatic style, it tells the story of the rivalry between three 19th century scientists—Charles T. Jackson, William T.G. Morton, and Horace Wells—each seeking to discover a reliable anaesthetic.

Many aspects of the show are, indeed, excellent. All elements of its design are superlative: the set design is ingeniously adaptable—though ostensibly just a wardrobe and some basic furniture, it manages to slickly transform into a futuristic dreamland, or an operating room complete with patient—and meshes well with the faux-Victoriana of the George Square Bosco tent. Furthermore, the few instances of music are well-crafted and well-executed reprieves.

The show's overriding flaw, though, is its failure to define what it wants to be. For the most part, it could be a child-friendly "edutainment" production—akin to Terry Deary's Horrible Histories book series—until you consider the gratuitous onstage humping. Some of the plot's more reflective scenes (one character's violent rage results in his demise) are genuinely tragic, but then refuse to sit well with the slapstick and lose their impact. The story told is a fairly interesting one and the farcical tomfoolery often entertaining, if a tad puerile, but the meshing of the two is unfortunately not entirely pain-free.