Brighton's Multi-Award-Winning MADONNA/WHORE to Make Edinburgh Debut
Performances run 13 - 25 Aug.
After two consecutive sell-out years at Brighton Fringe and hot off receiving prestigious awards including Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Keep It Fringe Fund and the Pebble Trust International Touring Award, theatre-maker Selena Mersey is debuting her critically acclaimed one-woman show Madonna/Whore at Edinburgh Fringe. Performed from the 13th to 25th August at 6:40pm at Underbelly Cowgate (Iron Belly), this multi-award-winning production delves into themes of gender, sexuality, neurodiversity, and feminist theory with chaotic charisma.
Mersey fuses musical comedy (Musical Comedy Awards finalist 2023), burlesque (Burlesque Idol semi-finalist 2022), and anxiety (diagnosed 2019) to create a genre of its own (massive show-off). Madonna/Whore transforms feminist issues like domestic labour and the mental load into the world of cabaret by way of Freudian stand-up, compelling personal narrative, songs about topics like “Why Men Want To F*ck Their Mums”, and cheesecake burlesque depicting an array of hapless and unruly pinup characters. It resonates with women navigating autonomy and independence in their relationships, also giving men pause for thought, providing space for pertinent conversations about empowerment in the context of historical domestic oppression.
A rising star on the UK's theatre scene, Selena has been featured on the comedy streaming platform NextUp and amassed 3.5 million views on TikTok. Based in Brighton, Mersey writes and performs for political feminist theatre collective Clap Back Club and satirical titan The Treason Show. She has studied under the mentorship of Veronica Blacklace after training with the acclaimed House of Burlesque at Pineapple Dance Studios.
Madonna/Whore is directed by Annie North (producer of FemFest; winner of FUSE Comedy Award for Retrain, Reduce, Recycle at Brighton Fringe 2022), with early guidance from Christian Brighty (TikTok smash hit; nominee for Amused Moose Best Show Award with Playboy at Edinburgh Fringe 2022).
Selena Mersey: Madonna/Whore
DATES: 13 - 25 Aug
TIMES: 6:40 pm
VENUE: Underbelly Cowgate (Iron Belly)
Full: £10 (£11 Fri-Sun) / Concession: £9 (£10 Fri-Sun)
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