A musical comedy show from Finger Guns and Liebenspiel heading to the Edinburgh Fringe, Mothman: A Romance Musical is “a surrealist comedy about three friends searching for the legendary Mothman – the show explores strong themes of identity, sexuality and self-acceptance through a kaleidoscopic blend of emotional ballads, unnecessary dance numbers, and a frankly frustrating amount of costumes, props, and blood.”
“It’s 1943, and the Nazis are winning. Luckily, America has one last trick up its sleeve – a super soldier! But uh oh! A moth snuck into the machine! It’s mutating! It’s becoming a… moth… man!? Written and performed by Alex Franklin (as seen on Channel 4 and HBO Max) and Nikola McMurtrie (Sketch Off 2025 Third Place, Funny Women Shorts winner), with Alex Prescot (Musical Comedy Award finalist) and Hudson Hughes (Double Sketch Off finalist). Prepare for the ultimate romantic comedy musical that no one asked for. Mothman!“
Where: Belly Button at Underbelly, Cowgate
When: 5-30 Aug
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/mothman-a-romance-musical
What can you tell us about your show? What is it about and where did the idea come from?
Mothman: A Romance Musical follows three monster hunting enthusiasts trying to track down the famous West Virginian cryptid Mothman, until one of them falls in love with Mothman due to his hot mothy bod. The show was born after I dragged Nikola [McMurtrie] to a hotel for company and then she inexplicably brought out a book of fanfic minotaur porn (true story).
It’s actually the only literature she reads – she feels most other works are too ‘grandiose’ and ‘don’t speak for the everyday woman’. She then held a gun to my head and said, “Write a musical with me about a woman trying to sleep with Mothman!” and I said, “Fine, just let me go; I have so much to live for.” Then we roped some buddies in, and here we are 🙂
How would you sell it to audiences in one paragraph?
Normally I just list a bunch of things, and people are sold. We’ve got Mothman, we’ve got romance, we’ve got dance numbers, we’ve got backflips, we’ve got someone being thrown through a table, we’ve got a man dressed as a tree, we’ve got cannibals, and we’ve got WONDERFUL singing voices!
Do you enjoy participating in the Fringe? And do you have any moments you particularly remember?
I get spooked by crowds so sometimes I just sort of skulk around in the gutters. Sometimes I’ll untie people’s laces if they accidentally stand next to a drain I can reach my long, slender fingers through, even tie them together on occasion. The best moment was when I tied the shoes together of the whole cast and crew of a university improv show, then skulked back to my underground hovel.
What are you looking forward to the most in Edinburgh?
Arthur’s Seat, for I have buried a bunch of treasure there, and every year I go up to check that it is still undiscovered.
What’s next for the show?
We’ll probably turn it into some kind of board game, maybe a lunchbox, maybe some sort of JRPG.