Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Somewhere, In Between: A Play About Hope
Theatre for a Cause Geneva
Genre: Spoken Word, Theatre, Verbatim Theatre
Venue: theSpace UK
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
“What do people reach for when certainty disappears? Inspired by true events, this play brings together intimate monologues and dialogues moving through love, doubt, grief, humour and everything in between. As voices across ages and experiences are given room to speak, the stage becomes a space for recognition, connection and reflection. Here, hope is not a perfect ending. It is something searched for, questioned and rediscovered, often in the moments when life asks us to keep going without all the answers. From Switzerland, this show makes its international debut at Edinburgh Fringe.”
Review
Theatre for a Cause Geneva is a collective of writers and performers rooted in community theatre. This take on community theatre involves research, dialogue and the collecting of stories and experiences on the theme of “hope”. That’s a broad theme, particularly pertinent in our turbulent world today. Community theatre in the UK is often more about local people putting on plays. This is more about engaging with the community to create the content for a professional standard performance.
Based on interviews with the community in which they reside, the material for this unique performance is built from that. A diverse cast deliver each monologue in turn.
As we enter, an actor is already on stage, sitting at a desk, laptop before him. What then unfolds in a very affecting and effective hour of spoken word theatre as a series of monologues that help us to experience and explore, as audience, that underpinning theme.
What does hope mean to you? This is the initiating question from which this show was born. Most of the monologues and in English with two in French with English subtitles. The voice work is tight, always on top of stories and reflections that are written eloquently and with depth.
Hope, of course, is messy. Yet this is no messy show. It’s accomplished, curated intelligently so each monologue is a thing in itself, but there is a binding through line. “Hope is not the absence of struggle; it exists because of it.”
Delivery is assured, and grounded in authenticity in both writing and presenation on stage. These are earnest performers, rarely overstated, putting their skills to the service of the text, stewarding it rather than owning with too much theatricality. And that is where the show can develop and finesse. In places it is unclear whether this is intended as theatre, or spoken word. It is, of course, perfectly fine to have both. I would suggest a little more clarity and consistency. Where the style is more theatrically intended, tighter, more detailed direction will ensure gesture and voice supports the dramatic elements. Where there is a more static monologue-spoken-word style, the “dramatic” use of voice and physicality can be toned down or become more measured. That said, the standard is high, the content builds and intensifies, and the exploration of hope becomes powerful and important. The audience leaned in. No one lost interest for a moment. The ovation at the end was thoroughly deserved. My heart was reached throughout.
I won’t talk about many specifics nor offer spoilers but the subject matter ranges from relationships, identity, the rise of AI in our personal lives, dealing with our mortality, and meeting the challenges of when hope seems absent in our lives. It is a rich mix, and the research carried out blooms in the offered scripts. This is material treated with respectful, loving care.
Questions are posed and not everything is answered. That’s important, for it leaves us with our own echoes from the show to ponder afterwards. A show to discuss after we have left the venue.
The value of a hug, a protest, or creating space for ourselves or those we love.
This is excellent work at the Fringe. It will leave you wondering about hope in your life, in your community and in the wider world. Ultimately hope is realised in action, in the strengthening and awakening of our will. I am glad there are shows like this at the Fringe. Do not expect dramatic fireworks. Less is more here in terms of theatrical tropes. It offers all that is needed. Not minimal, but enough. A worthy inquiry into hope.
