Monique DeBose brings Adding Up America: Solving the Race Equation to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, a solo performance blending live music, storytelling and sharp social insight.
Presented at Assembly Roxy, the show explores mixed-race identity in the United States through the metaphor of mathematical equations. Drawing on her own experiences, DeBose examines society’s fixation on categorisation and the pressure to define identity in fixed terms.
Combining original jazz-inspired songs with personal narrative, the performance traces a pivotal choice in DeBose’s life, reframing it through a lens of logic, culture and lived experience. As she unpacks the “equations” that have shaped her journey, the show questions what happens when identity cannot be neatly solved.
The production has previously received multiple awards and toured internationally, and now makes its UK debut in Edinburgh. Through its blend of humour, music and reflection, the piece invites audiences to reconsider how race is understood and experienced.
Adding Up America: Solving the Race Equation runs at Assembly Roxy from 05 – 30 August at 13:40. Tickets are on sale here
