Five Questions on Works From the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the Creator of BATSHIT

Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe takes place each August and draws daring, experimental, and genre-defying performances from around the world. A slice of that creative energy comes to Stanford Live this season, as three Fringe-acclaimed productions make their way to campus. Spanning theater and performance art, these works address social issues and difficult topics—including burnout, women’s mental health, and sexuality—with a healthy dose of artistic risk and bold humor.

BATSHIT (February 4–7), created by Leah Shelton and directed by Olivier Award–winning Ursula Martinez, is a requiem for Leah’s grandmother Gwen, who was incarcerated for seeking independence in 1960s Australia.

We connected with the show’s creator to find out more.

What can the audience expect from your show? 

Leah Shelton (Creator of BATSHIT): BATSHIT is about the lies we’re told about female madness. It’s inspired by the story of my grandmother, Gwen, who was locked up and given a cocktail of drugs and shock treatment for wanting to leave her husband in 1960s Australia. It’s also an exploration stretching right back to the ancient myth of hysteria—the idea that your womb is going to wander around your body—to the current treatment of Britney Spears, the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial, and how some of these narratives around madness still exist. The work draws on my passion for theatricality: there’s lip-sync, fake limbs, dance, and some terrible stand-up comedy. But it also has a layer of very serious reflection and autobiographical storytelling.

Tell me about your background and company.

Leah Shelton: A lot of my work is in the cabaret world—I did a year in Las Vegas as part of a variety show. But Polytoxic, the company I co-direct with Lisa Fa’alafi, is about creating change in the world. It often has a political underpinning, and we’re really passionate about equality and diversity, and interrogating the systems that we’re currently living with.

How did you develop your current show?

Leah Shelton: I did a lot of research and uncovered medical records that had been in a dark dusty box somewhere. I went through an incredible process with my mum of accessing that information, and some of it was worse than I could have imagined: doctor’s notes saying, “Mrs. Cooper is still dithering about whether to leave her husband, so I think the full course of electric shock treatment is warranted.” I worked closely with my director, Ursula Martinez, who is quite an icon in the UK performance art scene, as well as with my sound designer, Kenneth Lyons, who has a massive brain catalog of cult musical references. Because this work was so personal, I brought my mum into the rehearsal room, and it turned into a really beautiful progression in our relationship.

What’s it like at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe?

Leah Shelton: It’s an epic marketplace. It’s like The Hunger Games for artists… or maybe it’s more generous to say that it’s the Olympics for the arts. It’s a massive gathering, over 3,000 shows, and an incredible way for your work to be seen.

What do you hope the audience will take away from your work?

Leah Shelton: A lot of people respond by feeling seen. The work is kind of personal, but it also opens up to become a homage to many women who have been disbelieved and pathologized. After one show in Edinburgh, a guy came up to me and said, “I’ve never thought about the word ‘hysterical’ before, and I realized I’m not going to call women that anymore.” We’re all conditioned to see the world in certain ways, but we can interrogate what those assumptions are.

Interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe series generously sponsored by The Aufmuth Family.