Welcome to The hottest show for love tips and tricks straight from your most reliable source: The Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. This is Always Aphrodite!… That is until the goddess decides she’s finally had enough of love. Now, where does that leave the rest of us? This one-hour storytelling event is centred around a livestream gone wrong. In an era of likes, follows, streams and reshares, Always Aphrodite dares to ask what happens when our fairytales start to feel too virtual. Featuring music in collaboration with Chat GPT.
Newcomer to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Lauren Maxwell, interweaves her overly-romanticized version of love through personal stories mixed with Aphrodite’s tales of tragedy and struggles. She’ll be premiering the show at Whistlebinkies alongside her international team. Newcomer co-director and co-writer Phillip Melchers, Edinburgh Fringe Festival veteran Sinéad O’Brien, and musical director Daragh Gillen.
The story, Always Aphrodite, was inspired by Lauren’s divorce and the rollercoaster of a 20-year dating history. Weaving a fine line between high-camp performances with brutally honest personal storytelling, the show isn’t afraid to find the laughter amidst the tragedy, and the tragedy behind the laughter. In writing this story, both Lauren and Phillip invite the audience to consider the stories we tell versus the reality we share. Maybe it’s time to rethink love. We don’t judge, honey!
Based in Amsterdam, Lauren is a performer, playwright, and storyteller. She has 30 years of experience in both America and Europe in theatre, musicals, storytelling, improv comedy, and burlesque (yeah, baby!), yet this is her debut Fringe Festival performance. She met her co-writer and platonic gay life partner (his words), Phillip Melchers, at the Netherlands Film Festival, where they premiered a storytelling performance at the festival. Inspired by all things queer, they’re here to smash traditional narratives and guide others towards their freakier and truer selves. They’ve been making magic together ever since.
