INTERVIEW: A Digital Pint with… Grace O’Keefe, on Dating Advice, Drag, and Playing Her Own Mother

Playing your own mother on stage is no mean feat – and Grace O’Keefe feels she’s up to the challenge with her upcoming Edinburgh Festival Fringe musical comedy show An A to Z Guide to Dating. Derived from her mother’s self-penned faithful dating advice book, the show takes the form of a one-person musical. We caught up with Grace for a pixelated pint to find out all the best dating tips, and what audiences can expect from the show.

You can catch An A to Z Guide to Dating at Underbelly George Square (Buttercup) from 17:15 (60mins) on August 5–31. Tickets are Available Through the Underbelly Box Office.

Shay: Hi Grace, tell us about creating a show about your Mother and why you have decided to bring this to the stage now?

Grace: This show has been cooking for ages, for years, really since before I was born. The musical is a fairly faithful adaption of my Mom’s bonkers dating advice book, albeit with a twist at the end. While I had been noodling around the idea since 2022, it was only last summer that I recognised the key into the book would be that I played my mother. After that revelation, everything fell into place quite quickly!

Shay: How has the creative process been of putting the show together? Give us an idea of the journey you’ve been on with it so far.

Grace: I started performing the show at scratch nights exactly a year to go and started developing it as a cabaret/drag act that I then further developed at Soho Theatre’s Drag and Cabaret labs. It’s been a wonderful process working on the full show, I began testing out the show in front of small invited audiences in February, rewriting and refining between each outing. The first public WIP was to a sold out crowd at Brighton Fringe, and right now I’m returning from a Brooklyn WIP that has gotten me feeling very excited about the shape the show is in currently.

Shay: What will be the first thing the audience sees, feels, and hears as they enter the space?

Grace: Mommy enters alongside the audience, afterall she wouldn’t miss her daughter’s first solo show and she’s going to try to talk to as much of the audience as possible. If you have any great dating stories, she’ll be sure to needle them out of you while we wait for Grace to arrive!

Shay: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?

Grace: The show takes a fresh look at my Mom’s dating advice, but it’s also a love letter to moms, specifically my Mom who I think is prety amazing. I hope people leave with a deep appreciation for their own mothers and the women in their life. I also hope they find at least one piece of advice that resonates with them– the book is unhinged but suprisingly helpful!

Shay: What journey has the show been on to find itself at EdFringe 2026?

Grace: I am an EdFringe addict, I’ve been every year that I’ve lived in the UK (aside from 2020, however I was due to take up my directorial debut, Bad Teacher that year, written and performed by my now director and the other half of The Queens of Cups, Erin Holland). After Bad Teacher eventually made it in ’22 and ’23 with sold out runs, I took my next show (co-written and performed by my Assistant Director and Dramaturg, Jordana Belaiche) Summoning Sondheim in 2024. Last year, I only came for the last couple weeks to work as an Assistant Producer for BIGHEAD Comedy, so I’m excited to be back for a full run!

Shay: With EdFringe now just around the corner, what are you most excited for?

Grace: It somehow feels as if this is my first year bringing a show, even though it’s actually my fifth. Something about doing a solo show all by myself is daunting but somehow weirdly liberating! Luckily, I’ve been making so many great friends over the years, some of my best friendships were made and solidified in Edinburgh, that I have a great support network who I can’t wait to see.

Shay: 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?

Grace: A Cherry Cosmo, think Sex in the City in 2026 x

A reminder, you can catch An A to Z Guide to Dating at Underbelly George Square (Buttercup) from 17:15 (60mins) on August 5–31. Tickets are Available Through the Underbelly Box Office.

Image Credit: Ian Bowkett