EdFringe Talk: Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story

Posted in EdFestivals 2023, Written Interviews by

“The Diana show started with me writing a silly little thing as a birthday present for my mother-in-law that then grew into its own arts council funded, multi-disciplinary, UK-touring show.”

WHO: Linus Karp

WHAT: “Do you know the story of Diana? Probably. But do you know our story of Diana? We very much doubt it. Join Diana in heaven as she shares the untold and untrue tale of her extraordinary life. Combining drag, multimedia, audience interaction, puppetry and a lot of queer joy – this unique celebration of the People’s Princess is as hilarious as it is tasteless. ‘Hilarious, joyful and ridiculous to the point of sublime’ (Deborah Frances-White, The Guilty Feminist – podcast). ‘The most unhinged piece of theatre in existence’ ***** (BroadwayBaby.com).”

WHERE: Pleasance Dome – KingDome (Venue 23) 

WHEN: 16:30 (70 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

With the quite obvious exceptions of 2020-21, I have performed at the Fringe every year since 2017. It’s so special to be at a place where you’re surrounded by creativity and artistry wherever you turn – there really isn’t anything like it.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

Since last year’s Fringe I feel like I’ve grown so much as a performer – through my latest show I got to collaborate with so many amazing creatives from a range of fields – a choreographer, a composer, a designer, a puppeteer, a drag artist etc. and having hoovered up as much knowledge from them as possible I feel like a stronger theatre maker than ever before.

Tell us about your show.

I am doing two shows – both created and performed by myself alongside my partner Joseph Martin. “Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story” is a ridiculous, queer and comedic celebration of Princess Diana and “how to live a jellicle life: life lessons from the 2019 hit movie musical ‘cats'” is a queer and chaotic PowerPoint presentation about how you can make your life more jellicle – and what that entails.

The Diana show started with me writing a silly little thing as a birthday present for my mother-in-law that then grew into its own arts council funded, multi-disciplinary, UK-touring show.

Jellicle came out of my unhealthy hyper fixation of the cinematic masterpiece Cats (2019). After seeing the film, I could not think or speak about anything else, so I made a jellicle show about it. That said, you do not need to have seen the film or know anything about Cats to enjoy it – just be up for an evening of queer chaos.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

At its best, the Fringe is emerging with exciting creatives being given a platform to find their audiences. So, I would very much recommend being bold in your choices and watch acts you’ve not heard of before and across all genres, rather than just comedians you’ve seen on TV. At a time where we see so much anti-queer rhetoric, I would also recommend making an effort to see queer work. Wasteman, A Shark ate my Penis, Public – The Musical and Pitch are some of the queer shows I’m looking forward to the most.

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