INTERVIEW: A Digital Pint with… Tatienne Hendricks-Tellefsen, on ‘Un-Self-Awareness’, Sexting, and Spiralling Out of Control

Horny for the End of the World has landed in Edinburgh with three missed calls and an unwelcome ‘U Okay?’ waiting on every messaging app from exes you forgot to block. Unpacking past relationships, pandemic pains, and all the private philosophies we construct to get ourselves through it all. Switching our phone to do not disturb, we sat down for a pixelated pint with Tatienne Hendricks-Tellefsen to giggle and gossip about this unashamed inferno of feminist satire-comedy.

You can catch Horny for the End of the World in theSpaceUK@Surgeons’ Hall – Stevenson from August 1st – 22nd (not 10th, 17th) starting at 23:15 (40 mins). Tickets are available online through the EdFringe Online Box Office.

Callie: Tell us about your show’s journey from creation to ending up at the EdFringe stage.

Tatienne: The show has lived many lives. I wrote the first draft during the early days of the COVID lockdown, intending it to be a piece of live theatre. But then I was like… “Well, shit. When is theatre happening again?” So I adapted it into an experimental short film and shot it in spring 2021. Of course, right after filming, theatres reopened in New York. I put it on hold until early 2024, when my collaborator and director, Musa Gurnis, helped me dig it back up and find a venue. We rehearsed entirely in her apartment — while she was violently ill. I spent the whole process performing to one (very encouraging, very nauseous) woman who kept pausing me because I made her laugh too hard and it triggered her gag reflex.

We sold out our two-night run at a loft theatre in Brooklyn. After that, I was basically on call — they’d text on a Tuesday asking if I could perform on Friday, like some sad theatrical booty call. Fringe felt like the natural next step. It’s also the perfect show to bring to Fringe: I’m the only performer, the set is highly portable (my cousin and I built a slip-cover that turns our suitcases into a fuzzy pink ottoman), and it’s a truly chaotic, girly-pop ride through heartbreak, delusion, and obviously the apocalypse.

Callie: Tell us about the inspiration behind your show and why you think its themes are relevant to an audience in 2025. Think – why am I telling this story now? Who will it connect with?

Tatienne: I wrote this play after I was dumped right before the pandemic — dumped is generous. This particular boy wasn’t decisive enough to dump me. He broke my heart, and then I was stranded at my parents’ house for months, spiraling hard. He was all I wanted to talk about.

The early pandemic was terrifying. We had no answers. We were told to stay inside so we wouldn’t accidentally kill people. I remember thinking, “Okay, this might be it, this might be the end.” But I was way too busy thinking about boys to acknowledge what was happening. I knew I was obsessing, but I couldn’t stop. It was easier to focus all my energy on a failed two-month situationship than to face something real. People use relationships as distractions from what’s really important. It’s human. Even if most of us have a bit more self-awareness than Ebeth, Horny‘s delusional anti-heroine.

Honestly, this play feels even more relevant now. We still live in constant fear — climate disaster, World War III, political chaos. Social media tells women we should be perfect: beautiful, productive, able to do our own hair and read nonfiction. It’s impossible. People are messy. They don’t know themselves. I want audiences to laugh — but also to see themselves in Ebeth. She’s not a hero. She’s drunk a ton of pick-me Kool-Aid. But she’s also a person capable of growth and worthy of love.

Callie: Tell us about how the show has ended up being performed at Surgeons’ Hall, and about your relationships with the other creatives involved.

Tatienne: My director, Musa Gurnis, and I met during a summer course at RADA. I’d just finished college and was mostly working in film; she was an English professor and early modern theatre scholar — extremely fun, and a fantastic drinking buddy. Years later, she’s enthusiastically directing me through how to show a squeamish audience a flaccid dick-pic in the funniest way possible.

Musa brought in John Gould Rubin (former co–artistic director of LAByrinth with Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his company, The Private Theatre, who are executive producing our Edinburgh run. John’s been incredibly kind and encouraging — the energy has been, “Take the keys and have fun.” The last time Private Theatre was at Fringe, it was with Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, so… no pressure.

I’m performing Horny at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall. Fringe felt overwhelming at first, but then Musa and I went to Edinburgh Fringe artist-run happy hour in NYC, got drunk-coached by an angel stranger, and applied. theSpaceUK made it easy. They’ve been communicative and incredibly supportive, and the courtyard bar at our venue stays open after our very late show, which helps.

Callie: Now that we’re in the midst of Fringe season, what are you most excited for?

Tatienne: I’m really excited about some of the street promotion ideas Musa’s come up with. I don’t want to give too much away… but I will anyway. Let’s just say there are balloon harnesses, apocalyptic body signs, and ball gags involved. I can’t wait to see what sticks and what people respond to most.

I’m also in a very “I’m here to make friends” mentality. I want to meet other artists, see as many shows as I can, and connect with like-minded weirdos. That’s the spirit of Fringe am I right?

Callie: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?

Tatienne: For our run in Brooklyn we had a prop bottle of flavored vodka (raspberry Svedka). Musa and I dumped it out so I wasn’t literally chugging vodka on-stage…bummer. But in the waste-not-want-not tradition of Brooklyn Loft Theatre we turned it into a specialty cocktail we could sell at the bar! ‘Dumb Bitch Juice’ is a rebranding of the Kool Aid that women are force-fed every hour of our instagram and TikTok soaked lives. For anyone who feels like giving it a try, here’s the recipe!

2 ounces flavored Vodka
2 ounces pink lemonade
Prosecco float (acceptable substitution: rose champagne)

Don’t forget to catch Horny for the End of the World in theSpaceUK@Surgeons’ Hall – Stevenson from August 1st – 22nd (not 10th, 17th) starting at 23:15 (40 mins). Tickets are available online through the EdFringe box office.