EDINBURGH 2025: Rosa Garland Q&A

BWW catches up with Rosa Garland ahead of bringing Primal Bog to the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Primal Bog.

Primal Bog is a gloopy journey into the depths of taboo and erotic desire. It's part performance art, part clown, part Jackass episode. 

The audience follow a character called PB as she grapples with the challenges and joys of coming to terms with her authentic sexuality.

What was the inspiration behind creating it?

I initially wanted to create a clown show about kink. While that's no longer the sole focus of the show, I am still trying to bring to light the beauty of 'unconventional' desire, things that society codes as taboo, gross or dirty - so this now includes queerness in general, gender non-conformity, and the inherent messiness of bodies. I wanted to highlight eroticism and play as phenomena that go hand in hand, and are both essential to a lot of people's sense of confidence, creativity and freedom. 

The title actually comes from a book by relationship and sexuality expert Esther Perel, who talks about eroticism as a creative and even anti-capitalistic life-force. In 'Mating in Captivity', she describes a man sharing his kinks with his partner as allowing her to enter the 'primal bog of his erotic desire.' I think a literal light bulb appeared above my head as I read that. I've still got the copy of the book with my notes over that page, all in caps. That was nearly three years ago.

Having performed at the festival before, do you think you know what to expect from the Fringe?

When it comes to the Fringe, or anything to do with performance really, I'm wary of assuming I've got it figured out. Live audiences are always going to surprise you, and anything can happen, which is what I like about it. 

I don't assume things will go the same as my last show did - I've got to work every bit as hard to make this something worth seeing and find its unique appeal. Plus, my set-up is very different this year; previously, I've been completely self-produced and self-marketed. This year I've got a wonderful producer and PR, but the show is also much more logistically and psychologically challenging. So who knows what will happen? 

There are some things that are a given about the month, though: I'll eat a lot of Greggs, I'll have some severe emotional ups and downs, and I will become increasingly unhinged on stage. 

Who would you recommend comes to see it?

Anyone with a strong stomach and a heart full of dreams. Or a weak stomach and a blindfold. 

Queers, mostly, but straight people have been known to enjoy my stuff. Freaks and weirdos. Freak- and weirdo-curious people. Friends of freaks and weirdos. Anyone who's ever been scared of their own vagina. Anyone who's questioning a sexually repressed upbringing/social conditioning. Anyone who wants something to compare themselves to so they feel less bad about their career choices.

Is that an exhaustive list? Probably not.  

What do you hope the audience takes away from it?

Most importantly, a feeling of liberation, whether that be through an hour of laughter at an idiot clown, or a deep resonance with the message of the show. I've said before that I like people to come out thinking, 'I didn't know you were allowed to do that.' I want people to feel like a new bit of their brain has been unlocked, like there is much more fun and excitement to be had in the world than they initially thought. 

Rosa Garland will be performing Primal Bog at  Assembly - Roxy (Downstairs) from 30th July - 24th August at 9.50pm. Ticket link HERE