Sitting (In Silence)

2 August

The meditation retreat is supposed to help them find inner peace. DAD is out of place from the get-go. He's loud, rebellious and charming in a way that has everyone rolling their eyes, including his daughter. KID has come to "find herself", but quickly gets caught up in DAD's wild antics. When the two share a rare moment of privacy in the heavenly garden, what begins as whispers, a telling off and a hilarious culture clash slowly shifts, growing heavier with each passing word.

A comic yet haunting exploration of grief, Sitting (In Silence) will leave you reflecting on the things we choose not to say, the silence that divides us and what healing really means. Could those real moments of laughter and connection ultimately be what saves us?

CAMDEN FRINGE SHOWS

3 - 30 August

The Camden Fringe is a performing arts festival, established in 2006, which takes place in Camden during August. Anyone and everyone is welcome to apply. Previous fringe events have encompassed new writing, opera, musicals, stand-up, sketch comedy, dance, cabaret, poetry, opera, mentalism, improvisation and opera. Shows take place throughout the day and generally last one hour.

The Camden Fringe was set-up as an alternative to Edinburgh Festival, offering performers the chance to try out new material and different ideas in a supportive setting with less time and financial commitments than EdFringe did at the time. The Camden Fringe aims to give anyone the chance to perform and showcase their talents, from very experienced performers and companies, to ambitious newcomers. Since 2006 the Camden Fringe has gained a reputation for supporting acts, providing helpful information and guidance for the acts involved.

Alternatively, pick up a brochure at the venue.

Grandma and Grandpa Do Have Sex

8 - 12 September

What does a woman say when ten men are sitting opposite her?

Lesya comes seeking help, but instead she is forced to justify every decision she has ever made.

As she tells her story, an ordinary life unfolds in extraordinary detail: marriage, desire, motherhood, shame, family expectations, and the quiet compromises that slowly become impossible to ignore. Funny, brutally honest, and deeply moving, her confession reveals how love can become control and how easily a woman’s own voice can disappear.

Written with razor-sharp wit and emotional precision, Grandma and Grandpa Do Have Sex is a powerful contemporary drama about intimacy, autonomy, and the choices that shape a life.

Darkly funny and deeply affecting, it is a gripping play that asks who gets to judge a woman’s life—and what it takes to reclaim your own voice.

The Departure

15 - 19 September

Lily has just buried her idol. Ross is desperate to disappear. One flat, two strangers, and a collision neither of them saw coming.
When Lily (played by Harriet Chomley), an anxious, sharp-witted chemist, returns from her mother’s funeral, she finds Ross (played by Tom Wells), a rugged stranger living in her flat. What begins with shock and confusion slowly becomes something more surprising: an unexpected connection between two people carrying unresolved grief.

Tender, funny, and deeply human, The Departure explores how we can sometimes be more honest with strangers than with those closest to us. At its heart, The Departure is a play about the stories we tell ourselves and the possibility that, through connection, those stories can change.

Third Summer of Love

22 - 26 September

"This isn’t just a party, this is a performance...oh my god where do I start"

Grief has taken over Sam's life, and the only way she can think of solving it is by following her obsession with 90's dance music and going to an illegal rave. Does she know anyone there? No. Does she know what the music will be? No. Will she be safe? Who knows, but it might be her chance to find the community and pure euphoria she's wanted all her life. Even if it does mean creating a whole new identity and masking the symptoms of her autism. But is hiding yourself really worth the euphoria? 

Join Sam and their best friends DJ and Jo as we travel to illegal raves, tunnel parties, 90s mega-raves and maybe the odd funeral as they find out if it's really worth putting on a disguise and sacrificing yourself to find your own personal summer of love. 

After a sold out run at the 2025 Camden Fringe, this debut play from Thursday Meltdown productions combines gig theatre, immersive elements and lived experience to give audiences a front seat to what it's like to be neurodivergent in a neurotypical world.