Tell us a little about your show and what audiences can expect.
Cartoonopolis is the story of my autistic brother Jack and our family. Originally developed 10 years ago, the show moves between our home life and Jack’s imaginary world, Cartoonopolis. At the time, Jack was 17 and facing the major change of leaving school, and my mum and dad made the move from dealing with child to adult services. In the show, I multi-role as 27 characters, shifting from Jack to mum to dad to Batman, a samba drummer called Phil, a news anchor called Chris McClain, a taxi driver called Gethin – the list goes on. Audiences can expect a high-energy, heartfelt, hugely playful show that looks at coming of age as an autistic person and explores the wild, tender, animated world of Cartoonopolis.
Can you talk about some of the creative team involved?
I’m Lewis Ian Bray and I am the writer and performer of Cartoonopolis. I’ve spent the past few years working as an actor for TV and film, and developing writing for screen, but 10 years ago Cartoonopolis was my first piece of work as a writer/theatre-maker, so it feels special to be bringing this new version to Edinburgh in 2025.
I’m back working with brilliant directors Chris Tomlinson and Matt Rutter, of Turntable Theatre and Big WOW. I’ve known Chris and Matt since I was 17, when I got my start at Liverpool Everyman as part of the Young Everyman & Playhouse (YEP) programme. Coming full circle and bringing this show to the Fringe with them in 2025 means the world.
Cartoonopolis is a family affair – and this time round my wife Cordelia Stevenson (of Fringe stalwarts Silent Faces) is producing the show. I’ve been saying for years, “I want to bring Cartoonopolis back,” and one day she just quietly got to work and made it happen. I’m so grateful – we wouldn’t be here without her.
Charly Dunford is designing the lighting, helping us create the visual world of Cartoonopolis – especially vital when the set is just one chair. And Ellie Isherwood is bringing the city to life through sound; shaping the rhythms, textures, and imagination of Jack’s world.
We’ve also brought on Rachel Barry as our access coordinator – something we didn’t have the first-time round. This time, we made a clear decision: instead of just talking about access, we’d build it into the bones of the process. Rachel’s been instrumental in making both the show and the wider production genuinely accessible for our neurodivergent team, which has transformed how we work. We’ve collaborated with the brilliant Mandy Redvers-Rowe to develop integrated audio description, which is woven directly into the storytelling, and all Sunday shows in Edinburgh will be Relaxed. That’s been so important: accessibility, without compromise.
Cartoonopolis celebrates neurodivergent joy – how do you hope audiences come away thinking differently about autism and creativity?
My mum used to say, “I just want people to see Jack’s joy.” That’s been the heartbeat of this show from the very beginning. Ten years later, it still is. Jack has brought so much joy into our family just by being fully himself. His imagination, his creativity, the way he sees the world, it’s carried us through some of our toughest times. Cartoonopolis is a tribute to that. To him. To the beauty of a mind that doesn’t follow the usual route.
I want audiences to leave knowing that when we make real space for neurodivergent people – not to change who they are, but to let them be who they are – they can thrive. Not in spite of their differences, but because of them.
And more than anything, I hope it gives people permission to be a bit more accepting of themselves. To recognise their own needs. To advocate for who they are. That matters to me deeply.
It’s been ten years since Cartoonopolis first hit the stage – what does it mean to return to this story now, at the Fringe?
A lot has changed for the better in the past ten years when it comes to accessibility, but we still have a long way to go. What makes this moment feel more urgent than ever is the reality that so many disabled people are living through right now; changes to PIP assessments, the fight for basic advocacy, the exhausting bureaucracy – it’s relentless.
As autism, ADHD, and neurodiversity as a whole have become more prominent in the public consciousness over the past 10 years, it’s remained important to me that we show an authentic, unfiltered portrayal of autism with Cartoonopolis. Not a glamourised or sanitised version, but an honest one – about what the transition to adulthood actually looks like for autistic young people, about the impact on families of assessment changes and shifting goal posts, and about the toll that that can take on everyone involved.
Bringing Cartoonopolis to the Fringe means everything. The Fringe audience is the perfect one because it’s here that you find audiences who want to learn, question, and take action just as much as they want to have a damn good time. We hope we’ll give them both in equal measure!
What can the wider arts community do to get more people involved in their specific disciplines?
This one’s for the people in power: the funders, the gatekeepers, the decision makers.
Stop just talking about access and start to fund it, build it, embed it from the beginning. Not as an afterthought, not as a PR move, but as the foundation of how you work.
Hire access coordinators. Budget for access like you budget for lighting and costumes. Ask artists, creatives and crew what they need and then believe them. Don’t wait until someone burns out, breaks down, or walks away before you act.
Access isn’t the artist’s responsibility to constantly fight for. It’s yours. You run the building. You run the budget. You run the rehearsal schedule. So run it in a way that people can actually show up in. Because if the space isn’t accessible, it’s not equal, it’s excluding people by design. And if you say you want to platform new voices, underrepresented artists, and real diversity on your stages, then you have to do the work to make space.
This isn’t about special treatment. It’s about creating the conditions for everyone to thrive.
And finally, have you got your eye on any other shows that are part of the programme?
I’ve been looking out for other shows heading to Scotland from Merseyside, so I’m buzzing to see Jade Franks’ Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x), also at Pleasance. Can’t wait to catch Giselle: Remix after missing its London run last year and hearing brilliant things. And will definitely be heading to some other one-person shows, with Ordinary Decent Criminal with Mark Thomas at Summerhall high on the list.
Cartoonopolis, Pleasance Dome, 30 July-24 Aug (not 6, 11, 18), 1.10pm