Thoughtful Tunes and Solving Cubes Review

I can’t wait until we can all get “together again”.

Alex Vann is a singer, a songwriter, an artist and a designer – and an accomplished solver of the Rubik’s Cube.

A 12-year-old Alex discovered the Rubiks Cube, he also discovered a book (by another 12-year-old) on how to solve the cube. He studied the book, learned the technique and stored the knowledge away for the day that he would build it into a show. 

Early in Thoughtful Tunes and Solving Cubes, at the Lych Gate Tavern in Wolverhampton, the Midlands Fringe audience realised that there was another important component to the show….. us.

Alex was using the cube as a metaphor for problem-solving. As someone who has never solved a Rubik’s Cube, this didn’t fill me with hope. However, there were a lot of us and only one cube.

Aptly, in a city whose motto is “Out of darkness cometh light”, Alex’s first song was Out of the Darkness. During the song, a pristine Rubik’s Cube was sent off on a journey through the audience for everyone to add their own twists and turns to the puzzle.

Next, we added percussion (tambourines and egg shakers) and a small vocal to the lovely Parallel Roads, inspired by Glen Roy in the Scottish Highlands, before Alex solved the face and edges of the cube (his technical terms, not mine). 

And so the show progressed, song after sublime song, with Alex setting the scene for each one. These were songs that held a lot of meaning to Alex. Hearing the inspiration, and meeting the characters, gave even more resonance to the lyrics.

As the show continued, we got even more involved. We got a whole chorus, with beautifully written lyrics held up for us. Then another song, another chorus, and more lyrics held aloft! 

While introducing the songs, and giving us our audience participation instruction, Alex sometimes did more work on the cube. Apparently, we hadn’t made the puzzle sufficiently difficult for it to need his attention every time.  

All too soon, the cube was complete and we were at the final song – a toe-tapping celebration of Mary, a former colleague of Alex. The cube complexity, or lack of it, was set aside and we earned our reward – tambourines, egg shakers, vocals…. and we even learned a little sign language.

I can’t wait until we can all get “together again”.