Hackney Showroom Presents FRAU WELT

Frau Welt is a Grande Dame of epic proportions, an international shape-shifter who barely noticed the stirrings of the second world war as she single-mindedly strode her way to stardom, rubbing shoulders with the good and great. Now she's looking back on her career in one final performance, revisiting her glory and the truth that has been omitted from her legacy.

Placing the traditions and tropes of drag cabaret straight into the heart of a narrative-led drama, Frau Welt is a one (wo)man play about the outsider and the consequences of a life excluded, examining the masks we wear in our search for acceptance and belonging.

Frau Welt says "When I started out on my path to become the phenomenal success I am today, I had to endure the torture of fringe theatre. The stench of desperation, failure and urinals is indelibly seared into my mind and nostrils. It is for this reason alone that I am returning to the playground of the young and talentless: I must send the elevator back down. I look forward to bringing my burning bush to the desert of mediocrity that is the Edinburgh Fringe Festival."

Frau Welt has been written by performer Peter Clements and director Oliver Dawe, both associate artists at Hackney Showroom. Peter Clements's theatre credits include Fatzer: Downfall of an Egoist (Northwall), Then Silence (New Diorama), Deathwatch (Roundhouse) and Black Shirts (National Theatre Studio). He has also performed in Vienna and New York.

Peter Clements and Oliver Dawe say "Merging cabaret and drama has always been at the heart of Frau Welt. And with the Fringe being the spiritual home of both these art forms, we are beyond excited to introduce our beloved grande dame to audiences at the festival this August."

Oliver Dawe is Associate Director of Etch Theatre and PLAY Theatre Company. His directing work includes: Dead Sheep (UK Tour), Perfidious Lion (Underbelly), Pufferfish (Pleasance Theatre), Play (Vault Theatre), Ricochet (Southwark Playhouse), We Really Should Do Something (Bush Theatre). RIVE Productions, Oliver's theatre company, has produced new plays in London including The Dog, The Night and The Knife at the Arcola Theatre, Klippies at the Southwark Playhouse and Skin A Cat at The Bunker Theatre.

Founded in 2015 by theatre makers Sam Curtis Lindsay and Nina Lyndon, Hackney Showroom works with exciting emerging artists who are all in some way innovating new forms of theatre and performance. Sam and Nina have created a non-traditional performance space that is informal, welcoming and inclusive. Frau Welt was commissioned in 2017, the first show ever to be commissioned by the venue, and is the first show the venue will present at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.