EdFringe Talk: House Party

Posted in *EdFestivals 2025, *Written Interviews by

“This is my Fringe debut with my own production company and my first big girl show!”

WHO: Chakira Alin

WHAT: “One young woman from East London is on a mission to bring back house parties. She just needs the house. Skip is an aspiring actor just trying to stay afloat. It’s her versus her peers with generational wealth. Armed with the perfect playlist, Skip takes us on a dance party through her changing hometown and the forces she contends with daily. A one-woman show exploring the housing crisis, gentrification, and the state of Britain today, House Party is all about how the future looks bleak right now, and how one great party can change the world.”

WHERE: Attic at Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) 

WHEN: 15:20 (60 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I went up for the first time ever as a student in 2022 with the Cambridge Footlights and was involved in two shows that year, writing and performing in one, and having written another, so it was a real baptism of fire doing double duty. I was running between venues like a headless chicken going to check in on the play I had written in the morning then going to perform in the other show in the evening. It’s no surprise that I burnt myself out and I took 2023 off. I went back in 2024 for a week to see shows as research, knowing I wanted to take up my own show this year. This is my Fringe debut with my own production company and my first big girl show!

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2024 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

I’ve grown massively in the last year, around the same time period from when I first started developing the piece, which I don’t think is a coincidence. Writing this show has been incredibly cathartic. The thing about writing a show that’s autobiographical is you have to be self-aware. So I’ve done a lot of soul-searching. I’ve let go of a lot of resentment I didn’t even know I had and have embraced the party. I’ve learnt not to compare myself to anyone else, especially if we’re not starting from the same place. My self-esteem has skyrocketed. I believe in myself, my sauce and my work. Oh and I’m learning to do the splits. That’s pretty big.

Tell us about your show.

‘No one has house parties anymore.’

One young woman from East London is on a mission to change this. She just needs the house.

Skip is an aspiring actor just trying to stay afloat. It’s her versus her peers with generational wealth. Armed with the perfect playlist, Skip takes us on a dance party through her changing hometown and the forces she contends with on a daily basis. Home Counties transplants. The mullet and moustache army. Those weird skinny expensive dogs.

A one woman show exploring the housing crisis, gentrification, and the state of Britain today, House Party is all about how the future looks really bleak right now, and how one great party can change the world.

The show was inspired by my own experiences of homelessness, the rental market and witnessing the gentrification of my hometown firsthand. It uses the humble house party as a lens through which to dissect housing inequality in Britain.

I am producing through my company Quite The Cowboy, a bold new production company creating work that is comedic, irreverent and offbeat with a biting political core. Rae Morris is directing.

Shortlisted for the Charlie Hartill Award 2025, House Party has been developed with the support of Seven Dials Playhouse, Side eYe Productions, Hackney Empire and Soho Theatre. Extracts of the show have been performed at venues such as the Southbank Centre, Royal Court Theatre, Omnibus Theatre and EartH Hackney, all to rapturous reception. We performed Work In Progress versions of the show at Pleasance London and Theatre Peckham.

We have two more London previews at Seven Dials Playhouse on the 18th and 19th of July. The plan is to have a longer London run as well as a UK tour post-Fringe and adapt the piece for TV!

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

I’m super excited to see Just The Two Of Us by Soft Play, Eggs Aren’t That Easy To Make by Maria Telnikoff/Big Sofa Theatre, Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x) by Jade Franks and Funny Though by Clare Noy.

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