Currently running at Edinburgh Fringe, character comedy The Gay Divorce is produced by Cliff Mak, directed by Allison Brooks, and written and performed by Cecilia Corrigan.
“Do you crave safety while everything collapses? You want to kill the pain but keep it cute? Then this show’s for you! And for anyone who’s ever had a bad ex, used a credit card, who’s ever seen a convertible and thought: nice, or googled: am I gay? A hilarious nightmare romcom about a broken-hearted trophy wife, as her dream gay wedding disintegrates into a haunted, glitter-soaked cabaret of Barbie-dreamhouse rituals and romantic delusion. Think Pee-wee’s Playhouse via Mulholland Drive: featuring a witch, a co-dependent Jesus, even a very angry worm… Get in loser, we’re getting divorced!”
Where: Willow Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court
When: to 29 Aug (not Sundays)
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-gay-divorce
What can you tell us about your show? What is it about and where did the idea come from?
It’s an ecstatic, zany and silly queer romcom about a girl-twink who thinks getting married will save her from the apocalypse! Spoiler alert, it does not. The Gay Divorce was born from an apocalyptically bad breakup, and as the show evolved, it transformed all that upheaval and devastation into a surreal, funny theatrical world populated by all the strange characters and fantasies that emerge when your sense of reality starts to fall apart.
How would you sell it to audiences in one paragraph?
If you like weird queer femme comedy, this will be your VIBE!! And even if you think you don’t love those things, I’ve seen audiences who don’t realize what they’ve gotten themselves into be completely swept up in the show, so come anyway!! I promise you will be entertained. It’s fast-paced, very funny and visually maximalist, but there’s a real emotional story underneath it. It’s about love, heartbreak, fantasy, queerness and the desire to believe that if you can just get everything right, you can somehow protect yourself from the chaos that surrounds us.
Do you enjoy participating in the Fringe? And do you have any moments you particularly remember?
This is my first ever [Edinburgh] Fringe, so I’m here to make memories! My camera roll is about to be so full! Honestly, one of my favorite parts so far has been realizing how enormous and varied the festival is. It’s overwhelming for sure but also so inspiring! You can walk down one street and encounter a completely earnest piece of experimental theatre, a huge comedy show, a drag performance, or a fourth option that is so strange it defies description.
It’s like a mini-universe where performance runs wild in the streets! And because this is my first Fringe, I’m trying to stay open to the whole experience rather than arrive with a very specific idea of what it’s supposed to be.
What are you looking forward to the most in Edinburgh?
I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens when the show meets an audience here. We’ve done sold-out runs in New York and Philadelphia, and those performances gave us a lot of confidence that there’s an audience for this work. But Edinburgh is a completely different scale and environment.
I’m also excited to see so many shows! A lot of my friends are bringing their shows here, which I can’t wait to binge-watch, as well as lots of artists I’m simply obsessed with. It’s pretty incredible having all these shows I want to see in one place!
What’s next for the show?
Right now the focus is getting through this Fringe run and seeing where the show can go from here. We just finished a run at The Brick in New York during Pride, which was really exciting, and we’re interested in continuing to develop the piece after Edinburgh.
Ultimately, I’d love for The Gay Divorce to have a life beyond the Fringe—whether that means another theatre run, developing it for a larger stage, or finding a way to bring some of these characters and ideas into television or other forms. The show has grown so much in the past year that I’m trying not to decide too early what its final form is supposed to be. I’m more interested in seeing what doors open.