‘We can neither confirm nor deny our involvement in “anarchic” or “unclassifiable activities,”’ say theatre provocateurs Nora Alexander, Dora Lynn and Kat Cory. Yet both these descriptors have been applied to the shows they’ve written, created and performed under the moniker In Bed With My Brother. In keeping with the trio’s eyebrow-raising name, their performances are brash and experimental, full of nudity, expletives and audience participation.

No strangers to the Fringe, their 2016 Edinburgh debut, We Are Ian, dived into the early 90s Manchester rave scene and garnered a nomination for the Total Theatre Emerging Company Award. 2019’s follow-up, Tricky Second Album, disproved its name and nabbed them a Total Theatre Award for innovation, experimentation and playing with form. Now they’re back and promising ‘a bit of a change of direction.’

‘In a world of pure chaos and destruction,’ they say over email, ‘we reckon rigorous rehearsal, a well-written narrative and nuanced dramaturgy is true rebellion.’ Should we expect a more mellow theatre experience then for the upcoming Philosophy Of The World? Hardly.

Drawing its title from the 1969 album of the same name, Philosophy Of The World concerns the American rock band The Shaggs, composed of sisters Dot, Betty and Helen Wiggins. In a period alive with works of musical genius, The Shaggs stood out for all the wrong reasons: their rhythmically, vocally and lyrically challenged music earned them the title of the worst band in the world. The sisters were evidently not natural musicians, nor did they want to be. Their career was orchestrated and financed by their father, Austin, who was intent on fulfilling a childhood palm reading that predicted his future daughters would form an influential band. And he succeeded, in a way: The Shaggs later achieved cult status as outsider musicians, lauded by the likes of Frank Zappa and Kurt Cobain. 

In Bed With My Brother were perhaps drawn to the story of The Shaggs due to the band’s similar resistance to classification. Were they ahead of their time or simply awful? They were an all-female band who completely transgressed any sort of musical rules. They were also unwilling musicians, controlled by a domineering father. Though Philosophy Of The World is described as a ‘feminist reclamation’ of The Shaggs, capturing this tension at the heart of the band has proved challenging. ‘To be real, this has been by far the hardest show we’ve ever made,’ admit the trio. 

The company may be attempting to capitalise on the current music-biopic boom with their latest piece of theatre (they apologise for the absence of Timothée Chalamet, so audiences will have to make do with Alexander, Lynn and Cory in the lead roles). But more importantly, they have crafted a story about fate, one in which they ask ‘who is in control of us and our destiny?’ Though they undoubtedly hope to secure a successful festival hat-trick, they can, at the very least, guarantee Philosophy Of The World will ‘resonate very loudly through a 5.1 surround-sound system and subwoofers.’

Philosophy Of The World, Summerhall, 31 July–25 August, 10.45pm.