By Grace Hatchell
There are always a few shows at Edinburgh Fringe that you really want to see, but no matter how much you stare at the schedule, shuffle things around and contemplate whether lunch is actually necessary, you simply cannot squeeze them in.
For Theatre Village this year, one of those was Spin Cycle: The Lesbian Launderette Play.
We would have loved to have caught it in Edinburgh, but our increasingly ridiculous Fringe timetable had other ideas. It seems we weren’t the only ones interested, either: Spin Cycle enjoyed a sell-out, multi-award-winning Edinburgh Fringe run, and now the washing machines are being switched back on for a London season at the Lower Marsh Arts Club.
And yes, the entire play takes place in a launderette. Frankly, after some of the locations I’ve found myself in during Fringe season, that sounds positively luxurious.
Written by Zofia Zerphy, Spin Cycle is a snappy two-hander about ex-lovers Kitt and Noel, who unexpectedly find themselves together again beneath the neon lights of a launderette.
With washing machines whirring away around them, past and present begin to collide over the course of a single wash cycle. Memories resurface, feelings haven’t quite gone where they were supposed to go, and the pair are left facing that rather enormous question: is it better to have loved and lost, or never to have loved at all?
There is considerably more tumbling around inside this particular washing machine than romance, though.
The play explores queerness, class, Irish identity and memory, while championing Irish heritage alongside queer and gender non-conforming characters. It comes from London-based Berserk Theatre, founded by queer American-Irish artist Zofia Zerphy and Rhiannon Bell, with Bethan Rose directing.
Rose describes watching the production as almost voyeuristic, with audiences becoming a “fly on the wall” of the launderette as Kitt and Noel’s relationship unfolds.
Perhaps we should have found that extra 55 minutes in Edinburgh after all.
The critics who did manage to fit it into their Fringe schedules were certainly enthusiastic. Spin Cycle picked up five-star reviews from Broadway Baby, A Youngish Perspective, Ed Fringe Review and A Diary for Strangers, with praise ranging from its handling of queer love and memory to its construction and emotional punch.
It is also an Off West End 2026 OffFest award-winner, so its return to London arrives with rather more in the laundry basket than when it headed north for the Fringe.
Spin Cycle: The Lesbian Launderette Play runs at the Lower Marsh Arts Club, 134 Lower Marsh, London, from 30 September to 12 October 2026, excluding 6 October. Performances are at 7pm, with 2pm Saturday performances, and the running time is 55 minutes. Zofia Zerphy plays Kitt alongside Rhiannon Bell as Noel.
So, London, this is your chance to catch one that escaped our Edinburgh Fringe diary.
And Spin Cycle, if you fancy another trip to Edinburgh next year, we’ll try to leave a gap in the wash.
ticket link: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/vaultcreativearts/2390284
website link: https://linktr.ee/berserktheatre
Grace Hatchell
Theatre Village
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