Search

Saved articles

You have not yet added any article to your bookmarks!

Browse articles

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

Ballet, bangers and chaos: GISELLE: REMIX brings queer hedonism to the Fringe

23 Jul 2025

James Macfarlane speaks to the mastermind behind the queer phenomenon that is GISELLE:REMIX

if Matthew Bourne met Leigh Bowery in a club and decided to reimagine Giselle


GISELLE: REMIX reimagines a classic ballet through a queer, genre-bending lens. What drew you to Giselle, and what did you want to explode or subvert in retelling it?

Giselle, as a classical ballet, is well known in ballet circles, but outside of that it’s not really in the cultural mainstream. I wanted to shift the focus from how others harm us to how we harm ourselves – how certain parts of us die and new versions emerge in response. In this retelling, Giselle isn’t an innocent fawn in the woods. The piece moves from a queer utopia into chaos and hedonism, from innocence to raw self-exposure.

Your Giselle is raised on 90s romcoms but finds a very different reality in queer intimacy. How does the show blend pop culture fantasy with the raw, messy truth of queer experience?

Yeah, I say it in the show – I was raised on Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore and Pride and Prejudice, specifically the 90s version. Like many of us, I grew up on that wholesome, idealistic idea of love. Then, as you get older, that fantasy is torn apart. You realise love isn’t simple or linear – it’s messy. And in a queer context, that realisation is even more profound. So the show blends that pop culture fantasy with the raw reality by starting in a queer utopia and descending into queer hedonism.

This show has been described as everything from “dance-theatre” to “warehouse cabaret” to “pop concert odyssey”. For first-time Fringe-goers, how would you explain what they’re about to witness?

The best way I can describe it is: a unique live experience. I remember last year struggling to explain it, because it really doesn’t fit into any one box. It’s not strictly dance, it’s not theatre, it’s not cabaret, or performance art, or gig theatre – but somehow it’s all of those things at once. We’ve described it as what might happen if Matthew Bourne met Leigh Bowery in a club and decided to reimagine Giselle. I’m especially excited for first-time Fringe audiences. This show is chaotic, unboxable and bold, and it makes total sense to bring it to a festival that celebrates exactly that.

The show features a soundtrack ranging from Judy Garland to SOPHIE. How did music help shape the emotional arc and visual style of GISELLE: REMIX?

I wanted tracks that spanned decades but still felt cohesive – The Carpenters, Natalie Cole, Judy Garland, La Roux, SOPHIE. SOPHIE especially was vital – her sound captures everything this show is: beautiful, grotesque, hyperreal. Every song had to earn its place not just individually, but as part of the full sound journey. I’d listen to the entire arc to make sure the energy flowed, that nothing stuck out or stalled the momentum. The music doesn’t just support the show – it is the show.

Beyond the performance, you’re also hosting CLUB GISELLE at the Fringe. How does the party extend the spirit of the show, and what can audiences expect from those nights?

Club Giselle will be a euphoric, messy, joyful space for Fringe pass holders – performers, technicians, volunteers, producers, box office staff, anyone working across the festival. So often people are scattered across venue-specific bars or locked into long hours, and we want to bring everyone together. It’s about creating a space that’s inclusive, flirty, communal, a bit weird – in the best way.

Related to this article: