Camden Fringe 2019: Six shows to see at this year's arts festival

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Zoe Paskett29 July 2019

Lacking the time, cash or incentive to go all the way to Scotland for arts entertainment? Don’t worry, you’re not missing out on all the fun.

Camden Fringe returns for its 14th edition, covering theatre, music, comedy, spoken word and cabaret in venues across north London.

There are more than 300 different shows to see, so here are a few to get you started.

The Bareback Kings

Four drag kings mix sketch, improv and music in their first hour-long show. Gary, Seb, Brent and Dirk take on gender, identity and Deliveroo in a comedic performance that features possibly the only pregnant drag king in the country right now. Audience participation will be on the cards, so be prepared to be flirted with.

August 5-6, The Taproom, Islington, camdenfringe.com

Oddball

Oddball invites audiences into the brain of someone with an eating disorder. Through a mix of humour, sound design and zero respect for the fourth wall, Francesca Forristal takes down all the toxic preconceptions about eating disorders. The show is inspired by the writer and performer’s own experience with anorexia, treatment and having a heart attack at 19 years old.

August 20-24, Upstairs at the Gatehouse, camdenfringe.com

Ophelia Rewound

Antigoni Spanou’s solo performance weaves the story of Ophelia with her own. Spanou looks at the person underneath all the analysis about the character as the virgin, the hysteric, the seductress, the victim and the manipulator. Ophelia Rewound uses projection mapping and intimate audience interactions to examine depression and stereotypes around mental health.

August 22-25, Camden People’s Theatre, camdenfringe.com

How To Be Alone (formerly entitled Working Classy Women)

Fiona Clift is playing many parts in her one-woman character comedy show. The main feature is fictional monologuist Janice Bruce McHeath, but Clift will also channel the characters of Joanna Lumley, Jennifer Lawrence, Janice's community theatre director Terry, her Auntie Iris and poet Kate Tempest.

July 31, The Albany, camdenfringe.com

Eastendless

James Holmes, who played Clive in Miranda, stars as Tony Coventry, an EastEnders obsessive. When he lands a small part in the show, his dream job turns into a nightmare. Tim Fountain’s play takes a darkly comic glance behind the scenes of the soap.

July 30-August 1, Hen and Chickens, camdenfringe.com

The Net

An ensemble cast tell the story of four women on different sides of a border. A grandmother and her granddaughter are fixing a hole in the net – the only barrier left after all of the bricks and stones have been used up – when two women appear on the other side. Zoë Guzy-Sprague’s new play is inspired by a trip to Israel and looks at the arbitrary divides we create between one another.

August 13-17, Tristan Bates Theatre, camdenfringe.com

Camden Fringe runs from July 29-August 25. For a full line-up and tickets, go to camdenfringe.com

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