Credit: Greta Zabulyte
📮 A Letter from Paris — via Poland — via Grace’s Satchel
Well darlings, stop the pigeon and stamp the envelope — because I’ve got a cultural comedy corker flying in from the continent. And it’s got identity crises, bureaucratic blunders, a grandfather-shaped plot twist, and just a hint of 1960s French New Wave. Très chic, non?
The brilliant Kaitlyn Kelly — Canadian export, Parisian dreamer, and Offie-nominated talent — is bringing her solo show I Didn’t Know I Was Polish to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, and frankly, my satchel is trembling with excitement.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: how does someone not know they’re Polish? Well, that’s exactly what Kaitlyn’s trying to figure out in this whip-smart, soul-searching, one-woman spectacular. Caught up in the red tape of trying to stay in the City of Light (it’s giving Emily in Admin), Kaitlyn stumbles upon a dusty old detail from her family’s past — and suddenly, she might just have a way to stick around… courtesy of her long-lost Polish roots.
Cue the existential spirals, absurd immigration forms, and a little help from the spirit of Truffaut.
Originally premiering at London’s Voila! Festival (where it caused quite the stir, may I add), I Didn’t Know I Was Polish is part comedy, part confession, and entirely captivating. It swings between gut-laughs and gut-punches with the flair of someone who’s truly lived it. And yes, Kaitlyn wrote it at the exact moment all this was happening in real time — no artistic distance here, just pure, passport-pending panic.
Under the direction of Dominika Uçar — experimental whiz, visual artist, and co-founder of Deadweight Theatre — the show finds its beating heart in themes of identity, belonging, and that classic millennial question: “Where do I actually live now?”
Norman Pace himself (yes, that Norman Pace) has called Kaitlyn “one to watch” — and if that’s not Fringe firestarter talk, I don’t know what is.
So here’s your marching order, my loves:
✈ I Didn’t Know I Was Polish — come for the crisis, stay for the charisma.
I Didn’t Know I Was Polish | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Until next time, keep your passports stamped, your hearts open, and your satchels swinging.
Grace x
EDINBURGH FRINGE: 11th – 16th of August
5:30pm, (55 minutes)
Venue: Greenside @ George Street – Fern Studio
Tickets are £12 / £10 (concessions)
Book Online: Ed Fringe Tix Here
LONDON PREVIEWS: 17th & 18th of July
7:45pm, (55 minutes)
Venue: The Hope Theatre, N1 1RL
Tickets are £12 / £10 (concessions)
Book Online: Hope Theatre Tix Here
Age guidance: 14+
Genre: Solo show / comedy-theatre
Themes: Identity, immigration, family, heritage
Written and performed by: Kaitlyn Kelly
Directed by: Dominika Uçar
Sound Design by: Jovanna Backovic
Lighting Design by: Catja Hamilton
Creative Associate: Nastazja Domaradzka
Consulting Producer: Rowena Price
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