Next in our conversations with casts and creatives heading to Edinburgh Fringe 2026, we speak to Kate Daley who has written the show Join the Club! A Story About The Sex You Never Wanted. ” One woman’s journey to reclaim agency after trauma, blending humour and heartbreak to transform silence, shame and survival into connection and empowerment. Between hook-ups, vibrators and Tinder, she navigates the chaotic hellscape of modern dating. With wit and no-holds-barred honesty, it confronts a culture of sexual misbehaviour while celebrating resilience and desire. Raw, funny and disarmingly intimate, it asks the unaskable – like whether survivors should wear matching sashes – and invites audiences to laugh, reflect and heal alongside her as she rewrites her story on her terms.”
How would you describe your show to someone discovering it for the first time at the Fringe?
Join the Club! A Story About The Sex You Never Wanted is an autobiographical solo show written by me, Kate Daley, with additional content and direction by Kelly McAndrew. Join the Club! focuses on one woman’s coming of age in the time of hookup culture and dating apps. Although we touch on the sadness and loneliness that can come from them, we really highlight the absurdity of modern dating and relationships. I’ve heard that it’s a little SORRY, BABY and a little bit I MAY DESTROY YOU, but told from a uniquely Gen-Z perspective.
What moment, idea or frustration first sparked this show into existence?
I really started writing this piece to process my own emotions after experiencing sexual assault. It was a totally private and personal practice for me, just processing my emotions by writing down whatever came to mind. It honestly felt like an avalanche of words, just falling out of me. When I eventually shared it with a few close friends, that’s when I started to wonder if there was something in the show that would be meaningful to other people, beyond just me.
How has the show evolved from its earliest idea to what audiences will see now?
I’ve been working on this piece for about 2 years now, and it has totally transformed. Basically, the only thing that has stayed the same from the initial version was that it is a solo show, and the general concept. Time and working with other artists have really refined the vision of the show. The solo show format is so expansive, which gave me infinite options but also made it easy to try and do too many things at once. Working with my director has really transformed this into a singular piece that both tells a unique story and uses a unique convention to do so.
What makes Edinburgh Fringe the right place for this show right now?
EdFringe is the perfect place for this story because it is the only place an early career artist can share a story and have it to stand next to artists with storied careers and be seen by those same audiences. My hope is that in 2026, we are ready to see a story of sex and dating from a uniquely Gen-Z perspective, a generation raised on “the apps” and for whom hookup culture is the norm.
What does bringing this particular show to the Fringe represent for you personally?
Bringing this show to the Fringe is a lot about self-empowerment. I’ve taken a story that feels shameful and embarrassing and instead of doing what those emotions want me to do – keep it a secret, isolate, pretend it never happened – I am doing the exact opposite. It’s not that I don’t feel embarrassed sometimes about what people are learning about me, but I’ve realized that I can feel those emotions, but not allow them to control how I live my life. Also, it’s about self-empowerment with my career. My play discusses acting a lot, and how it’s sort of a career that holds you hostage to its whims. Writing this show and getting it to Fringe has been me taking the power back from an industry that can give you everything in one moment and nothing in the next. Working on this show meant I had somewhere to pour all my artistic energy, and has allowed me to be in rooms that I wouldn’t have been in with creatives I wouldn’t have met if I had just sat around waiting for someone to choose me.
What has been the most unexpectedly challenging part of getting this show to Edinburgh?
All the logistics! Honestly, working on the play has been the easy part compared to all the logistical things we had to figure out. Luckily, my producer Erica Jensen dealt with most of that, but it’s still crazy to think how many different things you need to put on a show. I would’ve never thought we needed insurance!
If audiences leave the venue holding onto one thing, what do you hope it is?
If nothing else, I hope that people feel less alone and feel less shame about what has happened to them, and about the mistakes that they may have made while trying to heal.
How do you think performing this show during a Fringe run will shape it?
I think every time I do the show for an audience, I am able to find fun, new ways to include them in the experience of the show. I hope that as the run continues, I will continue to find moments to include the audience in my experience.
Who do you hope this show finds at the Fringe?
Ooh. I hope this show finds people who have felt ashamed, embarrassed, or like they couldn’t speak about something that happened to them. I also hope it finds people who know there is a lot to laugh about while having sex. I hope it finds people who have resorted to apps to meet their next partner and who have had drunken hookups they regret. I also hope it finds the people who have absolutely no idea how we are finding love on apps and maybe feel judgment towards people who engage in hookup culture. I think we all have a lot to learn from each other and share, and also a lot to laugh about.
Finally, if this show came with a warning label, what would it say?
Warning: Do you laugh when you really shouldn’t be? This will be 45 minutes of that.
Join the Club! A Story About The Sex You Never Wanted runs at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 6th – 28th August 2026 (except 10th & 18th).