Brighton Fringe 2026
Alice Ella : Chronically Sick, Hormonal Slag
Alice Ella
Genre: Biographical Drama, character comedy, Comedy, Contemporary, Disability Arts, Feminist Theatre, Fringe Theatre, Interactive, LGBTQ+ Theatre, Live Music, Music, Musical Theatre, Neurodiverse, New Writing, One Person Show, Queer Comedy, Solo Show, True-life
Venue: Komedia - Studio
Festival: Brighton Fringe
Low Down
A famous social media influencer who has a chronic illness takes her life to the stage with music, joy and a real talent for saying it like it is. Cynical, gross, funny, loud, shocking! You leave knowing more than you ever thought you needed to – and you realise you did need to learn this, because most likely beforehand you would have dismissed her illness and her many fellow sufferers, too. What is this illness called ME? Go and be fabulously entertained while you find out.
Review
This reviewer came to Alice’s show not knowing her backstory at all – but it would seem a lot of the audience did. Alice will surprise you whether you have seen her on TV or follow her on social media. I expect every single one of her performances will be different from all of the others. This is because Alice is not just ‘sick’ she is indeed very ill. Alice suffers from, and has had since she was only 14 years old, the very nasty illness ME, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, which gives her chronic fatigue and sadly more, much more.
Astonishingly Alice has managed to fulfil her potential, she has a stunningly bright theatrical voice and a talent for song writing and comedy and now she uses this to explore her situation as a young woman with a disability. She is angry, she is hilarious, she is cynical, she often needs to take a break. Cleverly throughout the show Alice and her director Veronica Von Beaverhausen, herself a fun performer, have built in exciting diversions for Alice to get off stage and rest. There are short films, voices, a slide show with slides of all kinds, and a very funny puppet that needs audience participation to come alive. Alice is beautiful, tall and gorgeously styled, but wait, she is actually wearing pyjamas, and then a hospital gown, admittedly dolled up like a bride at a hen party. She does not flinch from telling it like it is, having a disease that makes even doctors think you are only pretending, having a body that regularly lets you down in all sorts of horrible ways (she also suffers from PMDD, ADHD, IBS, and POTS). The very squeamish might need a stiff drink before attempting to watch this show, but don’t let that stop you, educate yourself about ME in the most fun way with banging songs and stories about poo and hormones.
I was very impressed with the soundscape, not only are the backing tracks excellent, Alice has also created voice recordings that are utterly annoying in their nasty insistence which is precisely the point. Trying to get through to an uncaring machine advising you how to access a doctor’s help (on repeat, on noisy repeat!!) or answering the phone to someone who calls unexpectedly to tell you that “if you can answer this call you are not sick enough”… dystopian scenes that make your blood run cold as a person who is well – how much tougher for someone who utterly depends on help that for years does not come and even now can’t necessarily be relied on.
Every once in a while we see how vulnerable Alice Ella really is. Underneath the brilliant performer is a little girl, giving herself quiet verbal boosters (someone in the audience hearing this shouts: “We love you Alice”). On the floor was a list of cues written on paper that Alice had to regularly consult, I thought she could have put them somewhere easier to see. There’s nothing wrong with needing a prompt. The tech let her down at times, music started late, I admired her for standing tall and smiling, I felt that everyone there that night wanted to hug her. She showed us images of fellow sufferers, photographs of how they had been before their onset of ME and how they were now. It near broke my heart to see the tired faces of all those who weren’t able to stand there that evening and sing their heart out (and even then needing a week in bed to rest before the next show). What an impressive advocate you are Alice Ella, more power to you!
