The Camden Fringe festival returns for its 18th year this summer, with more than 320 productions taking place at 23 venues across north London. The festival runs for 4 weeks from Monday 29 July to Sunday 25 August.
As usual the line-up of performances is wide ranging – including stand-up comedy, musicals, physical theatre, new writing and dance. Full details on all of the shows taking part can be found at camdenfringe.com
There are also 3 new venues participating this year: the historic pub theatre the Old Red Lion, the freshly relaunched Kings Head Theatre in its purpose built new home and the recently opened theatre cafe The Libra.
The Camden Fringe was established in 2006 by Michelle Flower and Zena Barrie, who still do all the day to day management of the festival. Flower says:
“It seems crazy to think that the Camden Fringe is now old enough to vote. We are delighted that the creative urge remains undiminished and every year there are more theatre makers, improvisers and comedians producing inventive and interesting new work that we can host.”
Spotlight on some of the shows in the 2024 line up
The set-up of long-form improv shows has become ever more ambitious. Along with improvised TV shows, Shakespeare plays and musicals, there are also post-apocalyptic adventures (Tales From the Wasteland), a production based on the works of Neil Gaiman (Mixed Omens), a improv show within an improv show (Understudied), and a show that goes backward (The Show That Goes Backwards).
Play AI is a one-off show that will mix audience suggestions with artificial intelligence to generate, scene by scene, a brand new show which will be played for laughs. The shadow of AI also looms large over comedian Steph Darcey’s Prototype about a robot politician. She describes it as The Thick of It meets Westworld. Audiences who attend the show [computer] will interact with the “main character”, an autonomous projected “computer”.
As well as being inspired by the future of technology, there are plenty of shows that are taking their cue from history. Mrs Pack, Lady Montagu Unveiled and Careless Talk all bring to light stories of real female pioneers that have been overlooked. Based on real historical accounts, My Female Husband is a queer and mischievous courtroom drama exploring the true lives of female husbands in the eighteenth century. Also set in court, Titanic – The Inquiry brings to life genuine testimony from the survivors of the ill-fated ship. From the creators of the critically acclaimed Fabulett 1933 (Camden Fringe 2021), The Pink List is a one-person musical inspired by the untold stories of gay men in postwar Germany.
The Trying Rooms is a dance theatre double bill from 23 year old creator and performer Kitty Pilgrim-Morris. She will be joined onstage by her mother; at 60, Sharon Pilgrim-Morris is making her theatre debut.
