The Scene X Lambeth Fringe - I Will Survive

This is a hugely energetic but skilfully controlled character comedy show which reveals the hilarious dynamics between three women who find themselves in a therapy session led by a therapist who never seems to get past the warm up. These women are street smart parkour-enthusiast Cheryl; genteel widow Janet; Bonnie, the wannabe Aussie yogi influencer and ineffective therapist Linda who - try as she may - simply cannot escape them. This patchwork of intriguing characters looks at how the human brain navigates life’s challenges to find ways to cope and flourish, which leaves audiences laughing and reflecting. The four quirky yet relatable characters tell their unique stories by the means they know best including parkour, instagram live videos and dissociative conversations.“Funny, visceral and ambitious...a play that will encourage you to find a more truthful adjective than ‘fine’ next time someone asks how you are.” 4 stars, Binge FringeWritten by Jesse Dupré & Ally ColognaDirected by Ally ColognaDate & Time: Sunday 4th & Monday 5th October @ 7pmRunning Time: 60 mins

I Will Survive is a darkly funny solo show about grief, estrangement, and the complicated experience of losing a parent you didn’t really like.Featuring a deeply overambitious PowerPoint presentation (given Hari's technical prowess), the show blends humour and storytelling to take audiences through the messier side of mourning. It looks at what it means to lose someone you didn’t feel close to, how frankly ridiculous funerals can be, and challenges the idea that there’s a ‘right’ way to grieve.'As I was watching it, I realised that will be me one day. I feel a little more prepared now.' - Audience MemberA funny and unexpectedly moving piece of theatre that uses humour to explore the darker sides of life (and death). If expressing how you feel has ever made someone else feel uncomfortable, this is probably the show for you.‘So fascinating. Anger, feeling like you’ve been told off, naughtiness, numbness; [you can have] all of these in the context of very loving relationships. Weird grief about a weird relationship is a fascinating subject.’ - Audience MemberWritten and performed by Hari BerrowDirector: Phil OkwedyDate & Time: Sunday 4th October @ 7PM

Change starts small, with small acts of rebellion. Most people go through life being polite, even with the closest friends, too scared of speaking their minds, too boxed in, resigned to live life in circles. But when every choice we make every day has become political, it's time to reassess one's life and start making changes. But what if it comes too late? What would you choose? Speak up and face loneliness or stay quiet and keep your friends?Lisa and Laura are two old estranged friends who run into each other in a hospital waiting room. One hopes for a rekindling of the old friendship, the other would rather die than live in the past. Laura's cheerfulness and optimism clashes with Lisa's serious approach to life and friendship. Who will win in this battle of emotions?Cast & Creative TeamBad DollsWriter: Dani ViluDirector: Yasamin RashidDate & Time: Friday 2nd & Saturday 3rd October @ 5:30pm

London's premier comedy power couple Karyna Aslanova and Mike Pigskin (Mikaryna) present a brand new split bill stand up show: Double Fantasy.Karyna is a Ukrainian comedian, actor, filmmaker, and artist. Her stand up is all about story telling and observations about identity, cultural differences, sex, some bodily fluids, and childhood experiences.Mike is a stand up and character comedian from up North whose comedy is a little bit observational, a little bit pop culture, a little bit rude, and a little bit weird.They are a real life married couple and have been honing their live comedy craft since 2017, starting out together (but separately) on the expat circuit in Prague, CZ before coming to the UK in 2019, first being based on the North West circuit, then moving to London in 2022.Double Fantasy features real love, big laughs, and two very unique approaches to live comedy. This hot international duo may not have kids but they have birthed out this raw, howling baby stand up special just for you. Come have a look at it.Written and Directed by Karyna Aslanova and Mike PigskinDate & Time: Thursday 1st October @ 8:00pm - The SparrowhawkRunning Time: 75 mins

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.