Jake Mace
F*ckboy – Freddie H Arts
Our reviewer described this show as “gripping, and crushingly intimate”, and rounded it up by describing it as “a nuanced and deeply personal take on the trans experience in all of its joys, pains, and frustrating uncertainties.”
The show is an exploration of gender dysphoria, bodily autonomy, and celebrity crushes from a non-binary perspective, where a member of the audience is selected to play Andrew Garfield, which is reason enough to love the ethos that’s gone into the piece.
We’re pleased to award Freddie Haberfellner, of Freddie H Arts, the first of our Binge Fringe Queer Performer’s Awards for F*ckboy.
The Disappeared – Down the Rabbit Hole Theatre
Our reviewer described this show as “a whirlwind of dance, spoken-word and song’ in which we’re invited to explore how “politics and fierceness collide.”
The show is a wild, fun, and sexy burlesque cabaret that tells the true story of a Queer Latinx voice robbed of their freedom and forced into exile during a Government Coup in South America. Our reviewer said that walking into the room with the performers felt like stepping into a completely different world than the one outside – one authentic, purposeful, and visually magnificent world.
We’re delighted to award Down the Rabbit Hole Theatre and the Danish Showcase, our next Binge Fringe Queer Performer’s Award for The Disappeared.
The Freemartin – Speakbeast
Our reviewer described this show as “majestic, mightly, and unflinching”, and “equal parts queer rage and absurdist masterpiece”.
The show is a play about an agricultural conference, a satire that turns insurmountable pain experienced by Trans people into sharp, pointed, expressive art. Our reviewer called it their “hidden theatrical gem” of EdFringe this year. We’re delighted to award Speakbeast our next Binge Fringe Queer Performer’s award for The Freemartin.
Ugly Sisters – piss / CARNATION
Our reviewer described this show as “iconic, bold, and totally captivating”, saying that the performances are “vivid, lived-in, obscure but so deeply, intoxicatingly tangible.”
The piece merges clowning, philosophy, voguing, satire, dance, glitch visuals and physical theatre into a hotpot that explores the media class’ relationship and reaction to Trans bodies and identities, how we form gendered expectations for others around us, and how those expectations might be pulled apart and reconstructed. It’s a truly unique experience.
We’re delighted to award piss / CARNATION with our final Binge Fringe Queer Performer’s Award of this festival for Ugly Sisters.
GRASSROOTS HERO AWARD – Presented to Aidan Sadler
We have one final, as yet unannounced award that we would like to honour someone with. This person has long-embodied Binge Fringe’s values of platforming underrepresented voices and visiting unseen corners.
Through their late-night event Big Gay Afterparty, they have uplifted the voices of the most unique, beautiful, genre-defying, boundary-pushing artists. At the eye of this swirling performance hurricane is their dedicated, valiant MC.
This performer first landed on the EdFringe scene in 2021 with their 80s cabaret Tropicana, and last year brought their post-apocalyptic cabaret Melody to the festival which we awarded a dutifully-earnt 5 stars calling it “a sucker-punch hour of cheeky cabaret glee”.
We’re delighted to award the Binge Fringe Grassroots Hero Award for 2024 to Aidan Sadler.
Phoebe Bakker
