Edinburgh Fringe 2026 is finally underway and in this interview we speak to Midge Lema who is the writer and actor of Bean vs The Robots. ”Bean is trapped inside her spaceship. And now you’re trapped with her. Unfortunately for you, Bean lost her memories and must play sad little songs on her keyboard in order to get them back. While she sings, you start to lose all sense of time. But don’t worry. In space, there’s always time. Or is there? As Bean unravels, she remembers why she, and perhaps you, needed to go to space in the first place. A sci-fi exploration of grief through the funny, wistful and weird eyes of a lost space traveller.” How would you describe your show to someone discovering it for the first time at the Fringe? I’d tell them to be prepared for a show that’s strange and sometimes absurd, but has a lot of heart behind it. Bean vs. The Robots is a weird little musical comedy about grief, in which space travellers get to board Bean’s spaceship for exactly 50 minutes. Bean has been flying her spaceship for so long that she lost all of her memories from Earth. Except memories that involve The Robots. Bean will take the space travellers on a ride, perform her favorite songs for them, and maybe even cast them as characters. What moment, idea or frustration first sparked this show into existence? A few moments in my life launched this show into space: the love I felt for a very important person I lost, the love and loss I felt for a job I had for over a decade with Disney, and my desire to get back on stage and start doing solo work again once I left Disney. How has the show evolved from its earliest idea to what audiences will see now? The earliest form of this show was a play with no music, in which Bean was on an entirely different journey to save Earth from The Robots. As I began to write songs for a separate project, I realized I wanted to put Bean on a spaceship and trap space travellers within it while she sang at them instead. What makes Edinburgh Fringe the right place for this show right now? The show and my approach to the performance of it are constantly evolving, and both elements draw deeply from audience engagement. Edinburgh Fringe is the perfect place to practice improvisational moments, weird bits, and new songs among audiences who exude a true love for live performance. There’s nowhere else like it, and I’m so grateful to be here. What does bringing this particular show to the Fringe represent for you personally? It’s been 18 years since the last time I performed at Edinburgh Fringe. At the time, I was in a company that produced four shows for the Festival. I’ve always wanted to come back with my next solo show, and this particular show is a love letter not only to a person I lost, and to a job I once cherished, but also to my love for theatre. What has been the most unexpectedly challenging part of getting this show to Edinburgh? There are so many things to do to prepare for Edinburgh, and I think the most challenging thing in the beginning was prioritizing tasks, while also making sure the creative work was top of mind. I’m so grateful to have brought on my director/producer Riley Rose Critchlow and producer Alison Zatta a few months ago, as they have extensive experience at the Fringe and guided me through these challenges on our way to Edinburgh (and while here in Edinburgh!) If audiences leave the venue holding onto one thing, what do you hope it is? I hope audiences feel like they can try new things. I hope they feel like they can be weird in space and in life. I hope they decide to reach out to a loved one, and maybe sing them a sad little song. How do you think performing this show during a Fringe run will shape it? I’ve so far had four performances here at Fringe, and I feel more like myself every time I perform. Getting to perform almost every single day for a month is a rare gift that I know will make me a better writer and performer. It’s also been a great way to tackle all the anxieties that come with producing your own work and feel stronger and more capable on the other side. Who do you hope this show finds at the Fringe? I hope all the weird little space travellers find this show. If you want to laugh, make eye contact with someone named Bean, feel contemplative, or just hang out on a spaceship for 50 minutes, this show is for you. Finally, if this show came with a warning label, what would it say? It would say: Warning: Performer may walk around like Gollum from Lord of the Rings at any moment. Bean vs The Robots runs at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 7th – 29th August 2026 (Except 16th & 23rd).
