Who to Call When the World Starts to Implode (and You’re Crying at Tesco at 11 am) at Barons Court Theatre

Following the one-night-only debut at the Women Writers Festival, Who to Call When the World Starts to Implode (and You’re Crying at Tesco at 11 am) returns for a fully redeveloped, four-night run at the Barons Court Theatre as part of the Camden Fringe this August.

Written and directed by Gabrielle Hofmann, with music by Ciara Cogley, this queer new writing play explores identity, friendship, and the emotional chaos that follows when boundaries begin to blur. The play follows Isabel (Nil Uzer), a Turkish international student whose life completely changes after meeting Sophie (Chloe Payne) in a rehearsal room at their music conservatoire. What begins as an intense friendship soon becomes harder to define. Cogley’s original score functions as a vehicle for storytelling, playing a crucial role in revealing what happened between Isabel and Sophie.

Developed further following its initial festival run, Hofmann and Cogley worked closely together with Nil Uzer to specify Isabel’s character, as well as taking inspiration from Chloe Payne’s burlesque background to add to Sophie. This rewritten version dives deeper into Isabel’s cultural background and her relationship with her mother, as well as Sophie’s true identity behind her many joyful masks. It tackles questions of what it means to be truly home and what (not) to do when you fall in love unexpectedly while the pressure to succeed becomes too much.

Expect music, ADHD fuelled word-vomit, and a kiss that changed everything. Disclaimer: no keyboards were harmed in the making of this production.