Following acclaimed runs in London, Oxford and New Hampshire, Spin Cycle: The Lesbian Laundrette Play arrives at the Edinburgh Fringe with a bold and emotionally resonant queer story. Written by and starring Zofia Zerphy, the production blends absurdism with deeply human themes.
Set within the hum of a laundrette, the play explores love, memory, class and Irish identity as two ex-lovers reconnect in a liminal space where past and present collide. With sharp wit and emotional depth, it offers an intimate and thought-provoking theatrical experience.
Spin Cycle: The Lesbian Laundrette Play runs at Underbelly (Clover), Bristo Square, from 5 – 31 August 2026 (not 17th) at 14:25. Tickets are available here.
You’ve written and are starring in Spin Cycle: The Lesbian Laundrette Play at Underbelly (Clover), what can you tell us about the show?
“Spin Cycle: The Lesbian Laundrette Play” is “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” meets “The L Word”.
It’s an OFFIE Award-winning sapphic story about the space between loving someone and not, between forgetting and remembering, between dirty and clean clothes.
It’s a bittersweet, absurdist play that explores how love can shape us, even when we can’t quite remember how — or when — or why.
What first inspired you to create this queer, absurdist story set within the world of a laundrette?
I got the inspiration for Spin Cycle on my way home from a bar job. It was late at night, or probably the early hours of the morning, and I stood on the Bond Street tube platform.
Across from me was a Schuh advert set in a vintage launderette. When was the last time I was in a launderette? There is so much sensory association with that space — the blink of neon lights, the sounds of humming machines, the smell of detergent, the feel of fabric between your fingers.
It’s so specific and yet one of the most literally transitional, liminal spaces you can be in. You enter with dirty clothes and come out with clean.
These thoughts were tumbling around in my head and then suddenly Noel and Kitt were there, in my mind, meeting one another. That’s how I got the idea for Spin Cycle, and that’s where a lot of the play ended up being written — on the tube ride home, in my notes app, late at night.
You explore themes of love, memory, class and Irish identity, how do these ideas shape the relationship between Kitt and Noel?
Noel (played by Bell) is a non-binary Northern Irish lesbian artist from a working-class Protestant background, while Kitt (played by Zerphy) is a queer, cis, Catholic American-Irish artist living off a trust fund.
They share a love of art and creativity, but the privileges and identities they carry inevitably shape the way they understand themselves, each other and the world around them.
Questions of class, heritage and memory sit at the heart of the play. Their relationship is deeply loving, but also complicated by the different experiences and assumptions they bring into it.
“Spin Cycle” asks whether love alone is enough when two people are carrying very different histories.
This is a two-hander with a very intimate setting, how does that dynamic influence the way audiences experience the story?
We take great care to immerse audiences in the world of the laundrette from the moment they walk in. There are the sounds of machines whirring, neon lights glimmering and even the smell of fabric softener lingering in the air.
We want people to feel as though they’ve stepped directly into this strange, liminal space alongside Kitt and Noel.
Because it’s a two-hander, the audience becomes incredibly close to the characters. There’s nowhere to hide, for them or for us, and that intimacy allows the audience to experience all the tenderness, humour and heartbreak of the relationship in a very immediate way.
The show has already received strong acclaim and awards, how has the journey of developing Spin Cycle evolved leading into Edinburgh Fringe?
I have had the immense privilege of developing this show with both my partner and one of my closest friends.
Rhiannon read the very first draft of Spin Cycle with me at a time when they were just my partner and not my scene-partner, but now I cannot imagine being on stage with anyone else.
Bethan has worked tirelessly since the first scratch night, acting as much more than just a director — a producer, photographer, designer and my all-round biggest supporter.
It has meant so much to me to create this piece with two people who I artistically and personally admire so much.
Developing a brand new piece of work is daunting for so many reasons, but the one thing I always hope is that the piece reaches people and makes them feel seen.
So I feel very lucky that we’ve had such a positive response to this show, and not just from critics but from audiences. It feels incredibly rewarding that people want to see this work and believe in the story we are telling.
The response from the queer community has been especially fulfilling, and I am touched every time someone tells me how they have connected to the story.
That being said, we have majorly appreciated the critical response to the show too. Winning the OFFIE Off West End Award was entirely unexpected, but hopefully represents a huge step towards more sapphic representation on stage.
We are looking forward to Edinburgh Fringe and can’t wait to face all the challenges it will bring.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Spin Cycle: The Lesbian Laundrette Play?
If you want to see a musical about aliens or a murder mystery where the cat is the lead detective, “Spin Cycle” is not for you.
But if you’ve ever had a first love that made you laugh, broke your heart and somehow stayed with you long after it was over, then we have the play for you.
“Spin Cycle” is funny, strange, messy and unapologetically sapphic — and we’d love to welcome you into the laundrette.
