GOODBYE DANDELION to Make World Premiere at Edinburgh Fringe as First Underbelly Futures Fund Recipient
Real-life siblings Maddie Rice and Marcus Rice perform the show at Underbelly's Belly Dancer venue.
Award-winning writer and performer Maddie Rice will return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe after a seven-year absence with GOODBYE DANDELION, a new play created with her brother, composer Marcus Rice. Directed by Katie Pesskin and produced by Charlotte Pleasants, the production will make its world premiere at Underbelly this August as the inaugural recipient of the Underbelly Futures Fund Award.
Running from August 5-30 at Underbelly's Belly Dancer venue, GOODBYE DANDELION blends storytelling and live piano to explore life, loss and the unexpected connections that shape us.
The 60-minute production follows an unlikely friendship between a young woman and an 87-year-old man named Darcy. Told by real-life siblings Maddie Rice, on the microphone, and Marcus Rice, on the piano, the piece examines the final years of Darcy's life through the eyes of a new friend bound to him by an extraordinary 50-year age gap. What unfolds is a friendship that is both life-affirming and heartbreaking.
With warmth, wit and honesty, GOODBYE DANDELION tackles questions about mortality, connection and what it means to live fully. Blending vivid storytelling with an original live piano score, the production creates an intimate theatrical experience that balances humor and heartbreak.
Created by the team behind Fringe hit Pickle Jar, the new work reunites Rice with director Katie Pesskin, who previously collaborated with her on the acclaimed solo show that went on to transfer to Soho Theatre following its Edinburgh run.
Writer and performer Maddie Rice said: "I'm so excited to be returning to Fringe, after a 7 year hiatus, and this time to get to work with my brother, Marcus, on a show that's close to my heart. It also feels really special to be collaborating with Katie Pesskin again, who I made Pickle Jar with in 2019. If you want an hour of storytelling and live music that means you get to laugh, cry and maybe even sing a little song, this show is for you!"
Maddie Rice is a British actor, award-winning writer and member of BAFTA Connect. Her debut one-woman play Pickle Jar won the Three Weeks Editors Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before transferring to Soho Theatre. Her television writing credits include development work with BBC Drama and STV on Gym, a blind script deal with AMC, Netflix's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory writers' room alongside Vicky Jones, Disney's Everything You Never Said and the RTE sitcom pilot Handy. As an actor, she is known for succeeding Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the touring production of Fleabag and has appeared in series including Call the Midwife, Stath Lets Flats, The Other One, Dinosaur 2, Ten Percent and Ladies First.
Marcus Rice, who performs under the name Hungry Tapes, is a London-based composer and sound designer creating work across theatre, film, television, animation and installation. His recent credits include Most Favoured at Soho Theatre, Sam Campbell's Make That Movie, Where the Sun Shines Bright, Primary Playwrights, and Stokes of Wildflowers, which won Best Sound at Prisma 2025. His commercial clients include McDonald's, the RSPCA, Tate, BBC Sounds and Titmouse.
Director Katie Pesskin is a London-based theatre and comedy director whose recent work includes Cash Cow by Oli Forsyth at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs. In addition to directing and developing Pickle Jar, she teaches acting, directing and comedy performance at institutions including LAMDA, East 15, Mountview Academy of the Arts and Rose Bruford. She is also co-founder of London Youth Theatre, which works to remove financial barriers to arts participation for young people.
GOODBYE DANDELION marks Rice's first appearance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 2019 and serves as the debut recipient of the Underbelly Futures Fund Award, a new initiative supporting emerging productions at one of the Fringe's leading venue operators.
Performance Information
GOODBYE DANDELION runs August 5-30, 2026, with no performance on August 18. Performances begin at 4:10 p.m. at Underbelly's Belly Dancer venue. Press performances begin August 7.
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