The Scene X Camden Fringe - Harmonise or Die

The world premiere of DAD by David Solomon, starring Ivan Kaye (Vikings, Gunpowder Milkshake, The Borgias, Layer Cake) and Nigel Betts (Dr Who, Killing Eve, Toast of Tinseltown, Boy Meets Girl) opens this September at The Golden Goose Theatre.Nathan reaches out to his two brothers Aaron and Karl to help him find their father who has been missing for two days. In an afternoon full of surprises and revelations, the family begin to come to terms with the terrible trauma that their father has visited on all of them. Beyond Nathan and his brothers, Dad's malign influence has broken the lives of Nathan's ex wife Leila and their son Daniel. DAD is about the ripple effects of control and the persistence of past trauma. A shocking resolution suggests there is only one way to truly escape.Produced by Cellar Door Theatre CompanyCastIvan Kaye as AaronDavid Solomon as NathanNigel Betts as KarlPaul Kelvin as DanielJoanne Arber as LeilaJerry Ezekiel as AlistairCreativeWritten by David SolomonDirected by Brittany RexLighting and Sound Design by James DennyFight Direction by Robin HellierDate & Time: 22nd September - 3rd October at 7:30pmRunning Time: 60 minsContent warnings: 18+, Domestic abuse, sexual assault

This moving and powerful one-man play is a timely portrait of a writer whose words remain a warning - and a hope.George Orwell is perhaps the most influential English writer of the twentieth century. His classic tales Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four which warn of the dangers of totalitarianism - erosion of free speech, abuse of power, increasing control of all aspects of our everyday lives - resonate now more than ever.Orwell’s dystopian concepts such as 'Big Brother is watching you', 'Room 101' and 'thoughtcrime' have become everyday phrases.But where did his vision of the future come from? Actor MARK STRATFORD takes you on a fascinating journey through the extraordinary experiences that shaped the work of this perceptive and compelling writer. In Orwell’s words, we travel through many of the remarkable episodes in his life including his time at a grim boarding school, being a police officer in colonial Burma, his adventures tramping through England to live among the poor and underprivileged, and his extraordinarily close shave with death in the Spanish Civil War.Mark has previously performed at the Camden Fringe in his one-man plays The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (which he adapted from the novella by Robert Louis Stevenson) and Macready! Dickens’ Theatrical Friend (which tells the fascinating true story of the great Victorian actor-manager, William Charles Macready – the man to whom Dickens dedicated Nicholas Nickelby).He's currently part-way through a tour of ORWELL: The Road to 1984 which is being performed at pub theatres, literary festivals and studio venues all over England.In this age of misinformation, political extremism and digital surveillance this is certainly a play for our time!

In Our Broken Hours is a play about the cost of caring for someone you love. Mack, a middleaged, unemployed alcoholic, drifts through life from one bottle to the next, unable to confront the damage his dependency has caused. His daughter Emma increasingly finds herself in the role of carer; a role she never asked for and cannot easily step away from.As the play unfolds, their relationship strains under the weight of memory and responsibility. Moments of tenderness sit alongside frustration and fear, and Emma’s unconditional love for her father is tested as addiction begins to reshape the foundations of their family.Drawing on lived experience, the play explores a dynamic that will be familiar to many: the push and pull between care and selfpreservation, and the emotional labour carried by those who love someone in the grip of dependency.A Youngish Perspective awarded it four stars, describing it as “not simply a play about addiction but a study of the stories families tell themselves in order to keep going.”Produced by Falstaff Theatrical, In Our Broken Hours stars Simon Ashton and Giulia Rose as Mack and Emma. Written and directed by Alex Viveash.Falstaff Theatrical focuses on new writing and contemporary drama. The company develops intimate, characterdriven work exploring the complexities of modern life, with a particular interest in the small interactions in life which shape who we are and who we become.

A story about identity, belonging and the spaces in between.BEIGE is a bold, darkly funny and deeply personal two-woman performance about the violence of being "easy to consume”. A woman stands before an audience and tries to explain who she is. Not because she wants to, but because she has learned that clarity is currency. Caught between cultures, expectations and labels, she finds herself performing versions of herself for everyone except herself.Blending storytelling, physical theatre and sharp humour, BEIGE explores race, femininity, ambition and mental health, exposing the quiet negotiations we make to be loved, hired, desired and understood. It asks what is lost when we soften our edges, flatten our contradictions and make ourselves more palatable.Raw, playful and confrontational, BEIGE is a reckoning with identity in a world that rewards neutrality, and a celebration of the complexity of being human.It is for anyone who has ever felt caught between worlds, searching for a place to belong.The Wave & Loop is a new London-based theatre company founded by Rebecca Tozzoli-Clozza and Jessica Nlabu, focusing on exploring human connection, mental health, and the ways we see ourselves and the world around us through live performance.We create altered perception through theatre, not as escapism or entertainment, but as a means of generating heightened awareness. Our work invites audiences to move beyond habitual perception, as time, identity and reality subtly destabilise. Engaging with mental health as a series of perceptual loops, we aim to interrupt fixed narratives and open space for new ways of seeing.By disrupting familiar perception, the work mirrors and gently challenges the fixed narratives often present in mental health struggles, offering audiences a new perspective on themselves.CASTJessica NlabuShannon KurlanderCREATIVESWriter: Jessica NlabuDirector: Catherine MiesesProducer & PM: Rebecca Tozzoli-ClozzaLighting & Sound Designer: Nathan HuntStage Manager: Jude Chibueze Meju

"Once upon a time, there was a forest, where the sun and the wind and the people ran through the trees with free abandon. Welcome to Motopia!"A new piece of writing, 'Motopia' is a musical choose-your-own adventure play where the choices of the protagonist are placed in the audience’s hands as they navigate their way through The Forest. Imagine the Fighting Fantasy books come to life, or as one audience member put it, “D&D the Musical.”Join Pip as they navigate increasingly complex choices, and the excitement, loss and responsibility that free-will (or lack thereof) brings, leading them to question "What do you do when you don't know what to do?"The audience are equipped with a simple ‘paddle’, one side yellow, the other blue, allowing them to vote on certain choices within the story. “Children’s theatre, but for adults”, the play does not fear the dark but invites the audience to rediscover the trials of adulthood agency through the bright eyes of a naïve adventurer.The world of Motopia is explored through a fairytale lens of childlike wonder, with a cast of five actor-musicians, original music and eccentric characters threaded throughout.Bringing to show to life onstage are Morwenna Brown, Samuel Collins-Webb, Caoimhe de Brún, Sophie Pamment and Adam Pinnock;Joined by the talented Bryony Maguire on Lighting Design and Operation and Lyra Winter as Stage Manager.This is Morwenna Brown’s writing and producing debut. They are very excited to work alongside director and dramaturgist, Anna Wellman, to bring Motopia to the stage, an idea that has seen many iterations and been in the works for nearly four years.

C is an Asian American woman and a history professor’s assistant, now living and working in the UK. She comes from immigrants, is an immigrant herself, and is very eager to please. But just how eager? Despite her nervous and intellectual demeanor, C’s past and emotions run deep. From show business aspirations to fleeing political instability, C has left a lot behind in America. And she still has a fresher history lecture session to teach you, through original music, choreography, and slideshow presentations. Ready for class?Your Favourite American Woman is Ciarlene Coleman’s second original, solo production. It is also the spiritual successor to her first, Your Best American Girl, which premiered at the 2019 San Diego Fringe Festival and was awarded Best World Premiere, Best of Fest, and Critic’s Pick. Off the Beat Productions, co-founded by Sofia Zaragoza and Alara Koroglu, is dedicated to producing thought-provoking and socially relevant theatre that amplifies diverse voices within working-class communities.

Definitely-Not-A-Cult Productions presents…“Harmonise Or Die” a dark, side-eyed, comedy, sci-fi set in a post-scarcity utopia where citizens must maintain strict emotional regulation in order to retain their citizenship. Trapped in a high-tech correctional facility, Gabriel (Joel Stern) and Lyra (Mila Michael), face the consequences of their “deviant outbursts”. Now, in order to return home, they must co-operate on challenges designed to break them and prove their relationship is “harmonious”, or face banishment into the hostile wastelands forever.A new play by Joel Stern.Broadway World “The script by Joel Stern is a deft blend of biting satire and emotional intelligence”.Directed by Lyna Dubarry. Produced by Mila Michael. Musical Director: Tom Cagnoni. Costumes by Santiago Liendo. Props by Jonathan Maers. 

The basic idea is to use the toy kitchen (I got as a toddler) to act as a metaphorical play area in which to explore, create and entertain, whilst also demonstrating that the kitchen is being used as a form of masking for a woman aka myself growing up with autism. I’m using the new show to be truly raw with the audience and daring them to validate my experiences (both good and bad). I’m looking to delve into why my brain doesn’t fit the mold, why my body doesn’t fit the mold and why I no longer want to hide behind a toy kitchen.  The show’s key themes are:Gender,Identity,Autism,SocietyGrowing up in the 1990s/2000s.  Momma’s Bio: Bex Turner is a high energy, eccentric, surreal, stand up/character comic. Her likeability combined with her comedic sense of adventure makes audiences love her. Quarter Finalist at Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year.Semi Finalist for Laughing Horse New Act of the Year. She has also performed her solo shows at various festivals including Guildford, Leicester, Camden, Faversham, Clapham, Brighton, Edinburgh, Dundee, Hastings, Nottingham and the Women in Comedy Festival (Manchester). "certainly very funny was Bex Turner" - Chortle.  “Fearlessly funny, gorgeously unhinged and imaginative, you will not get bored watching Rebekka.” -Funny Women. Momma’s lil’helpers:Josh InVain & Charlie Vero-Martin have been providing dramaturgy help.Oro Rose has provided their singing skills for a sound cue. Kate Lennon has provided admin assistance via REPPD. Hannah Brackenbury has taken my photos. 

Falling Out is a comedy-drama that brings together two polar-opposite personalities in the form of estranged brothers, trapping them in a nuclear fallout shelter at the end of the world. Will they see eye to eye, or try to scratch them out?The play is written by Kalum Wilson and Liam Bull, both born and raised in Essex, with their upbringing being reflected throughout the play—for better and worse.Kalum is an award-winning writer (New Writer’s Collective 2026) focusing on comedy-dramas, telling stories which, on paper, could just as easily be bleak dramas. He loves to find the comedy in the catastrophe, the laughs in the lousy, and the ha-ha in the horrible.After graduating from Rose Bruford College and moving to London in 2021, Liam has worked across theatre and screen. His credits include Supacell (Netflix), The Black Silence (Bohemian Pictures), Halfway Between Land and Sea (Estuary on Film), Macbeth (Watermill Theatre), Swallow the Lake (Mercury Theatre), and The Flood (Queen’s Theatre). He will also star as Miles in Falling Out.Jacob Collins plays Connor. His credits include commercials for The Gym Group and Starling Bank, as well as a three-person immersive production of A Christmas Carol.Micky David plays Danny. Most recently he starred as James Binley in Landship, a WWI feature based on the true story of the Frey Bentos tank crew. His debut short film, Chasing Adonis, which he wrote and stars in, explores body dysmorphia in men.Following nuclear war, two estranged brothers are forced to co-exist in their father's doomsday bunker—an option only slightly preferable to the bombs. While Miles grieves for the world, art and culture, Connor's just annoyed he never found out if Aston Villa equalised.As the months crawl by, tensions rise, old wounds are reopened, and secrets struggle to stay buried. Their only grip on sanity is an old games console—a link to their shared childhood. When it breaks, so does their fragile peace.They survived the bombs, but will they survive each other?

Time flies when you have no idea what you're doing!DNT WAIT UP, a theatre company focused on new writing, returns with One Time for the Birthday Girl!You're cordially invited to a one-woman show celebrating the story of a woman on the cusp of a new decade, as she reflects on her journey into adulthood and the challenges that have shaped her along the way. Join our Birthday Girl on a trip down memory lane through Black British girlhood in the 00s and 10s—think Tumblr, skinny jeans, and an emo phase that just won't quit—as she navigates the lessons that lead her towards self-acceptance.Fun, nostalgic and deeply honest, One Time for the Birthday Girl! is a conversation starter that explores identity, growing up and the pressures of adulthood through a distinctly Black British lens. At its heart is a story about learning to let go of expectations and embrace yourself. As our Birthday Girl puts it: "It has taken me a while, but I have decided that I no longer care."Co-founded by Kaneesha Watt (Writer/Performer) and Temilola Ademilola (Director), DNT WAIT UP first presented the play at Lambeth Fringe 2025. Following its debut, the team is excited to bring One Time for the Birthday Girl! to Camden Fringe.