Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Like many adolescents, Jessica Durand used fan fiction to explore her nascent sexuality. In her case, that involved inserting herself into Downton Abbey as a humble maid called Peggy, working for the Crawley family when war broke out in 1914.

She fantasised a story based on Peggy having a crush on gay footman Thomas Barrow. When he was sent to the front line, she enlisted too, finding work in a field hospital in the hope that one day she might encounter her beloved there, and be able to nurse him back to health.

Over The Top is the adult Durand recreating that epic, which originally ran to an astonishing 500,000 thoroughly researched but badly written words. 

And the double meaning of that title soon becomes very apparent as the retelling spins the narrative out to increasingly mad fantasies about Nanny McPhee and Matilda’s Mrs Trunchbull – Durand clearly developing a penchant for bossy women. Look out, too, for an appearance by Kermit the Frog and a kink about being kidnapped by One Direction… a trope that bizarrely also features in Urooj Ashfaq’s Fringe show this year.

This is, essentially, a one-woman narrative character comedy, but given added meaning by Durand returning to the sometimes problematic source material to ground it in genuine youthful yearnings. Plus there’s running commentary on the obsessions behind fanfic in general, which she’s keen to assure us ‘is not all porn’.

Attention has been paid to every detail of the production, from the walk-in music – Hush Here Comes A Whizzbang, a jaunty little number about high-velocity artillery fire – to Edwardian-style costume and audio-visual elements that range from the evocative to cheaply edited films inserting Durand into scenes.

The audience help out with a few supporting roles – and, in an inclusive move, those willing to take part can grab a sticker signifying such Consent on the way in.

It’s quite a ramshackle show, but Durand – who’s reminiscent of a young Katherine Parkinson – holds it all together with a charismatic performance, fully committing to the madness she unleashes. Even so, the fantasies do come to strain the attention as they become increasingly divorced from storytelling norms.

You don’t need to know anything about Downton to appreciate this, while anyone who’s ever written fanfic is likely to get the most out of it. Even at face value, though, it’s a fun character comedy piece happy to bask in its own ridiculousness and high camp.

Review date: 25 Aug 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Underbelly Cowgate