Prickly Ash theatre company are bringing their experimental show And Tonight No One Descends to Brighton Fringe this month.
“Welcome to a world where suffering is currency, where trauma is art, and where pain is the ultimate proof of existence. In this surreal, gut-wrenching journey, a wanderer ascends a crumbling building, floor by floor, through a labyrinth of twisted memories and psychological wreckage.
Alongside them, a stranger hoards grotesque X-ray vinyl—warped, fractured, and prized for the sickness captured within. Each floor unveils a spectacle of decaying dreams, anxious stagnation, and the seductive lure of suffering as identity.”
Where: The Dance Space – The Jamie Watton Creation Space
When: 12-13 May
Ticket link: https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/and-tonight-no-one-descends/
The team tell us about this provocative piece.
Can you tell us a bit about your new show?
And Tonight No One Descends is an experimental theatre piece inspired by the Jirai Kei phenomenon. It unfolds in a surreal world where suffering is currency, trauma is art, and pain is the ultimate proof of existence.
The story follows a wanderer ascending a collapsing building—floor by floor—through a labyrinth of twisted memories and psychological wreckage.
Alongside them is a mysterious stranger obsessed with collecting X-ray vinyls—warped, fractured records prized for the sickness they contain.
Each level reveals a new spectacle of decaying dreams, anxious stillness, and the seductive pull of suffering as identity.
The show explores how pain is internalised and externalised in different ways, inviting the audience to reflect: will you simply watch from a distance, or will you recognise yourself in the wreckage?
Through this visceral, poetic journey, we hope to open up a space for empathy, discomfort, and quiet understanding.
It’s a big anniversary for Brighton Fringe this year -what do you like most about it?
This year feels really special, and we’re so excited to be part of it. One thing we really love about Brighton Fringe is how it celebrates both bold, experimental work and brand-new voices. As a fresh collective, it’s incredibly encouraging to be welcomed into such an open and diverse creative space.
We’re also thrilled that the Fringe brochure is back this year—it’s such a nostalgic, tactile reminder of what makes the Fringe feel real. There’s something about flipping through pages and discovering shows by accident that you just don’t get from scrolling online. It feels like we’re part of a bigger story.
Beyond performing, we’re genuinely looking forward to seeing what other artists are bringing to the festival this year. The range of creative, daring, and diverse work is what makes Brighton Fringe so special. We can’t wait to be inspired.
Your show page says, “Inspired by the Jirai Kei phenomenon, And Tonight No One Descends is an experimental theatre piece which explores how pain is internalised and externalised in different ways”. Can you explain a bit more about Jinai Kei?
Jirai Kei, which translates to “landmine-type,” is a visual and emotional aesthetic that originated in Japanese online culture.
It often describes individuals, particularly young women, who present a soft, doll-like appearance—pale makeup, dark schoolgirl-inspired clothing, bandages, and delicate accessories—while beneath that surface lies emotional instability, deep insecurity, and a longing for care and validation.
Rather than hiding pain, Jirai Kei wears it openly. It turns emotional distress into something visible, aestheticised, and even performative. What interested us was not just the look itself, but the contradiction it holds: the tension between vulnerability and dramatized expression, between craving attention and pushing others away.
In our show, we use Jirai Kei as a lens to examine how pain is expressed or suppressed, and how it becomes language, costume, and even currency in a world that often struggles to hold space for emotional complexity.
What else is in the pipeline after these shows?
After our run at Brighton Fringe, And Tonight No One Descends will head to Camden Fringe this August, where we’ll be performing five shows. We’re really excited to continue sharing this work with new audiences in London.
Our company is also presenting another piece at Brighton Fringe this year called Out of Character. Altogether, we’ll be putting on around 28 performances across two original shows, pretty exciting for a new collective just starting out!
We’ve been lucky to receive support from the Keep it Fringe fund, which has been a huge encouragement for us as emerging artists. It’s helped us take creative risks, find our voice, and step into the independent theatre scene with confidence.