How would you describe your show to someone discovering it for the first time at the Fringe? The Meeples : XXX is fueled by live music, puppetry, aerial work, and comedy. It’s dangerous, and completely ridiculous in the best way. Think puppets colliding with a rock show in an abandoned warehouse in hell. What moment, idea or frustration first sparked this show into existence? There is an undercurrent of frustration and anger in the US right now and we wanted to tell a story that explored it in an imaginative, reveling, and hilarious fashion. How has the show evolved from its earliest idea to what audiences will see now? Each performer brings their own interpretations to the role, which has helped expand and bring it to life. That’s been one of the most rewarding parts of building this show, watching each performer shape their character into something none of us fully predicted when we started. The other reason it keeps evolving is that we built this piece around something that’s genuinely alive and moving in the world right now, the frustration and upheaval so many people are feeling around things like ICE and the current political climate. Because that reality keeps shifting, so does our show. Rather than treating that as a problem, we’ve leaned into it, staying responsive and nimble means the piece never goes stale, and every performer gets to bring something fresh to it as things change. It keeps us evolving, and it keeps the show alive. What makes Edinburgh Fringe the right place for this show right now? This is a show that thrives on the audience being active participants, not spectators, and Fringe crowds are some of the most adventurous you’ll find anywhere. They bought the ticket because they want to dive in headfirst, and that’s exactly the energy this show needs to thrive. What does bringing this particular show to the Fringe represent for you personally? We have an international cast with very close ties to the US. This show gives us an opportunity to explore the frustration, chaos, and challenges that our home country is facing at this moment. What has been the most unexpectedly challenging part of getting this show to Edinburgh? We have puppets, we have aerial work, we have live music, and we have an abnormally large cast, so logistics were always going to be a challenge. As an international company, coordinating people, gear, and rehearsal time across borders is never simple, and we’re no exception to that. If audiences leave the venue holding onto one thing, what do you hope it is? I hope they leave feeling a little more alive than when they walked in. This show is built on the idea of controlled chaos, and underneath all the spectacle there’s a real story with a real purpose. If people walk away buzzing off that energy, we’ve done our job. How do you think performing this show during a Fringe run will shape it? We perform with the audience not for the audience so being able to express our ideas about this moment in time and receiving their responses will help shape it for future runs. Who do you hope this show finds at the Fringe? People who want a wild night out and aren’t afraid of a show that gets a little dangerous. Audiences who like discovering what sticks when you throw everything at the wall. Finally, if this show came with a warning label, what would it say? Trigger warnings: All of them. The Meeples : XXX runs at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 7th-29th August 2026 (except 10th, 16th, 17th, 23rd & 24th).
Next in our Edinburgh Fringe interview series, we speak to Artists Workshop International regarding the second piece of theatre they are bringing to Edinburgh Fringe in 2026. The Meeples : XXX is billed as ”The world’s most famous puppets have lost their funding, been kicked off TV and are now hunted by ICE. Broke and desperate they throw a filthy, drug-fuelled cabaret packed with live music, dance, puppetry and hilarious chaos. Watch as the beloved characters spiral into a grotesque fever dream of debauchery, violence and absurdity – unravelling as danger closes in from all sides. Betrayals, orgies and serial murder collide in a cartoonishly raunchy spectacle – sweaty, exhilarating and unapologetically alive.”
