REVIEW: Wenches!, Hysterie Theatre, EdFringe 2025 ★★★★★

It’s 1423. You are a German peasant woman who has just watched your best friend be burned at the stake, the most recent of many spuriously-called for executions. Something needs to change – so what do you do? Start a podcast, of course!

Following Wilhelmina’s execution, best friends Bertegilde and Nortberga decide to venture outside of their village and enlist the help of local witch Bogdana in order to hold a seance and apologise to Wilhelmina for not doing anything to save her. At the seance, Wilhelmina possesses Bogdana, and rallies the girls to take action against the unjust executions, giving Bogdana the idea to start a podcast where she allows herself to be possessed by various women from throughout history and talk to the other girls about the injustices that they all face. Yes, they are still in the middle ages, no, I don’t know how they got their podcast mic (or pimple patches, crocs, fake eyelashes, cocaine) – look, Bogdana is a witch, okay? Don’t question it! And the script is so witty and the actors so charming that you won’t want to. But the wenches soon become absorbed in modern social media and consumerist society, and begin to forget why they started the podcast in the first place.

Don’t worry, it isn’t all silliness and no substance. Ultimately, Wenches! is an unapologetically fantastical and tongue-in-cheek satire about performative activism and the ease with which we can ignore our complicity in socio-political issues in the social media age. Commenting on apathy, overconsumption, and performativity, this is an absolute hidden gem of a production.

The script is absurd, witty, and guaranteed to coax a laugh out of even the most resistant of audience members. The performers attack their roles with determination, charisma, and mountains of chemistry. They are a perfect team, each willing to support one another to get the biggest laugh, providing unselfish and supportive performances that allow one another to shine throughout the production. Technically, the production is strong, using lighting and sound not only to create atmosphere and context, but also for gags, such as Bogdana’s emotional monologue being cut off by a blackout. The use of projection really tips this production over the edge from excellent to exceptional, showing ridiculous clips of Bertegilde and Nortberga going the wrong way while creeping through the woods, and staring down Bogdana’s Ring doorbell in fear when they first approach her. 

This might not be the most polished production that you’ll find at the Fringe, but that isn’t always what you want, and if you are looking for a lighthearted, artistic, genuinely enjoyable and well put together production, then you’ve hit the jackpot.

Wenches! is deeply silly, riotously satirical, and incapable of taking itself seriously. An absolute must see for anyone who loves bonkers comedy with a point of view.

Drinks recommendation: A Blank Street blueberry matcha (with oat milk) – I think the wenches would like it.

You can catch Wenches! at Olive Studio at Greenside from 1st to 23th August (not 10th or 17th) at 18:25 (55 mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.