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Kinder

 
Salvador Kent Review by Salvador Kent 5 Published: 3 Jun 2026 A Studio Rubín Show Dates: 26 May 2026-29 May 2026

The use of drag as an artform is astonishing in Kinder; an exhilarating tract on the relationships between language, gender and how it is best taught. This enthralling hour is my pick of Prague Fringe.

An astonishing use of drag in an hour of immensely engaging theatre

Kinder, a play on words, uses the German word for children while also invoking its English meaning through its subject matter. The artist of the hour is Goody Prostate – a sexy, hilarious riff on a German kellner who is likeable, outrageous and immensely watchable. They would be a great drag act if here for drag alone, but as Stewart peels back their layers the show transforms into something working on multiple levels.

Various protests have condemned the idea of a 'Drag Queen Story Hour', where a drag performer reads a bedtime story to children, often in a theatre, an art gallery or a library. In the UK, they were particularly documented by the media through 2022–23 when protests were spearheaded by popular right-wing commentators. Ryan Stewart's premise, then, of Goody Prostate preparing a performance for that evening only to find out it is a story hour for children, is already intensely charged with political resonance. It is really a feat, then, that Stewart uses it only as a point of origin, as the play expands into a wider theoretical conversation centred around the complexities and ultimate suppression of German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld.

Where Stewart most greatly succeeds is that despite the deeply resonant and complex political foundations of their work, it is still utterly light, utterly entertaining. When it probes, it probes our heart first, creating a space that is nothing short of an empathy machine. Gender is so often framed by conservatives as either a niche queer issue or a simple matter not worthy of discussion. Kinder shows, not tells, why it is a conversation we must have amongst all people, regardless of how we might identify. Hirschfeld concluded that gender exists on an infinite spectrum almost one hundred years ago. Kinder doesn't ask us to reach the same conclusion, but it does show us that the conversation is necessary and that it is necessary to educate children about the possibilities present in their lives. To show them acceptance rather than instil in them the echoes and prejudices of nuclear families.

Ultimately, we are all the children we were with our same prejudices and assumptions. An hour of riotously entertaining, deeply moving theatre can go some way to recontextualise issues, to make us see ourselves and our world anew. Kinder is such an hour. Through Stewart's own physical transformation, we are invited to transform too. It is meta, it is a laugh and it deserves all superlatives. Do catch it this August in Edinburgh.

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The Blurb:

After a multi-award-winning, critically acclaimed premiere at Edinburgh Fringe 2025, Goody Prostate makes their highly anticipated and wholly unasked for debut at Prague!   When an unexpected call from a local library derails the headline performance of newly arrived drag artist Goody Prostate, they must race against the clock to pull off a new number in time. But in scrambling together a new act for a crowd of unruly children and their parents, they spiral into a chaotic interrogation of stories, memory, and an overdue examination of what it means to 'grow up'.   The library is open. So sit down and be quiet. Because sometimes, reading is what? Fundamentalist.   WINNER The List's Best LGBTQIA+ Edinburgh Fringe Show WINNER Corr Blimey Edinburgh Fringe Top Goose WINNER Adelaide Fringe Awards 2025 WINNER Melbourne Fringe Awards 2024 NOMINATED Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence 2025   ★★★★★ (The List UK/Theatre Weekly/Binge Fringe/SeeDoEat Review/A Youngish Perspective/What's the Show) Buy tickets 26.05. 21:30 – 22:30 27.05. 21:30 – 22:30 29.05. 18:45 – 19:45 Age Accessibility 18+ Language Advanced English Venue A Studio Rubín Add to My Calendar Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su 22232425262728