Executive Producer and Acting CEO Sofi Berenger, Chair of the Board James Seabright, and the whole team at the King’s Head Theatre announce the shows that will be playing at the theatre this Summer as part of Camden Fringe 2024, both at the venue’s new purpose built 200-seat Main House, and the intimate and versatile 50-seat 4Below space.
The Camden Fringe was founded in 2006 and aims to give anyone the chance to showcase their talents, from experienced performers and companies to ambitious newcomers. The fringe encompasses new writing, opera, musicals, stand-up, sketch comedy, dance, cabaret, poetry, opera, mentalism and a lot of improvisation. The 18th Camden Fringe takes place from 29 July to 25 August 2024.
MAIN HOUSE SHOWS
Two Come Home, which will run in the Main House Later from 14-18 August, explores the realities of being gay in an impoverished rural community and the ways guilt, rage, and love define our relationships. The new play, with music by Joe Eason (1,000 Suns, Luck of the Draw) and directed by Noah Alfred Pantano (Standing On A Nail), centres on the fractured relationships a young man named Evan has to his family and his former lover. The queer creative team led production will feature a small live band perform a score that is both haunting and uplifting as this story of regret and second chances unfolds.
Set over the span of two years in the Scottish Highlands, Cianalas by Niamh O’Donnell tells the story of a community’s resistance to mass evictions during the Highland Clearances – one of the darkest moments of Scotland’s history. With its traditional live music and use of the Gaelic language, the production by RamPage Theatre and directed by Anna Millington runs from 30-31 July.
Imbokodo The Musical, a musical show performed by an all-female cast who share their stories to each other through dialogue, music and dance will be performed on 9, 10 & 18 August. The female vocal harmony tradition draws on the vibrancy of 1950s Doo-Wop, the all singing, all-dancing presentation of the 1960s soul groups and the more saccharine tendencies of the modern R&B outfits as much as the soft, healing invocations and exhilarating spirit of their own tribal culture’s.
A Series of Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis: The Musical will run in the main house from 20-24 August. The original musical by Alex Rawnsley boasts a score of 14 original songs, with musical influences spanning from Sondheim to Bavarian folk music. The bold new musical charts the beginning of the relationship between medical student Fran and her library crush, Anna, as well as her friendship with her lovable but confusing housemates. To complicate things, everything is routinely interrupted by long-dead Austrian psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud and the people around her bursting into songs that re-interpret her loved ones’ actions in a very Freudian way.
Camden Fringe @ 4Below
Drag menace Sassafras Nitro Jet takes on comedian Paul Moore (Producer of ITV2’s The Stand Up Sketch Show) in Comedian vs Drag Queen on 1, 18 & 31 August and 6 September. It’s a battle of wigs and wit to find out who will come out on top (neither of them – as most of London knows). It’s a stand-up comedy split bill, but not as you know it.
Where’s The Punchline Productions will present Hot Goss, a triple feature from actor/comedian trio Saadiya Ali, Noel Prasad, and Andreas Kyriakides from East 15 Acting School, which will run in King’s Head’s subterranean Camden Fringe @ 4Below from 2-3 August. From the chaos of office politics to the hilarious machinations of power, The Assistant plunges into the depths of dark comedy inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear. Prepare for a biblical rollercoaster with Honest Housewives of Bible, a side-splittingly funny retelling of sacred stories from a feminist perspective. Godot? reimagines the classic story from the elusive Godot himself.
Play-AI, an extraordinary comedy experience that redefines live entertainment every night, will play the Cabaret House on 4 August. The groundbreaking show transcends traditional theatre, as an AI-generated script takes centre stage, fuelled by the whimsical input of the audience. When the curtain rises, attendees submit words and prompts, shaping the evening’s unique narrative with their creativity.
Inspired by historical firsthand accounts, the one-person musical The Pink List will play in the Cabaret House on 16 June (WIP), 5, 11 and 13 August. The musical follows Karl, who stands trial in 1957 Germany for violating the Nazi-era law criminalising homosexuality that persists in postwar West Germany, and his decades-long struggle for equality and human rights, from young first love to harrowing internment in a concentration camp.
Inspired by true events, the new play Hot Girl Summer will play the Cabaret House on 9 August. The show follows Tilly who, amidst the aftermath of a breakup, jets off on a girls’ trip to Barcelona, where she finds herself impulsively landing a job in London and leaving behind her small-town in Scotland. Although she plans a ‘Hot Girl Summer’ like no other the reality is far from the glamour and ‘Pinterest board’ she has envisioned. Whilst attempting to escape from her past by throwing herself into a whirlwind of Hinge dates she instead is forced to face blatant misogyny whilst coming to terms with many of her insecurities and the grief she still feels two years after the passing of her Mum.
Looking back over the last 25 years Nigel tells his story using his own lyrics, with melodies from friendly composers in Still Ticking @ 4Below on 10 and 11 August. The LGBTQ+ story compiles the tales of a woman who’s given up men, a man who hates to be labelled, a gay man lamenting the last shreds of youth and a fangless vampire.
Loosely drawing from the folklore stories of the Jewish ‘city of fools’, YaYa As… The Wise Men of Chelm will be performed @4Below on 17 August. The show is both a celebration and critique of masculinity within Jewish culture and religion. Through drag, YaYa As embodies the men they’ve known, loved, tolerated and mostly wanted to be.
The semi-autobiographical solo clown extravaganza, OFFICER SCOTT: Too Much Isn’t Enough, will play @4Below on 23 and 25 August. Written and performed by Sloan Brettholtz, it follows a bumbling wannabe NYPD officer who just can’t quite make the cut. On a quest to answer the question, “Why is life worth living?”, could it be love? Underneath it’s a story about having the courage to open up your heart to new experiences, the nerve to be unapologetically yourself and celebrating queer pride and joy.
Billy Parva: A True Story will play @4Below on 24, 25, 30 August and 1 September. The show follows Billy Parva, who has lived the greatest life ever imagined – having worked for the Queen, won millions in casino’s, got called up to the Army because of his exceptional knife skills and to top it all off, can drink more than a moose. Billy’s biggest problem are the tales he tells are one in a billion, but he swears down that they’re all real.
Full details and tickets available https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/camden-fringe
