WENCHES! Comes to Edinburgh Fringe
Performances run from 1-23 August 2025.
By: Stephi Wild May. 22, 2025
Berlin based theatre company Hysterie Theater will present their Edinburgh Fringe Premiere comedy theatre show Wenches! at Greenside, running from 1-23 August 2025 at Olive Studio, Greenside @ George Street.
A darkly comedic dive into performative activism, Wenches! is an original satirical play written by Maya Le Roux and Bianca Waechter, and directed by Antonia Reinisch. The play uses the two wenches, who feel guilty about not fighting against their friends’ fiery demise, to explore how virtue signalling takes precedence over action today.
Inspired by Monty Python and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Wenches! blends historical absurdity with modern themes.
The play follows two peasants who find themselves constantly led astray by Bogdana, the local witch, played by Derya Celikkol, who convinces them to adventure across time using their podcast as a tool to save their fellow villagers and themselves.
The performance incorporates farce, video and voiceover throughout to take the audience on the hilarious and doomed journey of Bertegilde (Bianca Waechter) and Nortburga (Maya Le Roux) with sound design by Kyra Le Roux, voiceovers by Christian Intorp, and animations by Aaliyah Lynch.
Antonia Reinisch, the director of Wenches! and co-founder of Hysterie Theater, said: “When Maya and Bianca approached me to direct, I was drawn to this piece not just for its wit and satire, but for the invisible ache beneath it - the heartbreak of complicity, the absurdity of progress, and the terrifying ease with which we replace action with performance. I don’t believe this play gives answers. But it demands we sit with the discomfort of our own inaction. And maybe laugh at it.”
Bianca Waechter, the writer of Wenches! and co-founder of Hysterie Theater said: “I’ve wanted to take a show to the Fringe ever since I stumbled across it by accident 10 years ago on a family trip. My artistic soul lit up. The vintage shops, the medieval city, artists from all over the world - It felt magical. When Maya and I began writing this play, I immediately thought: This is the one to take to Edinburgh. - We didn’t know exactly what we were getting into, but we were all in — we even announced it to the world before anything was confirmed. And somehow, here we are. It’s wild, it’s terrifying, and it feels magical.”
Maya Le Roux, the writer of Wenches! and co-founder of Hysterie Theater said: "Bianca and I wanted to create something from the ground up, something we could 100% call our own. Wenches! was born and we haven't looked back since. There's a shared history between Germany and Scotland, the witch burnings and executions, that still echo to this day. Our play connects past and present, and there's no better city to perform it in than Edinburgh. The journey of creating this piece, and bringing it to the fringe has been hilarious, exhausting, rewarding and life changing to say the least. I have loved every second of this impossible process, and I can't wait to finally show it to the world."
In 1423 Berlin, two peasants find themselves at the center of hysteria, hypocrisy and impending doom. How… fun! As the flames of persecution rise, they must decide: will they take a stand or simply watch? A darkly comedic dive into fear, guilt and the price of inaction. Wenches! blends historical absurdity with modern relevance, revealing how easy it is to mistake performance for purpose. Fast-paced, sharp-witted and unapologetically satirical, this play will make you laugh, squirm and go 'huh?' But worry not! The wenches are right there with you. It all starts with a step into the woods…
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