EDINBURGH 2025: THE SPY WHO WENT TO REHAB Q&A

BWW caught up with Gregg Ostrin to chat about bringing The Spy Who Went to Rehab to the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about The Spy Who Went to Rehab

The Spy Who Went into Rehab began as a simple premise: What would happen if James Bond went into rehab for his drinking, womanizing, gambling and killing. From that idea came an entire play that was not only a spoof of all the things I love from every 60’s era spy movie and TV show I grew up watching, it evolved into an examination of Toxic Masculinity and what exists behind it, as well as how men can learn to move beyond it. The play also explores what it means to go through recovery to become a sober human being – but it’s done with a lot of comedy.

Where has the show been seen before and how was it received?

The play began as a workshop at Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, California for a three-week run that got extended to a full production that ran for five months. From the beginning it got rave reviews from both audiences and critics. The amazing thing is that young people who had never seen these movies still related to it and enjoyed it in the same way that older audiences who grew up with these movies and TV shows related.

Where might we know you from?

My play, Kowalski, the story of how Marlon Brando met Tennessee Williams to audition for A Streetcar Named Desire, recently had a successful short run Off Broadway in New York. Currently we are waiting to see if the show is going to Broadway later this summer. You might also know me as the actor who just finished a successful run playing James Bond in five films. Oh wait, that’s Daniel Craig. Never mind.

Why bring it to Edinburgh?

We felt that the subject and references, all of which are based on classic British spy movies and TV shows, would especially resonate with a UK audience. The characters all come from the Bond films, among others, while the farcical tone of the script I think will appeal to the focus on comedy one finds at the festival. Also, so many recent Fringe shows have been achieving success in America, both on stage and screen, it seemed a no-brainer to launch it in Edinburgh.

Who would you recommend comes to see it? 

Everyone who loves comedy, who loves action movies, who are James Bond fans, who aren’t James Bond fans, who have been in rehab, who have friends in rehab, who promise never to go to rehab and who have no idea what rehab is. In truth, it’s a show for all ages and backgrounds. Comedy is comedy and this comedy is a real comedy. Having been nurtured on the comedy of The Pythons, Fry & Laurie, AbFab and so many other English shows, I’m hoping audiences will find a kindred comedy spirit in the show.

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