“The audience arrives curious, not judgmental, which gives us the freedom to take risks.”
WHO: Ruolin Lei
WHAT: “When reality fails to answer desire, the fictional world becomes home. They are the gangsters on screen, forbidden lovers to some, the perfect souls that never existed in reality. The overlooked, East Asian female creators project their emotions onto the imaginary, weaving intimate connections beyond the limits of the real world. When patriarchal narratives attempt to define love, desire and existence, these women reshape them through imagination – not just as passion, but as identity, as a profound connection known as fictosexuality. Fanfiction is not just fantasy, it is love that the world has yet to understand.”
WHERE: Fleming Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall (Venue 53)
WHEN: 11:40 (50 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
For most of us, yes—it’s our first time at EdFringe, and honestly, it’s wild. We’d heard the stories, but nothing really prepares you for the intensity and openness of the festival. As creators, what’s amazing is how the Fringe genuinely makes space for all kinds of voices. That’s crucial for a show like ours. The audience arrives curious, not judgmental, which gives us the freedom to take risks. It’s chaos—but the good kind.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2024 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
Since 2024, one of the biggest lessons has been realizing how powerful it is to tell your own story—even if it feels niche. We used to worry about being misunderstood because of cultural differences, but now we’ve learned that specificity and sincerity will land. Working on Out of Character taught us we don’t need to speak for everyone—but we do need to speak clearly from where we stand. And trust that someone’s listening.
Tell us about your show.
Out of Character is our debut production as Prickly Ash Theatre, written by our amazing playwright Xinyi Huang. The idea was sparked during a late-night conversation about our own experiences as fangirls—how often that voice gets overlooked, misunderstood, or dismissed entirely.
The play explores how East and Southeast Asian female fan creators engage with patriarchal storytelling—through reinterpretation, self-insertion, and resistance. It centres on a fictional Hong Kong mafia novel about a character named “Chan,” and uses this text as a springboard to dive into how different types of fangirls—like those who write BL or self-insert fiction—engage with fictional worlds. Their creative responses reveal their desires, tensions, and identity struggles. Their affection and creativity invested in male characters from the original works reflect both a compromise with the patriarchal narratives of the original work and at the same time a form of resistance against them, often accompanied by inner conflict and struggle.
Most of us are recent MA graduates from GSMD and other UK drama schools, now hustling as freelancers in London. We came together as Chinese creatives trying to carve out space for ourselves in an industry where our stories often feel peripheral. So we formed Prickly Ash Theatre—this is our first project as a team.
We did a soft premiere in Brighton, and the Fringe is our first major platform. After this, we’re hoping to take it on tour—across the UK, and one day, hopefully, home to China.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
There’s so much incredible work happening at theSpaceUK this year, and we’re honestly honoured to be showing alongside these artists.
First, don’t miss the revival of past Fringe First-winning works by the brilliant team of Xhloe and Natasha.
Their trilogy—A Letter To LBJ, What If They Ate The Baby, and And Then The Rodeo Burned Down—is wildly inventive, politically sharp, and emotionally devastating in the best way. Each show plays with theatrical form while staying deeply human. It’s Fringe at its finest.
We also highly recommend Tell Me Where Home Is (I’m Starting to Forget)—a beautiful, introspective piece that explores pop culture, nostalgia, mental health, and the strange tenderness of coming-of-age. It speaks directly to our generation’s sense of uncertainty and longing.
Another must-see is Marble Cake by Chequered Theatre Company. It’s an intimate and heart-wrenching story about two mixed-race siblings reconnecting after months apart. Through them, the show gently unpacks identity, mental health, and fragile family dynamics—with so much warmth and honesty.
Honestly, after Out of Character, we just hope people keep exploring stories that centre care, discomfort, identity, and quiet rebellion. The festival is full of them—just keep your heart open.
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