Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Critique Cabaret
Mandy Harris Williams with Family Affairs Studio
Genre: Experimental, Feminist Theatre, Interactive, Solo Performance
Venue: C ARTS | C venues | C aquila- Temple
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Blending pop and musical-theatre numbers with video, comedy and audience interaction, Critique Cabaret uses cabaret glamour to examine race, Black womanhood, sexuality and privilege. Mandy Harris Williams creates an entertaining, provocative and intentionally uncomfortable performance, although some projected material needs clarity and the show’s compelling ideas could be developed further.
Review
At first, I was unsure what Critique Cabaret wanted to be. Is it a cabaret, as the title suggests, or a critique? Is it critiquing cabaret itself, or using the form to examine race, Black womanhood and expectations placed on the female body? The artist describes it as a multimedia performance-lecture, using cabaret glamour to explore serious questions about race, beauty and digital culture.
Original songs drawing on pop and musical-theatre styles create the numbers we expect from cabaret. Some are accompanied live by pianist Jeremiah Ginn, while others use recorded music. As the show moves into each number, Mandy Harris Williams changes her outfit, creating a series of transformations. For one number, she appears in tight red lace, moves through the audience and invites someone to remove her glove. We are encouraged to play along while also being made conscious of looking at and perhaps sexualising her body.
The strongest filmed section shows Williams being interviewed by someone off camera. Asked what she would do if race were not an issue, she describes the idea as preposterous: race could never simply cease to matter. Yet, with a grin, she answers that she would sing, dance and perform sexy musical numbers. The audience laughed, and I could tell they were enjoying the playfulness of the moment. I wanted her to develop this thought-provoking material further.
Another video asks ChatGPT to construct a stereotypically beautiful Black woman, connecting ideas about beauty with the influence of technology. Unfortunately, the projected text was too blurry for me to read. Elsewhere, silent-film-style questions moved too quickly, while Williams sometimes stood directly in front of the words. Reading the material aloud or slowing the sequence would make these sections more accessible.
At times, I felt uncomfortable, but I think the show intends this, as we are asked to look seriously at difficult questions about race, beauty and digital culture. Critique Cabaret is also entertaining, humorous and dark, confronting racial privilege, feminism and the female body. Its ideas are compelling, although this first performance suggested that the production could develop them further.
