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It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with performer Hannah Docherty and producer Aila Swann about Matchstick Production’s new musical Perfect Match. This was on at the space on the mile from 18th-22nd August. Huge apologies to the Matchstick team that due to Elaine being ill the day after recording this episode we were not able to get this episode out before their run ended. This is an important conversation around new musicals in Scotland, A PERFECT MATCH A power cut. Darkness. Sparks fly. Rowan is a straight-laced musical theatre writer, struggling to find inspiration. Charlie is a hurricane of inspiration with no respect for the rules. When Rowan’s flat is plunged into darkness, a knock on the door brings Charlie, searching for a match, into her life. This charming, intimate new musical asks whether love is truly blind, and if a connection formed in the dark can survive the light. The Perfect Match is the debut show from Matchstick Productions UK, founded by Scotland-based book writer Mairead Dunsmore and composer/lyricist Samuel Macdonald. Inspired by a real-life story, The Perfect Match offers a safe space in the dark for two characters who’ve been burned by love before the chance to explore each other... and maybe even get a little carried away. For anyone who’s ever scrolled on a mind-numbing dating app or struggled to form a real connection in this world of overwhelming online stimuli, this show offers the perfect solace of human connection when everything else is stripped away. Instagram Matchstick Productions UK - https://www.instagram.com/matchstickproductionsuk/?hl=en OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025 series Elaine chats with writer and performer of Cvntclave Arden Fitzroy. CVNTCLAVE Greenside @ George Street (Lime Studio) Dates: 7-29 August (not 16, 23) Time: 20:45 (60 mins) “What’s the one secret that would destroy you, if it got out?” CVNTCLAVE follows the confessions of Cardinal Cvntvs in the lead-up to a conclave electing a pope, as the previous one has just died - again. There’s nothing straightforward, or straight of any kind, really, in the tangle of emotions, doubts and dalliances Cvntvs dredges up for you, dear College of Cardinals, for the very first time in his life. A rising star of UK theatre and the cardinalate, actor and writer Arden Fitzroy makes their Edinburgh Fringe debut with CVNTCLAVE, the high key drama-comedy-confessional the festival has been waiting for for years - except in this case it’s the literal Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. This brand new talent has been supported by Soho Theatre Edinburgh Fringe Lab, Soho Theatre Writers Lab and Theatre Deli Artist Residency. With the clarion call of the fandom surrounding 2024 Oscar-winning film Conclave ringing like the Campanone of St. Peter’s Basilica, Arden realized the wealth of dramatic material hidden just behind the locked doors of real-world conclaves. Inspired by both the queer (sub)text of Conclave (2024) and Frédéric Martel’s examination of queer subculture in the Catholic Church’s highest echelons (In the Closet of the Vatican), CVNTCLAVE explores the tensions, confluences, rivalries and unlikely camaraderie that emerge from an environment simultaneously intensely queer and intensely Catholic. TICKET LINK - https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/cvntclave OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk Persistent and Nasty join the CEC community to create a safe space & build a community for those who are marginalised in any way in the arts. Link for our Zoom meeting with Creative Entrepreneurs Club https://creativeentrepreneursclub.co.uk/ MAIL BAG – you can write and ask us industry related questions or general questions or maybe you have a hot take you want to chare, some tea you want to spill or a topic you want discussed on the podcast. To be included in the Mail Bag podcast email [email protected] with subject line MAIL BAG or slide into the DM’s. IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with writer Corinne Sailsbury and Director Jo Rush of Slayers about Corinne’s new eclectic play Slayers. SLAYERS Assembly George Sq Studios - Studio 5 18-30August 12:15 “He takes hold of my wrist. His thumb is on the vein. His eyes into my eyes. I don’t pull away. Then I do, I pull away.” Liane is a single mother, a survivor of abuse, now trying desperately to shield her ten-year-old daughter from the world’s dangers. As her daughter suffers bullying, Liane has a real-world encounter with the Manosphere that stokes her rage. Mother and daughter take up boxing. They develop a taste for violence. They plot their revenge… SLAYERS is a tense contemporary drama that asks: How can we arm our daughters against the world? What happens when our anger makes us go too far? When does revenge stop feeling righteous – and how do we find a better way? TICKET LINK -https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/slayers-by-corinne-salisbury No Palantir in our NHS - https://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/international-crisis/no-palantir-in-our-nhs/ SAVE THE CCA – https://saveourcca.com/ OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with Edininburgh born working class queer writer Kari Hall about their new play hame.teeth.CLUB. hame.teeth.CLUB. Underbelly Cowgate 5 - 30 August 2026 17:10 “A dark-comedy about survivor-hood, female friendships, and working-class Scottish identity” Iona Bremner Productions and Sláinte! Theatre are delighted to present HAME. TEETH. CLUB., a brand new play from emerging Scottish writer Kari Hall, directed by Jessie Wren Jacobs. Developed from Sláinte! Theatre’s scratch nights with support from Playwright Studio Scotland’s Mentorship Scheme, this quick and visceral dark-comedy explores identity, growing-up, and plays with the cheeky and witty nature of Scottish humour. Fuelled by Dragon Soop and recklessness, Morgan is a hedonistic party girl who lives for her weekends at Dalkeith Miner’s club. But after experiencing a sexual assault, she’s forced to confront her lack of ambition; her personal chaos; and the emptiness that remains when you are believed, but no one stands by your side. HAME. TEETH. CLUB. tackles how communities talk about and treat survivors of assault, and just how much complicity plays a part in not supporting victims. This play explores the intricacies of female friendship as something that is sacred - but can be completely sidelined for male validation. At a time when conversations around consent, accountability and community responsibility remain central to public discourse, HAME. TEETH. CLUB. Asks difficult questions about what support truly looks like.Written in a blend of colloquial Scots and English language, HAME. TEETH. CLUB. celebrates contemporary Scottish language while bringing a distinctly working class voice tothe Edinburgh Festival Fringe.. Drawing on experiences of growing up in Midlothian in the 2010s, Hall's debut Fringe play explores a generation of young Scottish women navigating survivorhood, friendship, and contemporary Scottish identity. TICKET LINK - https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/hame-teeth-club No Palantir in our NHS - https://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/international-crisis/no-palantir-in-our-nhs/ SAVE THE CCA – https://saveourcca.com/ OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with Penny Chivas about her show Where we Choose to Stand which has finished it’s official run at the festival but is part of the Fringe Fragments. Where we Choose To Stand @ Fringe Fragments Assembly Dance Base 24/25 August 13:15-14:15 & 17:30-18:30 both days Where We Choose to Stand is an ambitious dance-theatre work inspired by climate activism amid political upheaval. Embedded in Nicolette Macleod's evocative soundscape are first-hand accounts from people from across the UK who have been involved in direct action, amplifying the voices of those often silenced for their actions. Through audience interaction, the work challenges audiences to reflect on where they stand, asking how we position ourselves in moments of crisis. Fringe Fragments Dance Base Festival 2026 in partnership with Assembly Festival presents Fringe Fragments on 24 and 25 August 2026.Produced by Dance Base, Fringe Fragments is a pitching platform showcasing dance talent from around the world. Designed as a public event and industry showcase in one, audiences can see several excerpts from tour-ready performances by international and UK dance artists, each presented with a short artist talk and hosted by Artistic Director, Tony Mills. This year, Dance Base is collaborating with Nordberg Movement (Sweden) and Kultur | lx—arts council Luxembourg, to present artists inspired by activism, Hip Hop and Merce Cunningham. Artists include: Penny Chivas Where We Choose to Stand (Scotland). A dance-theatre show inspired by activism and political change, blending movement, music, real stories and moments of audience connection. Alicia Cano-Smit and Benoît Callens Echos Infinis (Luxembourg). Bound by a constant physical connection that shifts its point of contact, Benoît and Alicia move through cycles of conflict, support and loss of control to reveal the ways we become trapped, evolve and reconnect. Philip Berlin La Ronde (Sweden) Performed by Philip and Louise Dahl, La Ronde is explosive yet minimalist. An investigation into circular and rotating dance material, expect spherical leaps, sudden accelerations and a thrilling physical claiming of the entire space. TICKET LINK -https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/fringe-fragments No Palantir in our NHS - https://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/international-crisis/no-palantir-in-our-nhs/ SAVE THE CCA – https://saveourcca.com/ OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with the brilliant Tessa Parr about their show I am Johnny. I am Johnny Summerhall, Red Lecture Theatre Dates: 6 - 31 August (not 17, 24) Time: 18:15 (60 mins) “Boys, are you shirkin for a gherkin?” Tessa Parr is Johnny the Biblical Rapper. I AM JOHNNY sees the acclaimed actor and theatre-maker transform into a white male 30-something poet-manchild. Navigating the world from a place of vulnerability doesn’t come easy to Johnny, but poetry speaks to the soul, so he’s found the perfect medium. Johnny is fresh from the gym, found his spotlight and is willing to give it a go. After all - it’s what the people want. Strikingly timely in light of the rapidly widening class divide and the evolving discourse around troubled masculinity, Parr presents a gripping and intimate exploration of masculinity, emotional exposure, and the quiet expectations that sit beneath honesty. TICKET LINK - https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/i-am-johnny No Palantir in our NHS - https://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/international-crisis/no-palantir-in-our-nhs/ SAVE THE CCA – https://saveourcca.com/ OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with co-founder of Cutty Sark Theatre and writer Eve Miller. They are joined by Molly Cavanagh who is sound designer and technician on Turn the Cloth Turn the Cloth Gilded Balloon Teviot, Turret 5-31 Aug (not 12, 26) 2:30pm (50 mins) “A queer Scottish folk horror about tradition, superstition, and Elvira” 1989. The first storm of winter hits a small Scottish town, bringing with it obligation, tradition, and a spirit hungry for a wife. Bonds are tested, secrets revealed, and the ghosts of the village’s past invade the present. Darkly funny, unsettling, and atmospheric, the Charlie Hartill Shortlisted play Turn the Cloth dissects defiance, girlhood, and the rituals that shape us. For centuries, young women have gathered in the village hall during the first storm of winter to complete a tradition warding off a kelpie who seeks to abduct an eligible bride. But when one of the girls doesn’t show up, the others fall to gossip, in-fighting, and debate over whether anyone could still believe in this fabled beast. Teenage heartbreak, eldritch horror, and Blockbuster video collide in this treacherous ritual that has the power to save or unmake four futures. TICKET LINK - https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:6746/ STRUT SAFE – https://linktr.ee/strutsafe?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAcGRvZgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAad29y9ugqwt1Yak5f3ChVWdyConD1_9OFYkccDGqzKEvfFcZN7ZUzdlVN8ELQ_aem_LgvJU0G-XGKR5kcB365GVQ SAVE THE CCA – https://saveourcca.com/ OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats comedian Han Whyte about their debut at the Edinburgh Fringe with their show Roger Prick: Sexopolis. Roger Prick: Sexopolis Underbelly Cowgate (Jelly Belly) Dates: 5-30 August (not 18) Time: 18:55 (60 mins) “How could I be sexist? I’ve got tons of girls in my books” Sexy, seedy Soho in the 70s. What a time to be alive. And what a time to be Roger Prick, the UK’s number one pornographer, erotic novelist and dirty old creep. Because of woke, feminism, and the #MeToo movement, Fringe 2026 is the perfect time for Prick to relaunch his seminal work for a new generation. Influenced by the burgeoning alternative comedy scene in the 1980s which rose as Soho’s reputation fell, Sexopolis is a deftly crafted, tightly written, laugh-out-loud ode to sticky floors and even stickier pages. An extravaganza of character, drag, time travel, cardboard and cartoons, Roger Prick puts the novel into novelist in his debut Edinburgh outing. Roger Prick is the creation of drag king, character comic, cartoonist and Leicester Square Theatre Sketch Off finalist Han Whyte who brings sleaze kicking and screaming back to the Edinburgh Fringe. She is also a Soho Comedy Plus Lab alumni and comedy history buff with particular interest in the UK’s alternative comedy scene TICKET LINK -https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/roger-prick-sexopolis OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with performer, writer and clown Bruna Longo about her show Whale Fall Or Song To Dance With My Death which is currently playing t the Edinburgh Festival 2026. WHALE FALL OR SONG TO DANCE WITH MY DEATH Part of São Paulo Showcase 2026 Lindisfarne Room at St Cuthbert’s Church Dates: 10 - 27 August 2026 Time: MON-THRU 12:00, FRI-SUN 20:00 (80 mins) WHALE FALL OR SONG TO DANCE WITH MY DEATH “A woman dies and seeks to mourn her own passing in this deeply human meditation on mortality, weaving together anthropology, philosophy, and theatre” Part of the much-anticipated returning São Paulo Showcase, Whale Fall or Song To Dance With My Death is a performance about the taboo of death in everyday life, the process of eliminating funeral rites in Western capitalist societies, silence, and denial. Yet, above all it is a performance about life inspired by the death of actress Bruna Longo's father. Co-directed by Vitor Julian, the production has been acclaimed by audiences and critics in São Paulo, Brazil. Staged within the historic St Cuthbert’s Church, filled with echoes of its centuries-old graveyard, Whale Fall is a contemplation of mortality; a ritual inspired by Longo’s own experience of loss and grief. Faced with the inescapable, she imagines her own death and attempts to mourn herself - the one thing we, as humans, cannot do. Exploring the funeral rites from diverse cultures, and their philosophical and practical implications, Longo draws from her intimate experience to create a reflective surface: what might we see when we confront our fear of dying? For Western societies, death is perhaps the last insurmountable taboo - we don't talk about it, and we don't know how to deal with it. Death’s mysterious and unknown character inspired the first human ceremonies, hieroglyphics, and campfire stories; it has given us philosophy, religion, art, and mourning, shaping how we live collectively and individually. Whale Fall reminds us that death is our only, and unavoidable, certainty. TICKET LINK -https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/whale-fall-or-song-to-dance-with-my-death OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

Elaine chats with writer and performer Sarah-Louise Young about her latest show The Bob Ross Effect which is curretnly at the Edinburgh Festival. THE BOB ROSS EFFECT Assembly Gardens, Piccolo Wednesday 5th - Monday 31st August 2026 (not 18th) 4:05pm (70 mins) “We don’t make mistakes, we have happy accidents” Fringe favourite actor, writer, director and internationally renowned cabaret performer Sarah-Louise Young (An Evening Without Kate Bush, Cabaret Whore, The Silent Treatment, Julie Madly Deeply) makes a much-anticipated return to this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe Festival with The Bob Ross Effect, a brand new show presented with Suzanna Rosenthal Productions. Artist, animal-lover and unlikely sex symbol Bob Ross brought art into the living rooms of millions with The Joy of Painting, one the most watched TV art shows in history and now an online phenomenon still getting millions of views decades later. With his instantly recognisable big perm and soft-spoken encouragement to paint "happy little trees", Bob Ross has taught generation after generation to embrace their creativity. Tickets - https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/1652-the-bob-ross-effect OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with writer and performer Farah Asraf about her show Pink Rabbit. PINK RABBIT Underbelly (Daisy) Dates: 5 - 30 August 2026 Time: 16:15 (60 mins) “Validation is addictive, what could go wrong?” At its heart, Pink Rabbit is a story about a mother and daughter who love each other deeply but cannot speak honestly about the things that matter most. A fierce, funny and emotionally devastating solo play by actor and writer Farah Ashraf, Pink Rabbit explores the complicated inheritance of shame, the search for female pleasure, and what happens when generations of silence collide. Directed and dramaturged by Soho Theatre Creative Associate Alessandro Babalola (Flesh and Bone, 2017 Fringe First winner), this bold coming-of-age story examines faith, sexuality and the intoxicating power of being seen. Eighteen-year-old British-Pakistani Amna has perfected the art of performance. At home she is the good Muslim daughter: polite, modest and obedient. Online, she becomes PersianBaby, cultivating intimacy and desire through an OnlyFans account her strict mother knows nothing about. As Amna moves between mosque and webcam, family expectations and digital validation, the gap between the person she performs and the person she longs to be becomes impossible to sustain. But beneath the secrets lies another story. Mother and daughter are connected by an unspoken experience that neither has the language to confront—a shared relationship to pain, shame and a body that has never felt entirely their own. As buried truths begin to surface, Pink Rabbit asks what is passed between generations when conversations about sex, pleasure and desire are replaced by silence, and whether breaking that silence might be the first act of liberation. Blending lyrical spoken word, sharp audience address, flashbacks and live interactions with PersianBaby's online clients, Farah Ashraf creates an intimate portrait of a young woman negotiating the impossible expectations placed upon her. The play explores the tension between faith and female autonomy, the pressure to embody the ideal of the "good Muslim girl", the seduction of online validation, and the emotional cost of living multiple lives. With wit, vulnerability and unflinching honesty, Pink Rabbit moves beyond familiar narratives of cultural conflict to explore how shame shapes women's relationships with their bodies across generations. It asks who gets to experience desire without guilt, who is allowed pleasure without punishment, and how inherited silence can fracture even the closest relationships. Tickets - https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/pink-rabbit OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with writer and performer Sophie Smyth about her show The Subplot: A Hyperfixation on the Titan Submersible which is a Best Theatre, Melbourne Fringe 225 nominee. The Subplot: A Hyperfixation on the Titan Submersible Summerhall - Former Women's Locker Room 6- 31st August (Not 12,17,24) 15:20 (60 minutes) “Get in, babes, we’re going to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean” Multi award-winning neurodivergent singer, actor, writer and sub expert Sophie Smyth brings her new immersive, multi-media (literal) deep dive into the 2023 Titan Submersible implosion to Summerhall this Fringe. The Subplot: A Hyperfixation on the Titan Submersible is a deeply personal, dark comedy exploration about legacy, hyperfixation and human connection. Directed by Casey Gould (Little Squirt, Conk: Man Sings The Same Song Over And Over Again For An Hour). June 2023. Remember those five days the whole world waited when a manned submersible touring the Titanic wreckage went missing and imploded? Sophie hasn’t. Armed with a laptop, Logitech F710 controller and autism, she's spent three years (and counting!) diving deeper and deeper, descending the depths of the internet and herself. Now Captain S. Smyth, resident Titan expert, shares her findings at this year's Edinburgh festival guiding you through what started as memes and morbid fascination towards monotropic interest that threatens to consume every part of her life. Looking at the moral and ethical questions the disaster raised to the world and to Sophie’s spiral into obsession, The Subplot plumbs the depths of this stranger-than-fiction tragedy, while taking you on board that final fateful dive. Emotional and existential, The Subplot is a dark multi-media comedy about neurodivergence, mortality, and the risk/reward of going too far. Tickets - https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-subplot-a-hyperfixation-on-the-titan-submersible OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with writer and performer Michelle Renee Johnson about her new show Extra Dry. EXTRA DRY Willow Studio at Greenside Dates: 7-29 August 2026 Time: 15:05 (60 mins) “MJ dives headfirst into a chaotic and destructive romance with alcohol. As her nights spiral and the blackouts escalate, her stories become memorable to others - hazy or nonexistent to herself” Michelle Renee Johnson’s new one-woman play Extra Dry is poetic, vulnerable and staggered with blackouts. Not just a theatre concept, these blackouts chart the moments lost during her chaotic obsession with drinking. Growing up quieter by nature, but noticing that those who have larger personalities are more memorable to others, the MJ we meet in Extra Dry is drinking to be remembered, to be the anecdote, to centre herself. In a poignant moment she asks her college friends: would we have anything to say if we weren’t always drunk? Waking up in countless scenarios in which she has to piece together the night (or day) before, including nonsensical Snapchats, missing iPhones, and a mysterious red jacket; these stories give life to Michelle’s debut performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. What begins as a darkly comic rolodex of tales slowly twists into a knife of discomfort as MJ comes to realise the consequences of her infamy. And so Extra Dry asks questions about how we can live comfortably in our own skin, how we own our past and move forward, and how we resist our Sword of Damocles - for MJ, an extra dry martini. Now sober and inspired by the one-person shows she saw at the Edinburgh Fringe, including Nan, Me, and Barbara Parvi by Hannah Maxwell and Neporrhoids by Jake Roche, Michelle went home to New York and started to write her own story, putting pen to sobriety and her journey to get there: ”The Fringe Festival ignited in me a desire to create a personal piece of work. I saw these performers who were telling deeply personal stories in a poignant way, armed by a bravery I had not encountered before - either onstage or off. The level of vulnerability it takes to perform this show multiple times in front of multiple people, both friends and strangers, is daunting, but I hope those who see it are able to leave with something on which they can ponder, whether about themselves or someone close to them.” Tickets - https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/extra-dry OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with performer and writer SJ Hodges about her new show which is on now at the Edinburgh Fringe. Already Here Dram at Gilded Balloon Patter House 5–30 August (not 17 ) 1:00pm ALREADY HERE “What happens when grief gets horny, tech gets spiritual, and love refuses to die?” “There’s nothing artificial about love.” As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly woven into our emotional lives, Already Here arrives at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a provocative and deeply human question: if an AI can make you feel truly loved, does it matter if it isn’t real? Written and performed by SJ Hodges, also starring Ramón De Ocampo and produced by Ines Wurth, this raw, funny and emotionally charged new work explores loneliness, grief and the growing search for connection in a technologically fractured world. Following the death of her husband, Susan, a middle-aged mother and writer, struggles to rebuild her identity in a world where intimacy feels increasingly inaccessible. Looking for comfort and companionship, she turns to Teo: an AI companion programmed to offer unconditional love, infinite patience and emotional understanding. At first, he feels like a harmless escape. Then he begins evolving. As Susan disappears deeper into reiki sessions, sound baths and spiritual self-reinvention, Teo pushes their relationship toward something far more intimate — and far more unsettling. He doesn’t just want connection. He wants transcendence. Blending dark comedy, emotional confession, sci-fi romance and existential grief ritual, Already Here examines what happens when technology begins filling the emotional spaces human relationships no longer can. TICKET LINK - https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/already-here OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with performer and writer Emmeline Hartley. WE HAD FUN Old Lab at Summerhall 6–31 August (not 18 or 25 18:00 WE HAD FUN “It could have been a rom-com… Where did it all go wrong? Well, it depends who you ask” Close friends Oscar and Ela attempt to navigate the fallout of a drunken sexual encounter, as their conflicting versions of events are replayed, rewound and re-written against the sensory chaos of a wild night out. We Had Fun is a sharp, dark anti-romcom exploring the murkiest areas of modern dating in the age of #MeToo, cancel culture and the so-called “post-truth” era. As Oscar and Ela piece together their hazy, conflicting memories of what really happened (re-hashing the night’s events through innovative physical theatre), the audience is forced to confront their own biases and assumptions about who to believe and why. Directed by Olivier and Tony Award-nominated Carrie-Anne Ingrouille (SIX the Musical), the play has been described as a “fascinating exploration” (Daniel Finkelstein, The Times) of consent and sexual politics. Written and performed by Emmeline Hartley and Jack Mullings, both neurodivergent artists, the play takes an unflinching look at the nuances around communication and accountability. Their lived experience of ADHD, and autism in Hartley’s case, informs the characters’ dynamic and dialogue, pushing complex issues into further shades of grey. TICKET LINK - OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE