A celebration of women and non‑binary musicians. Brighton, Saturday 6 June 2026 Across Brighton’s Girls Night Out Fest emerging women and non-binary artists turned a grassroots fundraiser into a statement of identity and intent. What unfolded was a celebration of the city’s women and non‑binary musicians shaped by the communities it championed. Led by independent women‑run promoters, Sidequest Records, Agenda Collective, Buzz Present, Moonrock MGMT and Whattawally, the festiv

The stage is set: just a solitary chair. But where is our performer? A latecomer shuffles in, hesitates, exits and then returns. It is, of course, our performer - Antonio Anzilotti De Nitto, demonstrating considerable clowning skill before he’s even reached the stage. This is Radici (Roots), a solo production that brings to life a trio of characters, each marginalised under the Third Reich. The first character is a homosexual, who has embraced Berlin’s thriving queer culture

The Alchemist Bar in Prague can get unbearably hot during a heatwave — and this might contribute to the slow opening fifteen or so minutes of Beatrice Schiaffino's English-language debut, but once she gets into its rhythm The High Priestess - Johanna is a memorable, intoxicating hour that brilliantly draws on the Pope Joan myth and recontextualises it with imagination this Prague Fringe. Schiaffino's production draws on the second card of the Major Arcana, La Papesse — which

Starting with the ‘Wall Street Crash’ of 1929, the Great Depression hit everybody in the USA and its contagion spread across the globe, echoing Metternich’s observation that “when France sneezes, Europe catches cold”. Its social and economic consequences were devastating, leaving an indelible mark on the American psyche. The era has inspired countless works of literature, including The Grapes of Wrath and To Kill a Mockingbird. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men is another, an

The Kaddish is an Aramaic hymn to God, whose name is derived from ‘sanctuary’, usually associated with mourning. kaddish (how to be a sanctuary) is a solo performance which draws on this heritage, while simultaneously examining some aspects of geopolitics. The stage has a large white frame as its backdrop and two separate areas are rapidly established downstage, from which two different narratives are intertwined by Sam Sherman. Stage right, Sherman speaks as his own grandfat

A man wanders through the aisle at Metro Comedy Club, acknowledging various audience members and welcoming them. But this is the 25th Prague Fringe festival and of course there is more to this than meets the eye: Arthur Vinegar (Euan Fraser) is only wearing underpants and a grubby vest. Over the course of the next 50 minutes or so, Vinegar proceeds to clown and entertain, all loosely themed around his desire to be a “good boy”. An audience member is nominally designated to be

“What are the chances?” – a phrase usually bandied around carelessly and thoughtlessly. But, just occasionally, someone will take it upon themselves to dig a little deeper into probabilities. Enter Smita Russell, with her production ODDS ARE. Russell is seated at a table, with a clutch of notes and a book; we immediately have the sense of a woman searching for answers. She describes how she has always been drawn to science, or in her words “nerdy” – indeed, her future husband

Don Quixote is widely regarded as a masterpiece of European literature. Its influence is wide and words such as “quixotic” and “lothario” have entered the modern lexicon, while the phrase “tilting at windmills” remains a familiar expression. Countless adaptations have appeared over the years and at the 25th international Prague Fringe, Skottes Musikteater presents its own distinctive interpretation. A brief plot summary: Alonso Quixano begins to lose his grip on reality after

An assortment of boxing items awaits us at the Divadlo Inpirace, part of the 25th international Prague Fringe: this is Boxeur. Stefano Pietro Detassis interweaves the stories of two boxers from the first half of the twentieth century. Europe was ravaged by two World Wars and it is especially the rise of fascism that provides the backdrop to Pequod Compagnia’s production. We meet the poverty-stricken Eugenio “Smit” Lorenzoni, brought up in northern Italy during Mussolini’s asc

Reality and fiction blur in Sherlock Holmes The Death and Life. The game is afoot! The production opens with a Strand Magazine shareholders’ meeting and there are furrowed brows. Their sales had enjoyed a 65% increase after they had serialised the Sherlock Holmes stories. However, Arthur Conan Doyle has informed them that he intends to dispense with the celebrated detective. Just why is he killing the golden goose? We cut to Conan Doyle. He has grown weary of the character, n

In a seemingly innocuous urban apartment setting, a woman is preparing to host a gathering. She flits about with nervous energy, agonising over whether certain items ought to be hidden away, though her unease is quickly overtaken by the arrival of a swarm of guests. The visitors and host are in fact cast members from a theatre production. They have just had their press night, whose assessment has been known to make or break a production. As they await the journalists’ verdict

George Orwell (Mark Stratford) remains one of the most influential literary figures of the twentieth century. Two of his books in particular shaped perceptions of totalitarianism: Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. But what do know of the man behind the pen name - Eric Blair? This Stratford Productions show provides an examination of his life, opening with Orwell confined to a hospital bed, receiving treatment for tuberculosis. Despite his evident intelligence and humanity

The stage is sparsely dressed: a second raised platform and a couple of small crates are all that greet us. This belies the whirlwind that The Department of Ulterior Motives (DUM) is about to unleash. We’re here to see Sherlock Holmes vs Arsène Lupin: A Drag Crime Caper - quite the mouthful. Holmes and his companion Dr Watson need little introduction. Arsène Lupin, perhaps less familiar, was created over a century ago by Maurice Leblanc. Lupin, a fictional ‘gentleman’ thief a

A director’s chair, script and drinks table await us at this Brighton Fringe production of You Oughta Be in Pictures. Taking to the stage, Polis Loizou introduces the concept of the show to us – as if we are to receive a lecture or presentation. Loizou, a former film student, has uncovered footage from an actor’s audition in Hollywood. Yet, we are not shown any segment of this – instead, he will re-enact the unseen aspect of the audition, the words and some of the assumed act

A mundane setting is presented: chairs clustered in a waiting area, a coffee table and a coffee machine. A flurry of people weave in and out of the space, seemingly purposefully, appropriately to The xx’s Intro. It’s a hospital waiting room and we will meet a disparate group of individuals whose lives are about to intersect. Lucy (Kitty Broadhurst), an off-duty nurse, finds herself torn between two profoundly different moments: in one room, her wife is giving birth; in anothe

It looks like an ordinary office at first glance: two chairs and a desk. Yet the tape recorder and telephone suggest an earlier analogue era. The painting of a suited, moustachioed, man gazes inscrutably down on the proceedings. Assumptions of normality are undermined by the appearance of Androv (Paul Bassett Davies), with a hood over his head. Removing it tentatively, he is obviously disoriented. When another man, Brodky (John Black), enters the room, Androv is immediately f

We meet EL (Fenia Gianni), dancing frantically to club music. During the course of Her Raving Mind, we are drawn into EL’s turbulent journey and at times it’s not for the feint hearted. Her childhood was deeply troubled. She frequently felt invisible, desperate for her father’s attention. Her mother should have been her role model, source of comfort and rock. Instead, she appears to have been vicariously reliving her youth through EL, even seeing her as competition. EL’s frie

They walk among us: Karens. This is a pejorative term generally aimed at middle-aged, middle-class, women with a sense of entitlement. Holly Hughes presents I Want To Speak To Your Manager (How I Was Radicalised And Became…Karen) at Brighton Fringe after a highly successful run in Dublin. Hughes explains her slide into this world, before mounting a robust defence of it. Hughes criticises petty entitlement in restaurants, where groups of women egg each other on, insisting on g

An unconscious man is tied to a chair. There’s another chair with restraints next to him. Alongside the chairs, incongruously, there are various kitchen items, including a blender. It’s not unfair to wonder what’s going on – and in Binding Agent the questions continue to mount. Simon (Sam Hill) comes around, discombobulated. It transpires he had been abducted in a street by means of chloroform. A man, Herne (Joseph Reed), observes him. Simon instinctively believes that this m

Does therapy work? Brian Leonard takes to the stage and opens up about his familial struggles. He and his wife have a daughter, Emily. She attends kindergarten (“reception” in the UK) and almost is immediately labelled as “acting up”. She probably preferred “precocious”. They are referred to a mental health professional. His credentials appear to be impeccable: he is a New York Times best-selling author. Yet soon the parents become sceptical of his abilities. His narcissism r