Gothenburg Fringe 2025 in review – Precipice, Judge Ricky and CULT of Myth
Ceri Taylor was one of our star volunteers at Gothenburg Fringe, returning to Sweden year after year after arriving from the UK in 2022 as an Erasmus student. Alongside working hard throughout the Fringe, Ceri made sure to catch a variety of performances during the week and has compiled a series of reviews. Enjoy the first batch below.
Make or Break decisions on the Precipice
The tenth anniversary of Gothenburg Fringe Festival kicked off last weekend with a local theatre company making its Fringe debut. Theatre of Menace brought Precipice to Dice Theatre for a two-date run as one of the first performances of Gothenburg Fringe 2025.
Directed by Brian Bonafilia, Precipice brings three two-actor plays to the stage, each exploring the suspense, uncertainty and fear when you’re teetering on the edge of making a decision that will alter the course of your life. Emily Olmstead and Federico Giamo bring a nuanced and heartbreaking rendition of two partners dealing with devastating news that threatens to affect their futures. A priest and a confessor walk the line between absolution and integrity with Chris O’Riley and Brian Coughlan. Finally, a nurse and her hospital patient played by Livia Radaeski and Erik Sjösten Andersson discuss past arguments and whether it’s really worth holding on to a grudge in the grand scheme of family ties.
Precipice was a rollercoaster of emotions packed into just one hour. We all know what it’s like to fall in love, to be faced with our own morals and to re-visit old connections that have faded over the years. Despite each play being dark and thought-provoking in nature, there was plenty of room for humour (there is something iconic about hearing a Catholic priest drop the F-bomb) and each character brought their own believability to the stage. Any one of us in the audience could find ourselves at a crossroad faced with a make or break decision and that brings theatre and the human experience that much closer.
Precipice sparked plenty of conversation and that is the mark of an effective piece of art. What would you have done? Would you be brave enough to do it, if it all came down to the wire?
All rise for Judge Ricky!
A Gothenburg Fringe favourite is back once again, this time bringing justice to Dice Theatre. Judge Ricky is an improv comedy show led by the audience – if you think you’ve seen it before, no you haven’t! This show included debates on whether the toilet paper goes over or under, the spiciness of a hot sauce and it even got existential when an audience member asked if the sky was actually blue. Anything can happen at Judge Ricky!
Made up of three quarters of the improv collective Chaotic Neutral, Ricky Labonte, Brian Bonafilia and Christian Hjalmar take the actor’s script and tear it up as Judge Ricky is 90 minutes of pure improv comedy. Having attended an improvisation workshop led by Chaotic Neutral I can personally vouch that improv is no mean feat. There is a high amount of skill, creativity and comedic timing involved and the cast of Judge Ricky bring all three in abundance. The audience was enraptured throughout and there was never a lull in the atmosphere nor a refusal to join in – this show even featured an objection!
Judge Ricky is fun fun fun and a great way to round off a long day of Fringe shows. Alongside the ‘pay what you want’ scheme applied to ticket sales, the show is accessible for anyone and everyone. Catch the next showing of Judge Ricky and you might just get called to the stand!
Inherently political while wild, loud, dirty and so much fun
The Gothenburg Fringe Festival is packed to the roof with art. Whether that be dance, comedy, theatre or spoken word, there is no shortage of variety here at Gothenburg Fringe. The unusual aspects of the Fringe are no better captured than in two-time audience choice award winners CULT: a drag collective based right here in Gothenburg.
Formed by artist duo Status Queer (Sam Message and Kolbrun Inga Soring), CULT is a drag collective with a rolling cast that returns to Gothenburg Fringe for the third time with CULT of Myth. Cast members Jessica Wolff, Sirius Vanderlism, Leon Queer AF, Edgar Allan Hoe, Natalia Sapphic, Viktor Vajayjay and Utter Nunsense performed to a sold-out and utterly roaring crowd at 2lang theatre. Hosted by Meatling the Meat Baby, CULT is inherently a political show, with Meatbaby using their time in between acts to speak up on current affairs that are prevalent not just in Sweden but world-wide. The acts of the night included conspiracy theories, feminism, revolution and trans power – a lot to take in in just 90 minutes!
CULT is inherently political but that does not mean that CULT is sombre. CULT is wild, loud, dirty and so much fun! There is a real sense of community in the CULT audience and it won’t take long for you to find a friend, even if you are feeling brave and you go on your own! Follow CULT and Status Queer on Instagram to keep up with their events, workshops and movie nights throughout the year. They are standing pillars of the queer community and there is always something to do – once you’ve recovered from a full on week at Fringe!
