PLAYTHING

PRESENTED BY ISABELLA THOMPSON

Satirical, hilarious, absurd, what happens when you combine spectatorship with a youthful exterior and existential dread?

A 5 year old pageant contestant, an ex-Etonian-turned-delusional-DJ and a mute schoolgirl whose entire personality is her ginormous rucksack. The link? Pending. They’re all played by a girl. She’s 25 but she’s got no tits.

Isabella Thompson is set to bring her "masterfully crafted" hour 

of clown and character comedy, Plaything, to the Edinburgh 

Festival Fringe this summer. Following a successful 

development period at Soho Theatre Labs, this satirical and 

absurd exploration of infantilism will run at Hoots @ Nicholson 

Square. 

Plaything is an uproarious show born from the pervasiveness of 

a woman’s infantilisation. Through the lens of four distinct 

characters: Boo, DJ Charlie, Boo’s mother Sarah, and a hide 

and seek master General, Thompson subtly navigates the 

complex intersection of a youthful appearance and the need for 

adult approval through clowning and character comedy. 

Thompson has taken from her experience in the Queer 

performance space and embraces traditions of storytelling that 

have been pioneered by this community. Utilising clown, AFAB 

drag and real voiceovers from characters in her own life, 

Thompson has created a show that is riotously playful and 

unconsciously hard-hitting.