Gawa Leung, JJ Lam, Lorraine Yu, Photo Credit Brava Guava
By Grace Hatchell
Some theatre titles arrive politely, hat in hand, hoping you’ll give them a moment of your time. HATER does not. HATER sounds like it has kicked the rehearsal room door open, rolled its eyes, and asked why everyone is being so deeply embarrassing.
Brava Guava’s HATER will make its Edinburgh Fringe premiere at Gilded Balloon Patter House this August, bringing a sharp, chaotic and knowingly furious piece of British East Asian satire to the Fringe. Written and part-performed by Gawa Leung, the three-hander arrives after an Etties Awards Best Drama nomination and has been described by A Young(ish) Perspective as a “witty and high-energy blitz of wrath and disenfranchisement.”
Which, frankly, sounds like several group chats I’ve been in, but with better lighting.
At the centre of HATER is Wai Ying, who is stalking @eve_xiao_actor because Eve is everything Wai Ying insists she is not: whiny, a bad actor and, worst of all, the same casting type. There it is, my loves. The old industry nightmare. Not just “who am I?” but “why is she auditioning for the same roles as me, and how dare she have cheekbones?”
The show asks how far Wai Ying has to go to prove she is truly not like other Asian girls. From three Bridgerton Season 4 rejects — and, as the press release cheekily notes, “never even invited to self-tape” — HATER digs into shame, envy, self-hatred and the horrible little ways people can be taught to turn on one another.
There is a proper sting in that. Beneath the comedy and the satire, HATER is looking at how Asian women can be pushed into rivalry by an industry that offers crumbs and then watches everyone fight over them. It explores the glee with which women are encouraged to tear each other down, and how self-hatred gets in the way of sisterhood.
Grace’s satchel has seen many a press release in its time, and I’ll say this: this one has teeth.
Leung began writing HATER after being defeated in the open race to play an Asian sex worker who teaches a French heroine how to enjoy her body. Consumed by envy, she turned that experience into what is described as a hate letter to Asians who think they are better than other Asians just for pursuing the arts.
Now that is a sentence that arrives with a handbag full of explosives.
HATER is also tied closely to the creation of Brava Guava, a production company founded as a space for East and Southeast Asian voices to be weird, unserious and politically charged. And honestly, good. Theatre needs more spaces where marginalised artists are not expected to arrive as polished representatives of pain, trauma and tasteful educational value. Sometimes they should be allowed to be messy, furious, funny, ridiculous, awkward and absolutely not here to make anyone comfortable.
The production reunites Gawa Leung with director Megan Brewer, whose previous work includes Do Astronauts Masturbate in Space?, Transit and Society for New Cuisine. Brewer will also be bringing Cvntclave and Parasocial Activity to Edinburgh Fringe this year, which suggests she may be operating on the kind of theatrical battery life most of us can only dream of after two coffees and a panic flap.
Completing the acting trio are Lorraine Yu, a capoeirista, life model and Edinburgh Fringe veteran returning this year to BATSU!, and classical soprano JJ Lam, who recently played Young Nezha in Nezha the Musical.
Previous reviews have praised HATER for its sharp blend of humour, identity and emotional bite. Everything Theatre called it a “stand-out exploration of rage, identity, and the digital age,” while The Spy in the Stalls described it as “inventive, emotionally incisive, and culturally sharp.”
From the sound of it, HATER is not coming to Edinburgh to behave itself. It is coming to pick at casting-room politics, internalised shame, immigrant identity, artistic envy and the awkward truth that sometimes the person you hate most is the one holding up a mirror.
A hate letter, yes. But perhaps also a survival note. A scream in three parts. A comedy with claws.
And if there is one thing the Fringe usually knows what to do with, it is a show that walks in smiling sweetly while carrying a very sharp knife in its handbag.
Show Info
HATER runs at Gilded Balloon Patter House, The Penny, Venue 24, EH1 1HT.
Previews take place from 5–7 August 2026, with performances from 8–31 August 2026, excluding 11, 18 and 24 August. Performances are at 11.00am and the running time is 60 minutes.
The production is produced by Brava Guava, written by Gawa Leung and directed by Megan Brewer, with assistant direction by Esther Ugiri. The cast features Lorraine Yu, JJ Lam and Gawa Leung. Lighting design is by Baysalt Gui.
Content warnings include domestic violence and abuse, sudden shouting, swearing, emotional control, stalking, suicide attempt and racism.
Tickets are available via Gilded Balloon.
https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk
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