“Ultimately the most important thing you have to do is just show up and do your best – everything else can be worked out!”
WHO: Sarah Cameron-West
WHAT: “We open on Protagonist’s 30th birthday at the Alton Towers, where her life takes an unexpected turn. Mid-Calippo, she’s unceremoniously dumped by her long-term boyfriend, Joe. Things go from bad to worse when Joe then starts dating her office arch-nemesis: Karen. Protagonist must now navigate a powder keg of heartbreak and identity crisis which explodes in the ultimate office showdown. Seamlessly breaking the fourth wall, Protagonist will whisk you through a chaos-filled narrative that has been described as Fleabag meets The Office with Cameron-West as ‘the female Peep Show’ (TheNerdParty.com).”
WHERE: Underbelly, Cowgate – Delhi Belly (Venue 61)
WHEN: 15:55 (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
It is actually my fourth time at Fringe and it is my all-time favourite place to be in August. I have been once as a punter and three times as a performer and I just love it. This is KAREN’s second run at Edinburgh after it’s debut at Greenside last year and I am so excited to be bringing it to the Underbelly for their full 2024 season!
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
My biggest lesson is to be prepared. Get things organised early on and have regular check-ins with people to make sure you are all on the same page. You are going to feel stressed as August looms closer and closer so you want to do as much as you can to mitigate that worry by organising things far in advance and talking to other acts heading to the festival to make sure you haven’t missed anything is key! At the same time, it’s a balance because ultimately the most important thing you have to do is just show up and do your best – everything else can be worked out!
Tell us about your show.
So KAREN is a one-woman character comedy show that I have written, am acting in and have produced under my company Greenlit Productions. I have however been blessed to work with the wonderful director Evie Ayres-Townshend and be supported by a great technical team (Oliver McNally, Sarah Spencer, Roisin Jenner and Jules Chan) who have allowed me to take the show from strength to strength. KAREN started as a 10-minute monologue that won the Velvet Smoke monologue competition in 2021 and I was encouraged to turn it into a full one-woman show after a great reception at the White Bear Theatre in Kennington. It was there that I was paired with Evie and we instantly clicked. She completely understood the humour and shaped it into something very special. KAREN sat on the back burner for 2022 and in 2023 I submitted it very last minute to the Edinburgh Fringe and was lucky enough to get a slot at Riddles Court, Greenside and was named one of the Top 10 Shows to see at the Fringe 2023 by Edinburgh News which I was over the moon about. After a great run and kind reviews, we managed to book a full weeks run at The Other Palace in London and also The Old Joint Stock in Birmingham both of which were sell-out runs. We are now bringing the show to the Underbelly with the hope of a further London transfer and UK tour and we couldn’t be more excited!
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
There are so many amazing shows heading up this year and I would really recommend you check out my fellow Soho Theatre endorsed shows, they all have the Soho Theatre Labs sticker on their posters and flyers! Some include: ‘Yes, We’re Related’ – by Florence Lace-Evans, a dark comedy about grief. Not only did I give myself a stitch from laughing so much I was shocked how quickly it could make me jump to snotty crying. I was speechless at the end – absolutely do not miss this show!
‘Flicker’ – by Gabriella Foley is a modern-day sex farce exploring Pure OCD, created through consultation with OCD UK. It is all about getting queer love stories out there and sparking important conversations around OCD.
‘PALS’ by Mirren Wilson is a Scottish adventure-comedy play telling the story of four crude, chaotic yet completely normal gal pals as they embark on a camping trek in the west of Scotland and I am a sucker for female protagonists so can’t wait to see this.
‘Bangtail’ by Lil Wenker needs no introduction and is sure to be a hot ticket once the fringe kicks off. It is a comedy clown piece of an epic tale of a man in search of his manhood. So saddle up for an hour of unbridled cowboy clown chaos as our hero journeys from the Wild West to the American office. You’re in for a treat!
‘Squidge’ by Tiggy Bayley is another one-woman show on my hit list that tells the story of Daisy, a reluctant teaching assistant, who is assigned a young Irish traveller to help with his reading. Amid phone calls with her grieving mother, a sexy plumber and whale noises, she finds hope in an unlikely friendship. It is a story that deals with those left behind by our education system, and finding love in a world determined to hate.
‘A Stan Is Born’ by Alexis Sakellaris is a show you can’t miss. Already having had a transfer to Soho Theatre, get ready for a love letter to the divas and the gays who stan them! An original queer comedy musical about Alexis’s childhood as a stan. After moving to rural Germany from New York City at age 8, discovering pop divas online was his only salvation… Now he’s ready to sing about it! Get your tickets – you won’t regret it!
Equally other great ones I am looking forward to seeing again are ‘Apricot’ by Gigi Rice – a dark comedy set in our post Roe v Wade world which discusses gender roles, reproductive rights and moral ambiguity from the viewpoint of three teenagers, posing big questions for its audience.
Character Flaw by Philippa Dawson which is a beautiful explosion and hilarious exploration of ADHD and queer identity that was a rollercoaster from start to finish!
Tending by Eleanor Blackwood – a heartbreaking true story taken verbatim from interviews with nurses working in the NHS during COVID. It is a heartbreaking, hilarious and very human look at the experience of the nurses on the frontline of our health service and a must-see.
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