Edinburgh Fringe Chats (#99): Capgras Theatre Company, STRANGEWIFE
As anticipation builds for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025, we’re catching up with a range of exciting creatives preparing to bring their work to the world’s largest arts festival this August. In this series, we delve into the stories behind the shows, the inspiration driving the artists, and what audiences can expect. Today, we’re joined by Capgras Theatre Company to find out more about Strangewife.
1. Can you begin by telling us about your show and what inspired it?
Strangewife, the debut production of Capgras Theatre Company, follows one grieving woman’s quest to satiate her needs after the death of her husband. The man who arrives to play the part of companion is a seemingly acceptable stand-in, but as her demands become increasingly disturbing, they both must decide what the façade of love is worth.
The idea originated from our shared interest in imposters and doppelgangers. We were all fascinated with the concept of someone pretending to be someone else, or the impossibility of knowing yourself or your desires.. Not to give too much away, but certain aspects of that have remained, but are now centred around grief, desire, and power.
2. What made you want to bring this work to the Fringe this year?
Our initial Fringe conversations began happening later than most, simply due to the fact that myself, Frazier Bailey, and Daniel Barney Newton only met nine months ago, and decided to work together in January. A lot of what has happened since has felt like kismet; we were three people with similar tastes and ambitions to create something. Despite a very tight (seemingly impossible) timeline there was no hesitation from any of us once we set our sights on bringing something to Fringe 2025. We began the process not fully understanding the enormity of the task – to write, build, and produce a new show in five months (while also finishing our MAs at Central) – but we also knew Fringe would be the best place to debut new work and none of us wanted to delay that opportunity. Strangewife has been created under enormous pressure, but we feel privileged to be under that pressure.
3. How would you describe your show in three words?
Intriguing, urgent, and strange…
4. What do you hope audiences take away from watching your performance?
Love is strange.
5. What’s your top tip for surviving the Fringe?
Schedule in time to decompress! Fringe is a marathon, and we are being quite strict in protecting our days off, to ensure we’re all allowed time to rest and reset.
6. Where and when can people see your show?
We are thrilled to be at Assembly Front Rooms (54 George Street) every night at 7:45pm July 31st - August 24th – except for the 6th, 13th, & 20th.
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