EDINBURGH 2025: FATAL FLOWER Q&A

BWW catches up with Valentina Tóth to chat about bringing Fatal Flower to the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about FATAL FLOWER.

FATAL FLOWER is a tragicomic, over-the-top and musical ode to the hysterical woman. It's also my debut solo show - I'm Valentina Tóth: a Dutch actress, singer, comedian, songwriter, theatre maker and former child prodigy concert pianist (!). In Fatal Flower, I explore the clichés and boundaries of womanhood in today's society.

Blending opera, theatre, cabaret comedy, I bring to life a range of 'grotesque' and 'hysterical' female characters, like Medea, The Queen Of The Night, A Disney Channel Star gone wrong and a strict Russian piano teacher.

The show touches on my childhood and my piano career, but it also addresses themes like sexual assault, mother-daughter relationships, jealousy, revenge, and the complicated relationship many women (myself included) have with their bodies. Ultimately, Fatal Flower is about female rage — about the things that make me angry, or hysterical, if you like.

Why did you decide to tell the story through music?

Fatal Flower, as I mentioned above, blends opera, theatre, cabaret, and musical comedy. Composing songs, writing lyrics, singing, and exploring my voice in every possible way is a vital part of my artistic practice. For me, a song is the ultimate monologue and writing one is a delightful puzzle. So many elements have to fit together: lyrics, rhythm, arrangements, harmonies, the performer! I absolutely love actors who sing - those who make you forget you're listening to a song at all. Singing to me, communicates emotions and stories in ways that spoken text alone simply cannot. It often feels more intuitive — something that goes straight to the heart.

For example, in Fatal Flower, I perform a horror-opera-style aria — think Sweeney Todd — about a sexual harassment experience I had a few years ago. I found I could be more honest and vulnerable within the safe structure of a song than in a spoken monologue.

Women are often afraid to speak up in our society. Since Fatal Flower is an ode to the hysterical woman, I wanted to portray women who are not afraid to raise their voices. Or should I say: sing up!

I love the variety of styles I get to sing in Fatal Flower — from Bubblegum Pop to kitschy electropop to telenovela-style Spanish songs. But since I have a soft spot for both opera and hysterical women, I knew I had to include an over-the-top operatic moment as well: Mozart's Queen of the Night aria. After hearing that, I doubt anyone here would still claim that classical music is calming!

What is your favourite thing about performing it?

The hysterical woman is a figure I deeply relate to, it's a character I play best! While the "hysterical woman" is a great umbrella to explore serious issues, it also gives me the freedom to play big, bold, grotesque, funny, tragic characters. And also - I can show all sides of myself as a performer: one minute I'm singing Mozart's Queen of the Night, the next I'm a furious bride-to-be on her hen do, or my strict Russian piano teacher. I show a thousand faces — and in doing so, I show my own. I can be as comedic, vulnerable or absurd as I want! To me, performing my own show, is pure joy.

I want the show to feel like a roaring, thundering liberation — not just for me, but for everyone in the audience. While the "hysterical woman" is a great umbrella to explore serious issues, it also gives me the freedom to play big, bold, grotesque, funny, tragic characters. I draw from archetypes like Medea, Medusa, the innocent angel, the promiscuous woman. One minute I'm singing Mozart's Queen of the Night, the next I'm a furious bride-to-be on her hen do, or my strict old Russian piano teacher. I show a thousand faces — and in doing so, I show my own.

How has the show been received so far?

I don't want to brag... but I'm going to anyway!

Back in the Netherlands and Belgium, where my debut show originated, it was received beyond my wildest dreams. I got 5-star reviews from the three biggest Dutch newspapers, which praised me as a "sensational performer" who brings multiple layers to a comedic show — feminist, socially critical, yet also "deeply personal and funny."

Thanks to these reviews, I had my breakthrough in the Netherlands. I went on to perform the show about 160 times for over 50,000 spectators. And now, because of all that, I get to bring this show to the Edinburgh Fringe!

What would you like audiences to take away from the show?

I want the show to feel like a roaring, thundering liberation — not just for me, but for everyone in the audience. In Dutch, we say: "this is a show with a laugh and a tear"; meaning it's a show filled with sadness, laughter, and everything. That's for me what theatre should be; dark, light and everything in between. We came, we cried, we laughed and left feeling grateful to have truly felt something.

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