Fringe Quickies: Hit Me: The Life and Rhymes of Ian Dury

This is something you don’t see every day: a West End musical with a cast of two. Focusing on legendary Blockheads frontman Ian Dury’s relationship with his tour manager Fred “Spider” Rowe, the show explores juicy backstage anecdotes like rejecting Andrew Lloyd Webber’s offer to write the Cats libretto, or being sabotaged onstage by Lou Reed’s sound engineer. Despite serious biographical omissions (like Dury’s acting career), Hit Me entertains with a moving story, plenty of rock and roll chutzpah and Mark White’s flawless vocal performance, recreating Dury’s cockney irreverence in ten Blockheads hits.

Hit Me: The Life and Rhymes of Ian Dury. Written and directed by Jeff Merrifield. Gilded Balloon Teviot, Edinburgh. 4-9, 11-16, 18-23, 25-30 August, 15:00. £11 (£10 concessions). www.hitmetour.com