Fringe Shows Cancelled due to Covid-19

A note from the editors

During the Covid-19 global pandemic in Spring 2020, the majority of the Spring productions were cancelled. Although we do not typically archive cancelled productions, it would be inaccurate to present an archive without recognising almost a whole season that was lost and the contributions that cast and crews were making up till the last moment they could.

‘The Darling Heidi Howard’ by Alice Brooker (22nd-24th March, Fringe)

After witnessing her parents tumultuous divorce, and her mother’s advice to never fall into the trap of marriage, Heidi Howard journeys through her adolescence vowing to never risk the same fate in love. She forces herself to grow-up, and shut herself off from emotional relationships. She then meets Artie, a boy who challenges her outlook, and agrees to be his friend. After receiving advice and hearing stories from her friend Kiki and her Aunt Florence, as well as facing conflict with Artie, Heidi comes to an unexpected conclusion about herself and how she should live her life when it comes to love.

‘Reverie’ by Francis Simmons (29th-30th March, Fringe)

In the far future, on a base deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean, a mysterious creature has broken on board and picked off the crew one by one. The two surviving crew members want nothing more than to escape, but have lost all contact with the outside world. Running low on power and supplies, all that can help them is the base’s malfunctioning computer - which has started talking to them. Their situation is only worsened by the presence of a strange woman promising the destruction of all mankind. Worst of all, neither of the survivors can be sure if anything around them is real, or simply their steady descent into insanity…

‘The Pros and Cons of an Overactive Imagination’ by Cecilia Alexander (4th-5th May, Fringe)

Maggie spends her nights dreaming and her days… also dreaming. Caught up in her own imaginations, she doesn’t realise how it affects her because who better to talk to than yourself, right? Despite family, friends and more being worried for her, there is nothing Maggie wants more than to entertain herself, and now you too.

‘Shades’ by Chiara Crompton (10th-12th May, Fringe)

Two figures stand alone in the room of a dead man, a year on from his death. It’s been too long and not long enough. Time trips around in circles as the two linger in fragmented memories and sensations, drifting further from each other with each convolution. The long shadow that is cast obscures light, leaving each estranged from any identity existing beyond the room, their memories or him.

This experimental short play explores the murky shade left by grief and loss. It looks at its ability to corrode our perceptions of relationships, the self and even our sense of reality.