Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Betsy and Patty Find Out
Fooled Again
Genre: Dark Comedy, Theatre
Venue: The Bedlam
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
“Betsy and Patty are a couple of cows passing time while waiting in line in their factory farm home. While in line they engage in a very interesting and revealing discussion. This play gets political, yet it’s a comedy. Or maybe tragedy. Fresh off a sold-out run at the Hollywood Fringe! It made me laugh. It hit me right in the feels. Sometimes both at the same time. Sometimes you need animals to tell you about the human experience. Darkly funny and surprisingly touching. Who knew cows could be so profound?” A darkly comedic play hotfoot from Hollywood Fringe/
Review
Carrie Keranen plays Betsy Jennifer DeRosa plays Patty in this darkly comic bovine farce. You’ll find echoes of Waiting for Godot and Animal Farm in the simmering anger of cow Betsy and the herd queue in a line, stage-front, waiting for … who knows what? This is an offbeat, political piece of semi-absurdist drama. Yes indeed, a line of cows, two are the cast who speak, the others are silent as one by one, an alarm sounds, and they set off to … oh, no, dear reader, I will not spoil that for you. You will indeed have to purchase a ticket to discover the outcome.
When walking in Nature, across a field of cows, I always notice the lazy curiosity of cows, less skittish they are compared to sheep. That patience is recreated in this waiting play. Of course we, the audience, discover what happens to these cows and, as the fifty minutes progresses, the number in the queue reduces down to the two in dialogue throughout. Is the world outside of this queue, penned in, a benevolent one after all, or are we glad to be here, in our cowish comfort zone, or are we wretchedly content? Betsy is the challenger of the status quo, Patty is the more cautious one, not wishing to risk a breakout, the challenge to the collusion of stability. Yet the menace grows as, one by one, the other cows are called forth, leaving the stage, heading towards … no, I still won’t tell you.
Occasionally the pacing dips and the movement and gesture needs honing. These are humans in costumes but some of the physicality could be tightened. That will likely come with the development of the show over its run.
The skill inherent in the writing is the balance between the dark themes and the verbal knockabout comedy. Tension builds in the teasy, witty, political dialogue. Why should we be passive just because we are cows? Bird-envy is a neat conceit. It’s a darkly funny comedy play and got a well deserved ovation at the end. You won’t see a play quite like this elsewhere at the Fringe. It’s ridiculous in a good way. It is political, philosophical, beefy acting and it is fun laced with morbidity. I highly recommend you see this play – for the core idea, the strong performances, its nutso undertones, and its intelligent foundations. Most of all, it is darkly disturbing and funny at the same time.
