Grace Hatchell reporting from the realm of delusion, desperation, and designer baby bags…
Well darlings, clear the prams and polish your Smeg bins because I’ve got a Fringe debut that’s as fabulous as it is financially fragile.
The divine Charis King is strutting into Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 with Wummy — her riotous one-woman comedy about the beautiful disaster that is trying to manifest a life of luxury when your reality looks more like Lidl’s middle aisle than Liberty’s homeware department. Wummy opens at Just The Tonic on 1 August (with cheeky previews from 31 July), and I’m telling you now, it’s got “cult hit” scribbled all over it in posh handwriting.
“I shouldn’t be here. I should be in SW3, midweek lunching.”
That’s our Wummy — broke, flat-sharing, and praying for a husband who works in finance and a bin hidden in a kitchen island. You know the type. She’s got the Pinterest board, the positive affirmations, and a dying houseplant that simply refuses to thrive. As she attempts to ‘manifest’ a Chelsea townhouse, nanny, and one of those chic strollers that cost more than your first car, the universe delivers… well, let’s just say not quite what she ordered.
Written and performed by Charis King, and directed by Octavia Gilmore (making her directorial debut, no less — applause, please), Wummy is a sharply-observed, brutally funny, and painfully relatable take on modern ambition. It’s what happens when your dream life is an Instagram filter, and reality is buffering.
Charis herself puts it perfectly:
“It’s a comedy about ambition, delusion, and trying to manifest a perfect life when your only assets are a dying houseplant and a Wi-Fi password.”
Iconic. Someone get that on a T-shirt.
About the Team:
Charis King’s stage creds include Romeo and Juliet (international tour) and The Importance of Being Earnest (Arts Theatre), while her comedy chops have lit up BBC Upload, Sport Relief, and radio shows on BBC Kent.
Octavia Gilmore’s past work includes assisting on Mother Christmas (Hampstead Theatre), starring in Butterfly, and producing the comedy-horror gem When the Screaming Starts. She’s also developing a dark-comedy feature called Granny’s Holiday — because why not terrify your nan and make her laugh?
Wummy is being nurtured by Soho Theatre’s Edinburgh Lab — which means one thing: talent with polish (and possibly Polish heritage, I’ll investigate later).
Catch Wummy at Just The Tonic, Edinburgh, 31 July – 24 August
Press Performance: 1 August, 1:50pm (bring tissues for the laughter, and maybe a Waitrose bag for style)
If you’ve ever tried to manifest a better life through moon charts, positive affirmations, or simply whispering “range cooker” into the void — this one’s for you.
I’ll see you there. I’ll be the one sat behind Wummy, eyeing up her handbag and wondering if it’s real leather.
Grace x
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