BROKE & FABULOUS IN THE 21ST CENTURY Will Come to Edinburgh Fringe
Performances will run Wednesday 5th - Monday 31st August 2026.
Broke & Fabulous in the 21st Century will come to Edinburgh Fringe. Performances will run at Gilded Balloon Patter House (The Dram), 2 Commercial Street, Edinburgh, EH6 6JA Wednesday 5th - Monday 31st August 2026 (not 17th), 14:20.
Created by Dale Robertson (who also plays Alex), the play follows two young artists trying to sustain creative lives in London while navigating precarious visas, unstable work, the relentless pressure to "make it," and boys. On the surface, what appears to be a story of artistic ambition becomes an intimate window into the lives of millennials under the strain of balancing newfound love and the identities they construct in order to survive.
We meet Alex and Petunia (played by Olive McHugh), best friends and creative collaborators defined by contrast. Alex is the more grounded, analytical and determined of the two, sacrificing any comfort or security to build a stable future in the arts, while Petunia is bold, chaotic and emotionally expansive, a modern diva living without compromise. Together they form a fiercely loyal but messy partnership, bound by love, fabulosity and a shared refusal to give up. When both unknowingly become entangled with the same man, Tom (Rowland Stirling), dramas ensue, tensions escalate, but as good friends do, they hold each other accountable and cheer each other on, eventuating in an unexpected collision of love, ego and loyalty.
Dale Robertson comments, "It's like if Queer As Folk and Gimme Gimme Gimme had a baby and Absolutely Fabulous were that baby's godmother. It's funny, sexy and grounded in the struggles that make millennials who we are. It's a love letter, dedicated to everyone who's made London home..."
Set in the guardianship of an old theatre against contemporary London, Broke & Fabulous explores a generation of artists navigating visa insecurity, cost of living pressures and precarious work. These forces are not a backdrop; they actively shape relationships, choices and breakdowns. Stylistically, the play blends heightened theatricality with sharp dialogue and pop cultural wit to create a world that is both exaggerated and emotionally grounded. At its core, it's a play about friendship and what it costs to pursue a creative life, and whether romance can survive when ambition, desire and survival collide.
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