Where creativity meets connection
RE-ENACTMENT (Work In Progress)
Thurs 8 May 2025
WundaBarn at The SpiegelGardens, Victoria Gardens North, Brighton BN1 4GU
Award-winning theatre-maker Victoria Melody brings a work in progress of her new show to the Fringe - directed by the legendary Mark Thomas.
Often described as the Louis Theroux of theatre, Victoria has spent years embedding herself in England’s most passionate niche communities, crafting five hit shows along the way.
Re-Enactment is a bold, genre-blurring exploration of history, identity, and grassroots power. Set in Whitehawk, a council estate in East Brighton, the show weaves together the world of historical re-enactment societies with the real-life stories of a community fighting for its future. It’s a vibrant mix of passion and humour—a celebration of resilience, unity, and the magic of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
SMART SHEDS
Sat 3 - Sun 4, Sat 10 - Sun 11, Sat 17 - Sun 18, Sat 24 - Sun 25 May 2025
Devil's Dyke Road, Brighton BN1 8YJ
Helping nature heal and minds to flourish, SMART is holding a series of free events amidst the beautiful South Downs. Something magical is stirring atop the rolling hills of Devil’s Dyke, as SMART Sheds presents a unique fusion of art, nature, and mental wellbeing, inviting visitors to explore an immersive outdoor experience as part of this year’s Brighton Fringe Festival.
Set within a much loved and wild patch of land, SMART Sheds brings together a diverse collective of artists who have created thoughtful, interactive installations inspired by themes of local folklore, the natural world, and the healing power of creativity. This year’s contributing artists include Amy Macmillan, Alexi Marshall, Carrie Stanley, Hazel Reeves, Danny Manning, Katy Beinart, Figments Arts, and the BPOC Photography Collective.
Opening Weekend: Bel Fire Fayre – Sat 3 – Sun 4 May
To celebrate the launch, SMART Sheds will host a traditional May Fair, complete with a wellbeing area, creative workshops (including laughter yoga), artisan stalls, food, and all-around fun and frolics for the whole family.
Sussex Supper Club - Sat 10 May
An evening not to be missed, the Sussex Supper Club will serve locally sourced traditional food, followed by a spellbinding performance from His Animal Grace, blending poetry and violin in a one-of-a-kind storytelling experience. All proceeds will support the charity behind SMART Sheds.
SMART (St Mary Abbots Rehabilitation and Training) is a mental health charity based in London that promotes mental wellbeing through purposeful activity. With their recent purchase of this special site at Devil’s Dyke, they aim to create a nature-based ecotherapy resource for clients, while working closely with the local community to expand its reach and benefit.
Tickets are free, with workshops and refreshments operating on a pay-as-you-feel basis
Find more information at: www.smartlondon.org.uk
BEFORE FAME - OR: WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN YOU DISCOVER ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST POP DUOS IN A VILLAGE HALL
Sun 25 May 2025
The Old Market
What would you do if you discovered George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley rehearsing in a village hall before they were famous? Michael Burdett knows because that’s what happened to him when he was a 19-year-old talent scout.
Michael tried to get the music company he worked for to sign the duo as part of a ska band called The Executive. What happened next defies belief.
Before Fame tells the untold story of the early years before George and Andrew stormed the charts as Wham! It follows Edinburgh-award-winner Burdett as, 40 years later, he took the recording they made together round the UK, photographing strangers listening to it.
The result is a quirky, funny and uplifting solo show that will make you scratch your head at how coincidence shapes destiny. In Michael’s words, it’s a show about two musical geniuses and an idiot. Spoiler: Michael is the idiot.
THE BEAUTY OF BEING HERD
Fri 2 – Sat 3 May, Sat 24 – Sun 25 May 2025
Half a Camel, Presuming Ed, London Road, Brighton BN1 4JG
Calling in at Fringe as part of a UK tour, this surreal smash hit will wow you with its sheepish charm. The brainchild of Gaulier graduate, Ruth Berkoff, this playful, tender rollercoaster of a show follows Hannah at her BIG GOODBYE PARTY - featuring comedy, songs and heart. The funny and moving story will resonate with many through its exploration of the struggle to fit in. Hannah has always followed the rules and has a longing to figure out how to fit in, but human life simply isn’t working for her. Accompanied by original songs, clowning and a generous sprinkling of facts about sheep, Hannah decides to say goodbye to life as she knows it, and makes peace with the fact that she is going to live as a sheep.
RACHEL O'CONNOR: ASTROBALLS
Fri 16 May
Half A Camel, The Joker, Preston Road, Brighton BN1 4QF
A character comedy show featuring mystical influencers and kooky celebrities. Is spirituality your cup of tea (leaves) or do you think it’s just a load of Astroballs?!! A show for anyone who loves - or hates - astrology and popular culture!
Written and performed by Rachel O'Connor. Rachel is a comedian and astrologer. She has a background in improv and sketch comedy, performed stand-up comedy shows at a number of Fringe Festivals and featured in The Guardian.
AMY ANNETTE: THICK SKIN
Sat 31 May
The Secret Comedy Club, Artista, Waterloo Street, Hove BN3 1AY
Fresh from a sold-out run at Soho Theatre, which earned her a glowing 4-star review from The Guardian, comedian Amy Annette comes to Brighton Fringe as part of her debut UK tour. Thick Skin is a nostalgic yet cuttingly sharp dive into the chaos of the 2000s. Amy explores everything from body image trauma to dodgy fashion choices (ballet flats, anyone?), plus the universal teenage embarrassment of falling in love with (David Suchet’s) Hercule Poirot. Whether you survived the era of Trinny and Susannah or are just discovering what Y2K horror awaits in 2025, this show delivers big laughs, feminist edge, and Amy’s signature warmth.
Amy Annette has earned praise from the best in the business, including Suzi Ruffell, Aisling Bea, Lou Sanders, and Rose Matafeo. She was longlisted for Best Newcomer at the ISH Comedy Awards 2024 and is a Funny Women Industry Award winner.
SUPERMARKETISM!
Fri 16 May 2025 (Free)
Half A Camel, The Caxton Arms, North Gardens, Brighton BN1 3LB
Following successful runs at Brighton Fringe 2024, Faversham Fringe, Leicester Comedy Festival 2025, ’SUPERMARKETISM!’ is back with a trolley full of laughs. An absurdist dance & gospel music-themed comedy that ventures deep into the peculiarities of the British supermarket. Think songs and sketches about late-night supermarkets, vegan cheese, intergalactic subway sandwiches, spaghetti-rage meets mindfulness, and the dark reality of meal deals.
Touring music & sketch comedy duo Virgo & Dearlove perform a host of character sketches and belting soulful music that tackle the supermarket from multiple angles with religious-like fervour, reflecting the insanity of being told what to do by a self-checkout till.
Dom Virgo is a musician, writer-performer, who started out in his early teens on the London DJ circuit before turning his hand to writing music and live performance. A skilled improviser of music, character and voice comedy. He has a husky-sexual-belting soulful singing voice that transports people into a state of shivering ecstasy.
Matt Dearlove, trained actor and improviser on the London Improv scene has been performing since he could say the word ‘Ma-ma’. He isn’t afraid of the high notes. His falsetto voice purrs like a finely tuned leopard. Prone to working up a sweaty funk on stage.
WILLY WUNDERLICH AND THE CHOCOLATE CABARET
Thurs 8 – Sat 10 May
WundaBarn at The SpiegelGardens, Victoria Gardens North, Brighton BN1 4GU
Striptease, mime, music, magic, pole-dancing, cheerleading and WTF is that? Join Brighton's, longest-running and best-loved all-male curators of cabaret chaos Der Wunderlich Revue, in a sweet and sticky adventure you'll never forget - no matter how hard you try. We'll be blowing on our candy bars, sucking on our popsicles and swallowing hard on our hot chocolates.
The smuttiest, silliest show in the Fringe, it stars Size Zero Albino, Adriano Fettucini, Team MUD Cheerleaders, Streetmilk, Ho Chi Minge, Dan Wunderlich, Naughtycal Nigel, Joel Le Clercq and very special guest Dizzy O'Dare.
QUEER (IN) NATURE WITH TOULOUSE LOST-TRACK
Sat 3 (12.00pm), Sun 11 (12.00pm), Sat 17 (12.00pm) and Fri 23 May (1.30pm) (Free)
Chalet Cafe, Preston Park, Brighton BN1 6HN
Sat 3 (3.00pm), Sun 11 (3.00pm), Sat 17 (2.30pm) and Fri 23 May 2025 (4.30pm) (Free)
Banjo Groyne, Brighton BN2 1EN
This event is part guided walk, part performance and takes place outside.
Choose your adventure - on land, sea, or both! Join Toulouse Lost-Track on an immersive journey of discovery through the natural world around us. Grab a pair of magical binoculars to see beyond human categories, get up close with local queer creatures, and learn about the kaleidoscope of life forms that are so much more than meets the eye. Weaving together performance, outdoor learning, and active audience participation, Toulouse attempts to bring us closer to a sense of nature – nature that is defyingly wild, continually changing, resiliently rooted and trans-speciesly connected. Nature that we are part of and that is part of us.
OOPS MY NEURODIVERSITY IS SHOWING!
Tues 6 – Weds 7, Fri 23, Mon 26 May 2025
Half A Camel - The Caxton Arms, North Gardens, Brighton BN1 3LB
This free show (booking advised) offers real-life moments shared by LGBT+ and neurodiverse storytellers spark bold, hilarious improvised scenes. Expect chaotic joy, spontaneous comedy, and heartwarming stories that celebrate the beauty of what makes us different.
A HISTORY OF THE LAST CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT, IN THEIR OWN STUPID WORDS
Fri 2 – Sun 4 May 2025
Half A Camel, The Caxton Arms, North Gardens, Brighton BN1 3LB
Harun Musho'd's fourth stand-up show sees the razor sharp comedian extracts from the memoirs of David Cameron, Theresa May, Liz Truss, Matt Hancock, Nadine Dorries and Boris Johnson, then fact checking them. That's the show.
He’s realised it’s the worst idea he’s ever had, as researching it meant reading the memoirs of David Cameron, Theresa May, Liz Truss, Matt Hancock, Nadine Dorries and Boris Johnson. But now you don’t have to.
Musho’d started performing stand-up comedy in 2013 as a 46-year old mature student at Royal Holloway University and working as an HR manager in the House of Commons.
MADONNA ON THE ROCKS
Mon 12 – Tues 13 May 2025
The Lantern @ ACT, St James Street, Brighton BN2 1PA
A dark and hilarious musical about motherhood, madness and making art at the end of the world, Madonna On The Rocks is a neon-lit, techno-soundtracked mental breakdown at the Stay and Play.
It's about fragile egos, following our childhood dreams and the struggle to be an artist, or to have any sort of career at all really, and be a relatively decent parent at the same time. With banging original tunes inspired by Peaches, The Slits, Madonna and Nina Simone.
Following an incredible Work In Progress run at last year's festival, the show returns, bigger and better than ever before.
SALT Staff Writer
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