How would you describe your show to someone discovering it for the first time at the Fringe? Bottom’s Dream is a high energy, one act immersive musical that takes A Midsummer Night’s Dream and tells it through the eyes of Shakespeare’s most unlikely dreamer, Bottom. Set with live bluegrass music, aerial work, and dance, the audience is invited to a fairy revel in the mountains to experience the poetry in Shakespeare’s language in a new tale. What moment, idea or frustration first sparked this show into existence? I have always loved music festivals. I have been to festival all across the US but one of the most transformative was when I went to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. The location, the music, the people all helped shape the idea for Bottom’s Dream. How has the show evolved from its earliest idea to what audiences will see now? We have been fortunate to collaborate with bluegrass musicians and artists who have helped enrich the story and enlightened new directions for the plot. Having such a collaborative team has shaped the show in new ways and we can’t wait to share it with the Fringe audiences. What makes Edinburgh Fringe the right place for this show right now? In rehearsals we talk a lot about performing with the audience not for the audience. The Edinburgh Fringe has some of the most engaged and supportive audiences made up of artists and theatre lovers from around the globe. They come in with an adventurous spirit, and we look forwarding to experiencing Bottom’s Dream with them. What does bringing this particular show to the Fringe represent for you personally? This is a tale about identity and about finding the joy within oneself. The chance to share this with the Fringe audience in a time where the world is consistently experiencing difficulty and political strife means we can share our joy with others, and hopefully send them back out into the world a little lighter than they came in. What has been the most unexpectedly challenging part of getting this show to Edinburgh? We are an international cast. We have people from Shanghai to Florida to LA. It wasn’t necessarily a surprise but working across time zones was challenging. Someone was always logging on at a strange hour, and it required a lot of flexibility from everyone involved. I owe a genuine thank you to whoever created online video calls for creating the technology we needed to make it happen. What made it worth it was watching everyone bring their own performance traditions and backgrounds into the room, and realizing that’s the only way a show like this could have come together in the first place. If audiences leave the venue holding onto one thing, what do you hope it is? Bottom’s Dream is a show about joy and having the courage to show one’s true self. We hope they leave feeling supported, and maybe a little lighter, like showing your true self isn’t something to brace for, it’s something worth celebrating. How do you think performing this show during a Fringe run will shape it? This show is interactive by design, so the audience doesn’t just watch it, they shape it. Every night at Fringe brings a different room, a different energy, a different set of people willing to meet us halfway, and I think that will keep sparking new things in the show all the way through closing. Who do you hope this show finds at the Fringe? Adventurous audiences who are ready to play and are looking for a show that will bring a spark of joy to their fringe experience. Finally, if this show came with a warning label, what would it say? Kids at play. Bottom’s Dream 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 one of their two pieces of theatre they are bringing to Edinburgh Fringe in 2026. Bottom’s Dream is ”a high-energy, one-act immersive musical that reframes A Midsummer Night’s Dream through the lens of Shakespeare’s most unlikely dreamer. Staying true to the text but set against live bluegrass music, it transports audiences to a fairy revel in the mountains. Bottom’s transformation collides with Oberon, Titania, and Puck’s mischief, blending aerial work, clowning, acrobatics, dance and immersive audience interaction.”
