Edinburgh Fringe 2026
ROLEPLAY
Hannah Reilly
Genre: Comedy, Dark Comedy, Drama, New Writing, One Person Show
Venue: Summerhall
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Hannah Reilly dazzles as the writer-performer behind this Fringe hit, combining her podcast party-girl persona with a cutting nihilism throughout.
Review
How far would you fall for success? That’s the question that ROLEPLAY, perhaps one of the buzziest shows of this year’s Fringe, asks in a tightly-paced hour exploring sex work, commodification, and feminism in the post Me Too era. Produced by Francesca Moody, the magic maker behind Fringe fame hits such as Fleabag and Baby Reindeer, anything with her golden touch seems sure for success each August, and it seems like this year is no different.
Completely sold out before the Fringe even began, this year’s offering is Hannah Reilly’s ROLEPLAY, a show about struggling podcaster Danni who gets a lucrative offer that she can’t refuse. The show charts the rise and fall of her stratospheric career in the podcast world, where Danni reinvents herself in pursuit of success, but loses herself to the performance somewhere along the way. To say much more would spoil the surprise, and given that this show is likely to have a very long shelf life, I wouldn’t want to do you that disservice.
Hannah Reilly dazzles as the writer-performer behind this Fringe hit, combining her podcast party-girl persona with a cutting nihilism throughout. Her performance, incredibly impressive, adds another layer of meta-theatricality onto the feminist discourse behind the show itself, and leaves you considering the implications of her message long after the curtain call. She thrives under the spotlight, and effortlessly captures your attention for the entirety of the show – attention is the new oil, after all.
Overall, a fascinating watch, filled with clever commentary and enthusiastic dance moves alongside an array of different personas delivering a darkly comic look at the attention economy of the modern day. Good luck if you’re after tickets for the Summerhall run, but seize the chance if you get a chance to see Hannah in action elsewhere.
