EdFringe Talk: It’s A Struggle Coming Ou

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, *Written Interviews by

“I taught international teaching assistants how to adjust to America… God. I really hope I learned something from all that.”

WHO: Alec Schwartz

WHAT: “When four Evangelical teens plan to convert citizens for their debutante ball, a closeted goth teen falls for a vampire, igniting a campy crusade of repression, romance and religious hysteria – forcing her to choose between her church, friends and thirst for authenticity. Written and performed by students at USC and fresh off a sold-out run in Los Angeles, It’s A Struggle Coming Out makes its international debut!”

WHERE: Upper Theatre at theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 9) 

WHEN: 18:05 (55min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

As a first time comer to EdFringe, I am unbelievably excited to get to come here for the first time as a Director. EdFringe is renowned the world over for being THE theater festival. The very cutting edge of creativity, where artists the world over come to share and learn from each other. And now I get to participate in that exchange. I’m eager to broaden my horizons and let everyone else get a taste of what my freak flag can offer.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2025 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

I’ve spent the last two years sponging up as much knowledge as I could. I’ve been majoring in acting, minoring in screenwriting, directing a production of Rocky Horror Picture Show, a one act play called Ratdog, this show. I’ve done four original sketch comedy shows. I’ve done weekly improv. I had a one act play of mine produced. I played Brutus in a production of Julius Caesar. I worked at a comedy club, taught international teaching assistants how to adjust to America… God. I really hope I learned something from all that.

Tell us about your show.

There’s vampires. I’d tell you there’s gay people, but you assumed that when you heard there’s vampires. It’s funny, it’s sweet, it’s sincere. It’s campy and fun. It’s a show about love, community, and being yourself. If you like Twilight, Mean Girls, or whimsy, you should see it.

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

After It’s A Struggle, go see the rest of what LATI is bringing to Fringe this year.

Revelation, is running back to back with our production and is fresh off a sold-out run in New York and making its international premiere. It is a genuinely funny piece of new writing about the horror and hope of being American. The four horsemen gather at a Southern diner and toy with ordinary folks like puppets, all while wrestling with the one thing bigger than the end of the world: their own egos.

Guns In Dragonland is back after a critically acclaimed run at last year’s festival with a new production and cast. It’s a powerful and moving show about the very timely subject of gun violence in American classrooms. The show is somehow tender, inventive, yet quietly devastating, the kind of hour that gets people talking long after they leave the theatre.

I would also make sure to catch DECKHAND which received 5 stars at Hollywood Fringe and makes its international debut in the last week of the festival, it is a fast paced comedy set aboard a sinking ship that explores the toxic and nuanced relationship between an assistant and their boss.

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