Colchester Fringe Festival 2026
Josephine
Dynamite Lunchbox
Genre: Biographical Drama, Biography, Burlesque, Cabaret, LGBT, LGBT Theatre, LGBTQ, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Theatre, LGBTQI, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, Live Music, Music, Musical Theatre, One Person Show, Queer Theatre
Venue: Colchester Arts Centre
Festival: Colchester Fringe Festival
Low Down
A masterful and compelling solo show about the life of showgirl, spy, queer icon, and activist Josephine Baker. Performer Tymisha Harris is everything and more you could want from a performance. There’s good reason Josephine has been performing for over ten years.
Review
It is rare for a show to make me cry. Not from sadness, but from pure theatrical magic. Josephine is one of those shows. In the middle of Taymisha Harris’s performance when she sang “Minnie the Moocher”, I wept tears of joy. Totally swept up in the theatrical magic, I never wanted the show to end. It is remarkable how professional and exciting Josephine is, or perhaps even more specifically, how special of a performer Harris is. She is one of the most beautiful, most talented, and damn incredible performers on the circuit.
Anyone who has been on the fringe circuit long enough has likely heard of Taymisha Harris. She has travelled the world with this show and frequently wins highest honours at every festival she attends. Sometimes, when you walk into a show with this much hype, it is easy to be let down. If anything, after Josephine, words could not prepare the audience for how life-changingly brilliant this work is. In my own fringe touring, I’ve missed the chance to see Harris twice in Orlando and Tampa. You best believe I will not make that mistake again.
The play retells the life of Josephine Baker. Baker’s life is nothing short of remarkable. A rags to riches showgirl turned spy turned civil rights activist. It’s a life story almost so absurd that if it was not all true, it’d be described as Hollywood fiction. While the overall story structure will feel familiar to those who’ve seen the average biopic, Josephine shines primarily because of the charm of Harris. Harris moves effortlessly through Josephine’s life and brings emotional depth, wit, and humour to her performance. Little inflections and changes in how Harris moves through the performance, particularly towards the end of Josephine’s life, showcase just how damn good of a performer Harris is. Whether dropping splits or creating a moving ballad, Harris moves through with extreme ease.
Breaking up each section of Baker’s life, Harris sings a classic song from the era. These are undoubtedly the highlights of Josephine. Harris’ voice is that of legends. It is as though Josephine herself possesses Harris each time she sings. It is a voice that will make you laugh or burst into tears, and its completely at Harris’s whim which. In particular, her chilling rendition of “Strange Fruit” left the audience in stunned silence.
At my performance, there was only twenty people in attendance. What a damn shame. Colchester audiences need to step up and appear before the queen. Josephine Baker fought to be where she is, as did Taymisha Harris, and every theatre-loving person anywhere worldwide should see her perform. Every one of those audience members stood up and left with an inexplicable electricity that only masterful theatre can give you. Josephine is a work which reminds you why we love theatre so damn much. I have no doubt once word of mouth spreads to the furthest depth of deepest darkest Colchester that Josephine will be sold-out in its second weekend. Even speaking to people at my performance, they are already planning on seeing it again the following week. Mark my words– this is not one to miss. Josephine is the ‘sparkling black diamond’ of Fringe.
