After a triumphant, sold-out worldwide debut final yr, “Little Squirt” is crusing again into the Edinburgh Pageant Fringe this July — and it’s bringing the identical fearless coronary heart, smart-yet-raunchy humor, and radically sincere storytelling that made it one in all 2024’s standout reveals.
Written and carried out by Australian rising star Darby James, the award-winning one-person musical cabaret will run from 30 July to 24 August at Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower, Bramley, with performances nightly at 7:30 PM (excluding 6 and 18 August).
At its core, “Little Squirt” is a salty, honest, and sharply humorous exploration of sperm donation, and every little thing that comes with it. By means of 12 authentic songs, together with sea-shanties, ballads, emotional showstoppers and gut-punching existential truths, James dives into deeply private territory: navigating donor varieties, medical appointments, ethical gray zones, and in the end, the query of what it means to create life in a world that’s already overwhelmed.
Set adrift on a symbolic island of confusion — sure, sailor hat included — Darby James steers by means of the weird paperwork of sperm donor questionnaires, from medical awkwardness and genetic varieties to deeper, unstated ethical quandaries. What begins as an off-the-cuff “sure” to a Fb advert rapidly unravels right into a deeply private journey by means of identification, queerness, and the difficult pursuit of pleasure in an more and more unsure world. With biting wit and stunning tenderness, James brings humor and coronary heart to a subject most wouldn’t anticipate to see explored by means of sea shanties — and but, it really works.
The present premiered at Melbourne Fringe in 2023, the place it swept three Inexperienced Room Awards, together with Greatest Cabaret and Excellent Writing, earlier than happening to win the Edinburgh Touring Award, which secured its Fringe debut in 2024. That first Edinburgh run earned widespread popularity of its daring storytelling and genre-defying strategy, with The Scotsman calling James “a successful, partaking performer,” and Musical Theatre Evaluate hailing the work as “uncooked honesty delivered with ardour.”
This yr’s return is produced in collaboration with Gilded Balloon and Quiet RIOT, the boutique manufacturing home based by Linda Catalano (Sizzling Brown Honey, BATSHIT), and as soon as once more directed by Casey Gould, with set and costume design by Betty Auhl.
However whereas “Little Squirt” takes its cues from one man’s donor journey, the emotional undercurrent runs far wider. James asks the sort of questions that linger nicely after the home lights come up: Is sperm donation selfless or self-serving? Ought to we be having youngsters in any respect? And in a world teetering on environmental and ethical disaster, what sort of future are we creating for them anyway?
Having caught the 2024 run, I can say this: “Little Squirt” could also be profane on the floor, opening with sperm jokes and a wink, but it surely’s quietly profound at its core. James has the uncommon reward of luring you in with attraction and cheek, solely to show your laughter into reflection earlier than you’ve even seen. One second, you’re laughing at a nautical “seamen” pun; the subsequent, you’re quietly wrecked by a letter written to a baby who might by no means be met.
The present has its imperfections. Aa few songs land extra powerfully than others, but it surely’s a minor observe in what’s in the end a intelligent, brave, and emotionally clever hour of theatre. It’s the sort of Fringe gem that sneaks up on you and stays with you lengthy after the lights come up.
If “Little Squirt” sails into your metropolis, drop anchor. You’ll wish to be on board.
Present Particulars:
Written & Carried out by Darby James
Gilded Balloon, Anatomy Lecture Theatre
30 July – 24 August (not 6, 18)
19:30 | 60 minutes | Ages 14+
(?? Content material warnings: Scenes of a sexual nature, robust language/swearing)
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