Edinburgh Fringe 2026
This Is How I Got Arrested…
Azaelia Slade and SLADE Productions
Genre: Solo Performance, Solo Play, Solo Show
Venue: Zoo Playground
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
“This Is How I Got Arrested (after smuggling drugs across the border but never actually getting caught with any drugs) is a tightly structured, fourth wall breaking, hilarious, one-woman dark-comedy show. Meet Sophie, a working-class youngster, who takes the phrase ‘girls just wanna have fun’ a bit too far! What begins as a fast-paced account of her upbringing quickly spirals into a drug-fuelled escapade. Told under the pressure of a ticking timer, lies will unravel, truth will be revealed and mischief will mount into madness.”
Review
Sophie begins with this jam-packed solo comedy-theatre story of her arrest at an airport, then works backwards through the life that led her there. Growing up working class in London (Not far from where I, your humble reviewer grew up), she moves from childhood scrapes into reckless holidays, drugs and friendships that are far less friendly than she believes. By twenty one, she is being used by people around her and drawn into smuggling drugs across a border. The arrest, however, is not quite for the reason the title suggests in the end.
Azaelia Slade is a mult-talented performer who delivers and hour of physical theatre, comedy, a bit of clown, monologue in a gig theatre style that is rooted in a well crafted story that so overflows with word and action that it can also be a challenge for the audience to keep up with all. It is the kind of show that, if you see it twice, you catch up with some of the quips, set piece pay offs and morsels of story and narrative you might have missed the first time round.
The audience hooted with laughter as the story unravels and this is one of those reviews where I can’t really tell you anything about the story without spoiling it. But there is a mystery to unravel here and the audience leaned in, became unpaid members of the cast and that interaction and involvement was never humiliating and was a lot of fun. The gig theatre element is where the story becomes close in style to stand-up. There is also theatrical story telling, neat and helpful use of signs and pictures on paper to signal elements of the story, characters and small “reveals”. It is an inventive show that might benefit from a little more clarity here. The problem of madcap is that the madness can occasionally confound attempts to keep up with the story.
The performer hosts brilliantly and holds the space well. She must be knacked by the end. I certainly was. and I am glad I was. This is highly recommended off-beat solo comedy-theatre storytelling.
