The Lambeth Fringe Competition has unveiled its 2025 programme, confirming a landmark version that celebrates its tenth anniversary with greater than 200 occasions scheduled throughout the borough between 25 September and 25 October.
Now firmly rooted in South London’s cultural panorama, the competition—previously generally known as the Clapham Fringe—has grown from a modest fringe showcase into one of many capital’s most dynamic platforms for rising and underrepresented voices. This 12 months’s anniversary version can be its largest so far, bolstered by assist from Arts Council England for the primary time in its historical past.
Programming features a vibrant mixture of theatre, comedy, cabaret, music and household performances, delivered throughout 25 venues that replicate the range and creativity of Lambeth. New companion places akin to Arch 555 at Foolish Towers, Vauxhall Metropolis Farm, Vaulty Towers and Morley Faculty be part of returning venues in a borough-wide takeover that champions accessibility and inventive innovation.
Competition co-directors Velenzia Spearpoint and Rebecca Pryle described the 2025 version as a “main milestone,” including: “We’re thrilled to current our largest and most formidable programme so far… the spirit of the Fringe has at all times been about creativity, accessibility and grassroots vitality and in 2025, that spirit is stronger than ever.”
Among the many headline acts is “The Final Bubble Present” (3–4 Oct), a household spectacle from Guinness World Document-holder Ray Bubbles, providing bubble volcanoes, ghosts and tornadoes in a surreal stay expertise. Audiences can even sit up for “Willy Witches” (8–10 Oct), a sharp-edged comedic tackle 4 ladies combating to outlive the English witch hunts, and “MJ Hibbet: Knowledge and Dr Doom” (11 Oct), a one-man musical lecture arguing why Marvel’s iconic villain surpasses Batman—backed by statistical fashions and stratified sampling.
Additionally within the line-up is “CatGPT – Feline & Ferall” (26–27 Sept), the true, absurdist story of a person who makes use of AI to deliver his cat again from the lifeless, and “Bathroom Physique” (25 Sept & 20 Oct), a solo forensic thriller a few cursed corpse found in a peat lavatory.
From satirical burlesque like “BINCELS” (26 Sept), which parodies web misogyny by musical drag, to political storytelling in “Mom Is aware of Greatest” (18–19 Oct)—a cross-generational examination of home life underneath oppression in Russia, South Africa and Israel—the competition continues its dedication to platforming marginalised narratives.
New initiatives launched this 12 months embody the Lambeth Fringe Bursary, created in partnership with Morley Faculty, which can donate all ticket proceeds from its competition programme to assist college students dealing with monetary obstacles to greater training. The competition can be increasing its deal with artist wellbeing, formalising a partnership with Wellbeing within the Arts and introducing The Glitch Awards to highlight standout inventive contributions.
This 12 months’s choices vary from political satire and surrealist efficiency to interactive youngsters’s theatre and AI-infused comedy, underscoring the competition’s vast remit and its continued dedication to experimental, community-driven programming. For youthful audiences, mythological romp “Myths, Maps & Monsters: Zeus’ Birthday Bash!” (27–28 Sept) gives an interactive journey to defeat Medusa and restore order to Historical Greece. Elsewhere, reveals like “A Noise Annoys” (4 Oct) discover the sonic quirks of language, and head bucket mattress (13 Oct) makes use of dance-theatre to deconstruct the connection between our bodies and their materials atmosphere.
Now in its tenth 12 months, the Lambeth Fringe, produced by the Bread and Roses Theatre, has advanced effectively past its origins above a Clapham pub, carving out a fame for risk-taking and inclusion. Its ethos stays rooted in championing equality, range and inventive benefit, welcoming each native performers and touring corporations.
Tickets for the 2025 Lambeth Fringe vary from £5 to £16, with occasions operating every day throughout Lambeth between 25 September and 25 October. With its expanded attain, landmark programming, and a renewed dedication to social affect, the Fringe enters its second decade as a daring and very important fixture of London’s impartial efficiency scene.
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