Bring the House Down

Alex Lyons knows exactly what rating a show deserves so on the opening night of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he doesn’t hesitate to give Hayley Sinclair’s performance a brutal one-star pan… nor does he hesitate when the chance arises to have a one-night stand with the struggling actress.

Hayley, humiliated and furious, transforms her show into a viral sensation skewering Alex Lyons: spoiled son of a beloved actress, notorious womanizer, and—if her performance is to be believed—a truly terrible man. Alex, however, refuses to apologize. As his public image combusts, he insists on sharing his side of the story with his colleague, Sophie. But the deeper Sophie is drawn into Alex’s unraveling world, the harder it becomes to decide what—and who—she believes.

Because in the theater, as in life, there are always two sides to every story.