THE 2023 SHOWS
BACON
Written by Sophie Swithinbank
Discovered at the Edinburgh Fringe
An unflinching and unexpectedly humorous look at masculinity, sexuality and power, through the dizzying lens of youth. We follow Mark and Darren on Year 10’s first day back at school. Mark is new and too scared to make friends; Darren is out of control and too scary to make friends. The two of them need each other – but neither would ever admit it.
ABERDEEN
Written & Performed by Cassie Workman
Discovered at the Edinburgh Fringe
A part fantasy, part biography show, multi award-winning writer, comedian, musician and animator, Cassie Workman has an in-the-round conversation with the man himself. Grunge, life, death, and salvation, this striking original work is performed entirely in rhyming couplets and is a heartbreaking homage to one of our most beloved artists.
IT’S A MOTHERF**KING PLEASURE
Written & Directed by Josh Roche | Performed by FlawBored
Discovered at the Edinburgh Fringe
Hot off the back of their smash-hit run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, multi-award winning. disability-led theatre company FlawBored present It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure; ‘a smart, scathing satire’ on the monetisation of identity politics that spares no-one. With director and writer Josh Roche, It’s a Motherf**king pleasure asks the question of, “usually disabled people just want to do the right thing; but what if they don’t? What if they were out to make as much money as possible from the guilt of non-disabled, anxious people (like you)?”
ESTHER’S REVENGE
Produced by Tope Sanni
Discovered at the Brighton Fringe
An experiential play inspired by true life events of Esther who was reported to have murdered her white lover in 1953. The sentence is death by Hanging. This very participatory play as devised, explores themes around Race, Colonization, Sexual abuse, violence against women, political and social injustice. Esther takes us on a journey through time into the events leading up to the death of Mark. The Jury is given the responsibility to vote in favour or against a stay of Execution.
JEKYLL & HYDE: A ONE WOMAN SHOW
Written & Directed by JD Henshaw | Performed by Heather-Rose Andrews
Discovered at the Prague Fringe
A new take on Stevenson’s science-horror classic Jekyll & Hyde, the play investigates class, terror, and hypocrisy in Victorian London as the search for self collides with the lure of the sensuous.
SPLIT LIP
Written & Directed by Blake Anderson
Discovered at the Perth Fringe
Split Lip tells the story of Ginava; a patient diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Pulling from over 40+ film and television references, split lip explores the experience of trauma, and how it affects mental health, all performed through the medium of spoken word lip-syncing.
WOUNDED
Written by Jiggs Burgess | Directed by Del Shores
Discovered at the Hollywood Fringe
Writer Jiggs Burgess tells us the story of a repressed nobody who thinks of himself as somebody, an addict, who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf played out between hummingbirds, and a pussy eating dog. Following former university classmates Carrol and Robert as their personal circumstances have led them down two very different paths, director Del Shores brings to the stage the notion that “in the darkest of comedies, the bleak paths our lives can lead us down are on full display”. Winner of the Pick of the Hollywood Fringe, Best of Broadwater Theatre, and Hollywood Encore Producers' Awards.
THE MOVEMENT YOU NEED
Performed by Brendan Hunt
Discovered at the Hollywood Fringe
Join Ted Lasso’s Brendan Hunt as he presents a new solo show (still a work in progress) that revolutionizes the genre via the unprecedented step of exploring the writer’s relationship with their dead mother. In this case, Brendan and his mother had a complicated relationship, that had one uncomplicated connection point: the music of The Beatles.
UROBOROS-AKMÉ
Performed by Sabino Barbieri and Nuria Argiles
Discovered at the Catania Fringe
Fresh from the Catania Fringe Festival, Sabino Barbieri and Nuria Argiles showcase the dance creations of Uroboros and Akmé. Uroboros empathetically brings to the stage moments of the cycle of life in which anyone can feel identified. Instead, Akmé exposes sensations close to the limit. They use their bodies to create images open to the viewer's interpretation. A stimulating choreography that transports you into the world of relationships, both those you share with a person and those you have with yourself.
TROY HAWKE: THE GREETERS GUILD
Perfect for those who reject polish and finesse in the face of the in-the-moment reaction to ideas that looked far better on paper. Mistakes will be made, but the recoveries will be guaranteed sublime.
CONNOR BURNS: VERTIGO
A punchline-packed show featuring relationships, submarines, and the inevitable family drama. Hilarious, relatable and a bit rude in places, Connor's quick wit entwined with his sharp material has seen him become one of Scotland's fastest rising comedy stars.
ED BRYNE: TRAGEDY PLUS TIME
At its core, this show is Ed’s incredibly brave and honest love letter to his brother Paul who died last year at an early age. Cathartic, beautifully written, and above all funny, Ed shares a sense of community with universal themes of sibling discord, reconciliation, and bereavement. Known as a Master of Observational Comedy, with this stunning show Ed takes the comedian’s art to the next level and beyond.
LARRY DEAN: IT HAPPENS
Triple Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominee and star of Live At The Apollo brings his blisteringly hilarious hour of "confessional storytelling at its funniest" (★★★★★ Herald) to SoHo Playhouse for his New York Comedy Festival debut.
DANIEL FOXX: VILLAIN
What’s a little evil amongst friends? Fresh from a complete sell-out extended run at the Edinburgh Fringe, award-winning gossip and TikTok starlet Daniel Foxx delivers a sensational show about childhood, Tilda Swinton and bullying (but in a chic way). Nominated for the NextUp BIGGEST Award in Comedy at Edinburgh Fringe 2023, officially recommended by British Comedy Guide and featured in Dave’s Top Ten Jokes of the Fringe 2023.
FERN BRADY: AUTISTIC BIKINI QUEEN
The irreverent Scottish comedian tackles big themes like death, decline and the disappointments of middle age in her stand-up special filmed in Bristol. One of the UK’s most exciting comedians, Fern Brady recently starred on Taskmaster and proved to be one of their most popular constestants.
BROAD COMEDY
If you’re looking for racy, smart, feisty comedy that comes with an edgy integrity plus satirical honesty, then Broad Comedy is your jam. It’s outrageous, it’s community, it’s a party on a stage.
GRACE CAMPBELL: A SHOW ABOUT ME(N)
A show about Grace's two lifelong obsessions: men, and herself. Grace, 'one of the funniest women in Britain' (Times) tells the story of how she learnt to let go of her need for male validation, with a show that she hopes will make all men obsessed with her.