Performing Arts Festival the Clapham Fringe returns to the Bread & Roses Theatre

Now in its sixth year, the Clapham Fringe has returned to The Bread & Roses Theatre, bringing an outstanding variety of theatre, comedy, cabaret and family & childrens shows to our doorstep.

With 33 different productions and 50 performances across three weeks, Clapham Fringe offers an affordable stage to theatre-makers, helping to foster new and emerging talent.

Throughout the festival, which runs until Sunday October 10, Clapham Nub News will be featuring our top picks from upcoming performances. More details about the festival and how to get tickets to all shows can also be found on our What's On page.

Our top picks on at Clapham Fringe this weekend

Jam Tart/Lemon Kurd

Newly 54, Claire discovers empowerment in a surprising hobby after emerging from the bubble of parenthood and domesticity. Widowed septuagenarian Cathy finds a new focus following a visit to the Calais Refugee Jungle whilst on holiday.

A double bill of monologues, Jam Tart/Lemon Kurd tells two outrageous and heartfelt stories featuring women finding new life and love, learning to see the world differently in their later years.

When Friday 24 at 5pm & Saturday 25 September at 5pm

Swedish

A black comedy telling a story of Crime, Money, Friendship and Unfulfilled Dreams, Swedish is a multi-layered play with performances from actor/writer/poet Billy Colvill playing the central character Butlins Bill and Support from amongst others the infamous poet John Smallshaw.

The second play from writer/director Brian Beaton who through his vocation has a particular talent for understanding people and for creating humour from challenging situations, Swedish will stay in your mind for some time after - a play which will tickle your funny bone, but also touch your heart and mind.

When Friday 24 at 7pm and Saturday 25 at 7pm

Dream Lover

Andrew has been found and he's willing to talk, but are we prepared for all his revelations? Consumed with a secret desire, Andrew can't help slipping into his darkest fantasies. But where does fantasy end and reality begin? As he relates his strange and shocking story, we must piece together the puzzle of his actions, memories and dreams to understand the incomprehensible.

At once gripping, eerie and moving, this new play explores one man's raw instincts through clever use of sound, and blurs lines through lighting, with a mixture of naturalistic performance and surreal stylistic choices.

Dream Lover is a fictional piece inspired by the life events of serial killer, Dennis Nilsen.

When Saturday 25 September at 1pm

Strangers

You never know who a stranger could turn out to be. They may appear to be innocuous and of no significance to you, however, according to the theory of the 'six degrees of separation', we are all connected to everyone else on the planet by just six human links. If this idea really is true then no-one is irrelevant and everybody can in fact affect your life… and it might be in a way you would never have thought possible.

The way strangers are connected to each other is central to this dark and disturbing play. A southern man and a northern woman meet by chance (or maybe fate) in a Yorkshire pub. Normally they would have had nothing to do with each other but this unplanned encounter leads to an unexpected opportunity, which, when seized makes them both question everything they ever knew. They should have listened when something in their hearts told them it was wrong, but now their lives have changed forever…

Strangers stars Emily Browne, who was nominated for 'Best Supporting Actress' at the Totton Drama Festival & Steve Schollar, was nominated for 'Best Supporting Actor' at the Henley Drama Festival. It's written & directed by Nick Card whose play, The Interview, had a very successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

When Sunday 26 September at 1pm

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