Hold onto your codpieces and polish up those podcast microphones — the time-traveling peasants have arrived! If Monty Python ever crash-landed in a PhD seminar on moral philosophy, or if Rosencrantz and Guildenstern stopped pondering and started vlogging, you’d get something delightfully daft like Wenches!.
From the fine (and possibly slightly cursed) minds at Berlin’s Hysterie Theater comes an anarchic adventure where guilt goes meta, virtue signals come with subtitles, and history gets a hysterical remix. Think Dumb and Dumber but with more witches. Think Wayne’s World, but medieval. Think Parks and Rec if Leslie Knope brewed potions and podcasted through the plague.
If you’re a fan of satire that stings while it tickles, Wenches! might just be your favourite new Fringe fever dream. This one’s got time travel, talking heads, and a cauldron-full of chaotic charm.
Onwards, noble jesters — to the Olive Studio!
Berlin based theatre company Hysterie Theater presents their Edinburgh Fringe Premiere comedy theatre show Wenches! at Greenside, running from 1-23 August 2025 at Olive Studio, Greenside @ George Street.
A darkly comedic dive into performative activism, Wenches! is an original satirical play written by Maya Le Roux and Bianca Waechter, and directed by Antonia Reinisch. The play uses the two wenches, who feel guilty about not fighting against their friends’ fiery demise, to explore how virtue signalling takes precedence over action today.
Inspired by Monty Python and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Wenches! blends historical absurdity with modern themes.
The play follows two peasants who find themselves constantly led astray by Bogdana, the local witch, played by Derya Celikkol, who convinces them to adventure across time using their podcast as a tool to save their fellow villagers and themselves.
The performance incorporates farce, video and voiceover throughout to take the audience on the hilarious and doomed journey of Bertegilde (Bianca Waechter) and Nortburga (Maya Le Roux) with sound design by Kyra Le Roux, voiceovers by Christian Intorp, and animations by Aaliyah Lynch.
Written by Maya Le Roux and Bianca Waechter
Performed by Derya Celikkol, Maya Le Roux and Bianca Waechter; Sound design by Kyra Le Roux; Voiceover by Christian Intorp; Animations by Aaliyah Lynch.
In 1423 Berlin, two peasants find themselves at the center of hysteria, hypocrisy and impending doom. How… fun! As the flames of persecution rise, they must decide: will they take a stand or simply watch? A darkly comedic dive into fear, guilt and the price of inaction. Wenches! blends historical absurdity with modern relevance, revealing how easy it is to mistake performance for purpose. Fast-paced, sharp-witted and unapologetically satirical, this play will make you laugh, squirm and go ‘huh?’ But worry not! The wenches are right there with you. It all starts with a step into the woods…
Antonia Reinisch, the director of Wenches! and co-founder of Hysterie Theater, said: “When Maya and Bianca approached me to direct, I was drawn to this piece not just for its wit and satire, but for the invisible ache beneath it – the heartbreak of complicity, the absurdity of progress, and the terrifying ease with which we replace action with performance. I don’t believe this play gives answers. But it demands we sit with the discomfort of our own inaction. And maybe laugh at it.”
Bianca Waechter, the writer of Wenches! and co-founder of Hysterie Theater said: “I’ve wanted to take a show to the Fringe ever since I stumbled across it by accident 10 years ago on a family trip. My artistic soul lit up. The vintage shops, the medieval city, artists from all over the world – It felt magical. When Maya and I began writing this play, I immediately thought: This is the one to take to Edinburgh. – We didn’t know exactly what we were getting into, but we were all in — we even announced it to the world before anything was confirmed. And somehow, here we are. It’s wild, it’s terrifying, and it feels magical.”
Listings
Wenches!
Olive Studio, Greenside @ George Street
The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street, EH2 2PQ
Tickets: £11 / £7
18:25pm-19:20pm
55 mins
Performances: August 1st – August 23rd (except August 10th and 17th)
Scenes of violence, Strobe lighting, Strong language/swearing
Age category: 14+
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/wenches
About the Author
