We head for The Paramount on Courtenay Place. Luckily I know where the little anonymous door is that takes us to The Gods, because there is no sign of the Fringe banner that marked it for the launch of the Fringe Programme last year. Also luckily, someone comes down the stairs, asks us which show we are going to and tells us The Gods Auditorium is accessed from Forresters Lane.

So we trek round the corner into Tory Street, first left into a deserted Forresters Lane and still there is no signage. Only when we get to the very end do we see a small note taped to an open door that tells us this is the place. A line of punters waits on a flight of narrow stairs. (Perhaps those who paid for their tickets got a message about the venue while holders of comps were not.)

Note to Fringe: someone needs to think this through from a ‘random customers’ perspective.

‘The Auditorium at The Gods Paramount’ is a small room at the top of a flight of narrow stairs, well-appointed with three raked rows of seats. A transistor radio/clock set at 08:00pm and some sort of remote device sit on a small table. There’s a coloured box beneath and three Wonk boxes are set stage right. There’s a chair stage left.

Darkness. A piping voice tells us the ghost of a little girl is said to haunt this house by a church and graveyard. This is where torch-bearing Caleb (Xanthe Curtain) and Billy (Sophie Badrick) arrive on a mission to find whether Caleb’s Granddad’s stories are true.

It emerges that the ghost-hunt plot is a vehicle for Curtain and Badrick to explore the behaviours of tweenage boys – which they achieve with insight, humour and some heartfelt poignant moments.

The inevitable ghost turns out to be a boy, Victor, manifested by Moe Hawk. Along with the ghostly tropes, he offers satirical commentary on what passes for ‘progress’ since his unfortunate demise 136 years and 71 days ago. Thus the evolution of language and games are noted – e.g. the verb ‘to hang’ and Tiddlywinks v Fortnite and Minecraft.

Tech Operator Michael Trigg’s subtle lighting and sound effects serve the scenario well.

Overall, the valued takeaway from Ghost Bros is its perception of what tests a prepubescent ‘bromance’ in a world best with non-human distractions.

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