If you reviewed your own show, how would you describe it?
“Wanted is a gutsy, fast-talking, crime caper with heart, humour and just enough chaos to make you wonder if you’d have done the same. It’s like if Tony Soprano, Lindsay Lohan and the ex you met at She Bar teamed up for a morally questionable revenge mission…and accidentally made you cry while nicking your phone! It’s chaotic and fast-paced, with big feelings, bad decisions and moral grey zones. Expect dodgy rules, emotional damage, and at least one moment where you think, “Should I start a gang?” Think criminal behaviour with a conscience… kind of. If you’ve ever been skint, overlooked, or fuming at the state of the world – this one’s for you.”
What is the best or most inspiring show you’ve seen at the Festivals?
It’s retro because it first debuted at a Fringe many years ago but I watched the revival, last year, of Every Brilliant Thing. And last year I caught Plewds by Kathrine Payne and Play Fight by Julia Grogan. Both balanced sincerity and humour in a phenomenal way. I felt they tackled weighty subjects with jovial, fast paced dialogue and authentic connection between characters.
What do you do to relax in August?
Well, when I’m not at the Fringe for August, relaxing comes a bit more naturally! But when working a show I like to sneak off to queer hotspots in town, mingle with my community, treat myself to a tasty truck dinner and stroll through the Meadows at dusk (when it’s too dark to see all the stars on other people’s posters!)
What show are you most looking forward to seeing in August, and why?
I’ve heard the Gobby Girls are doing a show called The 11% Club which I’ve got down on my list! Lorna Rose Treen is one of my faves so I’ll be at her show with bells and whistles! Oh and Sooz Kempner is one of my all time heroes so I’ll be sure to catch her new work: Sooz Kempner is Ugly.
What’s the one piece of advice you’d give a performer coming to Edinburgh for the first time?
See as much as you can while you’re here, sometimes performing can dominate headspace, but remembering we’re participating in one of the greatest art shows on the planet and taking time to absorb and appreciate other art can give temporary relief from the bubble we’re in!
Tell me a little more about your show and what audiences can expect.
Wanted is a comedy crime-caper about two queer women who accidentally become small-time criminals and maybe they kind of like it. It’s fast-paced, funny, and full of bad decisions made for (mostly) good reasons. Set in 2009 in London’s queer scene, it blends nostalgia, chaos and heart with just enough criminal energy to keep you guessing who’s being scammed… and who’s doing the scamming.
Think Thelma & Louise meets Sugar Rush meets Emily The Criminal.
Audiences can expect whip-smart dialogue, high-stakes, friendship, emotional U-turns and some very questionable moral logic. It’s got the spirit of a farce, the pacing of a heist and the heart of two messy women trying to feel powerful in a world that keeps letting them down.
Can you talk about some of the creative team involved?
I am so excited to have such a fabulous team involved to bring Wanted to life! Emily Aboud is such a yes person and brings so much energy and spirit. Then Alex Hardy, who will associate direct, brings such a calm assuredness. Somebody Jones has dramaturged the show, her incredible insight and belief in the show has really invigorated mine! Sophie Wilkinson has script supervised and offers clinical scrutiny. The wonderful cast includes Naomi Denny who gives Jessie the right mix of vulnerability and integrity, Kit is someone I’ve admired for a few years – her work is brilliant – so it’s such a treat to work with her. And it’s written by (and starring) yours truly! Drawing loosely from my own criminal past… but I’m keeping that on the downlow.
Where do you draw inspiration from for your work, both in terms of creation and performance?
I often find liminal dreaming helps guide me; I go to bed with a churn of ideas from everyday observances and from the art I like to consume. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, desperate to tap things into my phone. Running also really helps me thrash out problems and knots in the scripts, except one problem I can’t always solve is that I can’t always be bothered to go for a run. Because I was up all night tapping ideas out!
Looking at this production, how would you say it links to previous work personally and thematically?
Well in both Wanted and In PurSUEt I’ve taken extreme and potentially career ruining personal secrets, blended them with enough comedy and plausible deniability to give me both a glowing script and the assurance that no one has any idea what’s true or not!
What do you find special about this work?
What’s special about this work, is that it’s fearless, funny, and full of messy, brilliant women you don’t often see on stage. The writing blends chaos with care, humour with heartbreak and isn’t afraid to let characters be flawed, angry, or just completely unhinged in the most relatable way.
After the success of In PurSUEt (which, to my surprise, developed a mini cult following of people who love deeply chaotic women), I realised there’s a real appetite for stories that feel honest, bold and a bit dangerous. Queer voices are still massively underrepresented in theatre – and audiences are hungry for stories that don’t tidy the edges. If I can make people laugh, feel seen, and maybe cry a bit? That’s the dream. Even if I have to write about myself like I’m not in the room!
Why is this an important story to tell?
Because sometimes the world doesn’t give you many options, especially if you’re queer, broke, and angry. Wanted explores what happens when two women who’ve been overlooked, dismissed or outright failed decide to take justice into their own hands… badly.
It’s about friendship, rage, survival, and the grey areas between right and wrong. But it’s also about how easy it is to cross a line when you feel like the rules were never made for you in the first place. So many women who end up in the criminal justice system have experienced trauma, abuse, poverty or neglect… and often, they were victims long before they were seen as offenders. That’s the cycle we’re exploring: when harm isn’t addressed, it repeats, just with different people being punished for it.
And the system doesn’t treat everyone equally. Race plays a huge role. Black and brown women are more likely to be arrested, more likely to be charged, and more likely to receive harsher sentences for the same crimes. Class, race and gender shape who gets criminalised – and who gets away with it.
What would you like audiences to take away from seeing you/this production at the Fringe?
I’d love for audiences to walk away feeling seen, especially if they’ve ever felt like the system’s stacked against them or like they’re stuck on the wrong side of the rules.Wanted is messy and funny, but it’s also about real struggles: survival, friendship, and figuring out how to keep going when the world keeps knocking you down.
I want people to leave thinking about what justice really means, who gets to decide it, and maybe to question a few assumptions about who’s the “good guy” and who’s not. Plus, I hope they have a laugh, a gasp, and maybe even feel inspired to cause a little chaos of their own.
Do you tend to take inspiration from events happening in the world around you in terms of your work? Do you think artists have a responsibility to respond to what’s happening?
I definitely take inspiration from the world around me. Wanted might be set in 2009, but the questions it asks about justice, power and survival are very much rooted in the world we’re living in now. I’m interested in the gaps between how things are supposed to work, and how they actually do when you’re marginalised, broke, or just trying to get by. Those cracks in the system are where a lot of my stories live.
As for responsibility, I don’t think every artist has to respond to the news cycle directly, but I do think we all reflect the times we live in, whether consciously or not. For me, if I’m going to put something on a stage, it has to say something – even if it’s saying it through comedy, chaos or questionable conduct. Art doesn’t have to be “issue-based” to be political. Sometimes just centring new voices is a response in itself.
How do you feel about the current arts landscape in the UK and your part in it? Does it excite you and inspire you to keep pushing the boat out?
It’s a weird time, isn’t it? The arts landscape feels like it’s constantly fighting to survive. Funding is being slashed, venues are closing, and yet somehow, artists keep making bold, brilliant work on budgets that wouldn’t cover the cost of an East London coffee. That resilience is inspiring, but it’s also exhausting. You have to really love it – or be just crazy enough to keep going.
That said, I do feel excited. I see more artists refusing to wait for permission – making their own spaces, telling stories that don’t tick a box, and ripping up the rulebook. That keeps me going. I want to be part of that… pushing the boat out, even if the boat is made of cardboard and held together with gaffer tape.
I am one of the lucky few to have receive support from Arts Council England – they funded the development and writing period of Wanted. Without which it wouldn’t exist. So to paraphrase Virginia Woolf, you can’t really create without a room of one’s own.
Why are arts festivals such as the Fringe so important for international exchange?
Because nowhere else do you get that many artists from that many places, all crammed into the same rain-soaked, flyer-saturated postcode, trying to tell stories that matter – or at least make someone laugh before they dash to their next show.
The Fringe is a wild, beautiful mess, and part of its magic is the international exchange. You get to see how people in different countries are processing the world; politically, personally, emotionally. It’s a reminder that even though we speak different languages (and have very different opinions on queueing), we’re all grappling with the same big themes: identity, injustice, love, loss, and how to make a prop look less like it came from Poundland.
Festivals like this throw all those voices together. You get connection, challenge, and sometimes the beginnings of lifelong collaborations. It’s cultural chaos in the best possible way.
Have you got your eye on any other shows that are part of the programme?
I really want to see Sorry I Hurt Your Son, because I think domestic violence in LGBTQ+ relationships really needs to be explored (I loved Plewds last year for that).
What’s next for you and how are you feeling about the future in general?
Next? A nap! I think let’s just make it through this month… but in sincerity, hopefully we’re taking Wanted on a national tour. And then, hopefully, more stories, more risk-taking.
I’ve got another idea for a show, this time about a woman who gets punished for something she may or may not have done…
As for the future… cautiously hopeful? It’s tough out there, especially in the arts, but I think there’s power in being part of a community that refuses to quit. So I’ll keep going – probably powered by delusion, stubborn optimism and the belief that stories can still change things.
How can Edinburgh audiences keep up with you beyond the festival?
Follow me! On social media, not in real life. You can find me @eleanormhiggins on all platforms – you may be subjected to many a story about my dog.
Wanted, Underbelly Cowgate, 31 Jul-24 Aug, 12.40pm