TOP PICKS OF
SHOWS TO SEE
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CAMDEN FRINGE FESTIVAL IS RUNNING 28 JULY - 24 AUGUST With over 450 shows to see in 40 venues all across North London, it's the biggest Camden Fringe yet. To give you a head start in choosing what to see and where to go, we've added our choices below (with more to come in the following weeks).
Festival CAMDEN FRINGE 28 July to 24 August
Here are some of the highlights:
MISS (7 – 9 Aug Lion & Unicorn Theatre), a day in the life of a secondary school English teacher navigating her highs and lows.
Fruitcake (7 - 10 August The Hope Theatre) a fun queer coming of age mystery.
Operation Blank (12 – 15 Aug at Hen & Chickens Theatre, 17 – 20 Aug at Canal Café Theatre) a comedy about a junior government staffer trying to trigger a response to an atomic bomb threat via Microsoft Teams.
Pup Play (12 - 16 August Barons Court Theatre) A Queer Pseudo-Lecture (of sorts) controversial, provocative, hilarious, and surprisingly introspective journey into queer fetish subculture
Please Shoot the Messenger (13 – 15 Aug The Hope Theatre) a show mixing Shakespeare, clowning, and physical comedy about a cursed royal messenger during a plague
(Un) Shakespearean Nightmares (15 – 17 Aug Old Red Lion) looks at the bard’s minor characters and underdogs.
Dirty Laundry (14 – 19 Aug Etcetera Theatre) a visceral exploration of sex, shame and faith set in a Catholic laundrette
Four Women and a Funeral (15 - 17 August Upstairs at the Gatehouse) Grave matters unravel in this intriguing dark comedy with a highly talented cast and creative crew, produced by Ovation, the award winning ex-Gatehouse resident company.
Beyond Unity (16 August Rosemary Branch Theatre) Imagine walking in on a stage filled with floating art. A disjointed dive into dissociative identities, where comedy, movement, sound, art, and lived experiences collide and flip every five minutes.
Fickle Eulogy (16 – 18 Aug The Hope Theatre) at The Hope Theatre is a solo show confronting grief and loss following a mother’s death from COVID-19.
HR at the Bomb Factory (17 - 19 Aug Hen & Chickens Theatre) satirical farce about the UK's weapons industry, written by award winning writer Tim Draper
Power Power (20 Aug – 24 Aug Hen & Chickens Theatre) is a silly situational comedy about hospitality and superpowers in a budget hotel
LISA! The Mona Lisa Musical (22 – 24 Aug Hen & Chickens) is a comedy musical that fictionalises the story behind the world’s most famous painting.
Maybe you Should Know (22 - 24 August Barons Court Theatre) Two strangers thrown together confront the ghosts of their past and the baggage of their present, in a witty and emotional journey
July 15th to .. (22 - 24 August Rosemary Branch Theatre) a one-act Physical Theatre exploration of bipolar disorder and Healing.
Click on the link below for shows at these venues:
Etcetera Theatre In the heart of Camden
Hen & Chickens An easy stroll across the road from
Highbury & Islington station
Old Red Lion Islington A festival of reimagined works of Shakespeare, SHAKEFEST, can be seen at this theatre in Islington (Angel)
Barons Court Theatre Atmospheric theatre in West London
Lion & Unicorn Theatre Much loved theatre in Kentish Town
Upstairs at the Gatehouse Hot stuff for musicals and political theatre in Highgate
The Hope Something quirky happening in Islington (Upper Street)
Canal Café Theatre Cabaret style venue in Little Venice
Rosemary Branch Theatre Something very arty / feminist on the border between Hackney and Islington
Festival SHAKEFEST at Old Red Lion 29 July - 24 August
Inaugural festival celebrating & REIMAGINING the work of William Shakespeare (part of Camden Fringe). It kicks off with headliner Demetrius Wakes by Jack Robertson, 'an unofficial & unwarranted sequel' to Act IV, Scene I of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Full line up >
Festival SE Fest 2 - 13 September
SE Fest is a theatre festival based in southeast London to promote and celebrate new writing. It is hosted for the second year by neighbouring venues, The Jack Studio in Crofton Park & The Bridge House Theatre in Penge, two award-winning theatres with a reputation for supporting & presenting new work.
Jack Studio Theatre programme of shows
The Bridge House Theatre programme of shows
Drama STILL HERE at Golden Goose Theatre 2 - 6 September
In Mari Lloyd’s acclaimed play, we see the world through the eyes of two sparring 18-year-olds in a small Welsh ex-mining town as they try to comprehend the actions of their parents and begin to realise they have bigger things to fight for.
Award nominated STILL HERE returns with the original cast for a limited run after a successful tour in South Wales.
'A heartfelt triumph' The Edit
Drama AT LAST (2025) at Lion and Unicorn Theatre 2 - 13 September
The old world has fallen and something brave and new has taken its place.
Out of the fire and rubble and the ashes something new is born. A chance to learn about the past. A chance to find hope anew, or to tear open wounds which will never close again. This is the story of ten years of hate. Ten years of oppression and anger when we gave ourselves up to the dark. A story of the mother who fought for her broken sons, and the father that stood in judgement. The daughter willing to pay the ultimate price for freedom, the man who stood by and watched and the woman that listened.
This is the story of when the world went mad.
It is time to tell the truth.
At Last.
Proforca Theatre Company returns this September with "At Last" - after 5 years away, it is more potent and relevant than ever. "At Last" tells the "what if" story of the aftermath of 10 years of a totalitarian right wing regime in the UK, a searing search for redemption and reconciliation in the rubble of a broken society.
Relaxed SCAFFOLDING by Lucy Bell at Drayton Arms Theatre 23 - 27 September 7.30pm
“Put simply, Scaffolding is why we go to the theatre” – Western Morning News
4* “Little gem of a play” – The Stage
4* “Funny, frank and clear-sighted” – The Scotsman
4* “Clever and affecting” – Bouquets & Brickbats
“A beautiful act of trust” – The Independent
Sheridan is having a bad day. Her church is closing, Adult Social Care are on her case, and she can’t work out which ingredients she needs to make a bomb. With no one else to turn to, she climbs the scaffolding around a leaking steeple with a few questions for Whoever Is In Charge.
Following a critically acclaimed run at Edinburgh Fringe, Scaffolding is an explosive new play about strength, love and community performed by Kerry Norton and directed by Natalie Simone. Award-winning writer Lucy Bell (Kevin Elyot and Ronald Duncan Awards) brings dark, car-crash humour in a dramatic collision between religious faith, the responsibilities of caring for loved ones with disabilities and the profound loss of shared community spaces in rural areas.
Psst ... more shows being added each week
