EDINBURGH 2025: Copla: A Spanish Cabaret Q&A

BWW caught up with Alejandro Postigo to chat about bringing Copla: A Spanish Cabaret to the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Copla: A Spanish Cabaret
Copla: A Spanish Cabaret is a bilingual, participatory theatre show that reimagines Spain’s most iconic popular song form through a queer migrant lens. Copla songs are like miniature melodramas—full of passion, scandal and longing. In the show, I blend live singing, storytelling and projections to explore how these songs shaped my identity as a Spaniard living in England. It’s part celebration, part confession, and a love letter to cultural memory that refuses to stay in the past.

Why bring it to the Fringe?
The Fringe is the perfect place to share work that doesn’t fit neatly into one box—Copla is cabaret, gig theatre, and personal testimony all at once. I wanted to bring it to Edinburgh to meet audiences who are curious, open and unafraid of unfamiliar cultures and traditions. It’s also a chance to connect with other International Artists reimagining folklore and to show how this music can still feel raw, funny and relevant today.

How has it been received so far?
The response has been incredibly moving. We’ve had sold-out performances in London and Dublin, where it won the Intercultural Dialogue Award. People often tell me they see their own stories in it, whether they grew up with copla or have never heard it before. The reviews have been incredibly positive, but what stays with me most are the audience members who discover Copla and say: “I’ve never seen Spanish culture presented this way.”

Who would you like to come and see it?
Anyone who loves theatre that is intimate, bold and a little bit unclassifiable. If you’re interested in queer stories, migrant perspectives, or just fantastic live music, you’ll find something to connect with. The show is in English, so you don’t need to speak Spanish to follow. If you’ve ever felt like you belong in two worlds at once, this show is for you.

What would you like audiences to take away from it?
I hope people leave feeling that tradition can be a bridge, not a cage, and to walk out feeling like they’ve been let in on a secret—like they’ve travelled with me into the heart of Spain, but also into my own story. I hope they feel inspired to embrace whatever part of themselves feels too loud, too queer, too emotional. And I want them to leave humming a tune, maybe a bit teary, but above all reminded that sharing our stories—especially the ones we were taught to hide—can be an act of joy.

Photo credit: Jake Bush

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