One of the oddest criticisms of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is that it’s not in London, which rather misses the point of the festival. However, if you really don’t want to travel to Scotland this August to see Fringe shows, don’t worry; the Camden Fringe has you covered.
The Camden Fringe has been around since 2006 and tends to have shorter runs on shows than larger festivals. Although small, it’s still pretty fierce, and it’s a great place to catch stuff that ordinarily couldn’t make it to larger festivals. Here are our top five picks.
Strange Orbits
Strange Orbits is a sci-fi romance drama written by a former Space X engineer. Exploring such heavy themes such as love, hope, the climate crisis, colonisation, and the fate of humanity, this three-person play sounds like intense, fascinating stuff. One for fans of For All Mankind to check out.
We Can Be Heroes
We Can Be Heroes is the story of Peanut, whose brother is a superhero. Unfortunately, said hero is scared of pretty much everything. In this one-hander, we discover the tragic story of Peanut and her brother and what it means to be a hero. Written and performed by Anna Krauze, you can find out more here.
Prototype
Political stand-up comedy meets West World in Prototype. We meet AMEXA, The Robot Politician and join her on a journey into the messy world of British politics. Mixing clowning, satire, and improv with current affairs, this sounds like an amazing show by talented comedian Steph Darcey.
Mixed Omens
You can usually tell when a genre TV show has caught the public’s imagination when there’s a comedy improv show based on it. Mixed Omens draws heavy inspiration from the work of Neil Gaiman, specifically the book and TV show Good Omens. Join The Improvised Play team on a unique journey into angels, gods and other fun stuff.
Space Eater
We are suckers for creepy sci-fi over at STARBURST, and Space Eater sounds like just the thing. We are invited to join a lone astronaut on a ship that spirals an infinite abyss, longing for home. A play about our place in the universe, apparently.
The Camden Fringe runs from July 29th to August 25th. You can find out more here.
