REVIEW: Very Cheap, Fat and Dumb, EdFringe 2026 ★★★★

A raw and vivid explanation of what it means to sell yourself.

Very Cheap is the third piece in the “Very” Trilogy by Polish artists Fat and Dumb and explores the fascinating parallels between sex work and working as an artist. The two explore the history of sex work in art, their limited representation and how they are represented, while analysing what it means to sell yourself as an artist alongside.

Both careers involve selling yourself, whether it be your soul or your body. The show is a multimedia experience that is partially in English and partially in Polish with English subtitles, bridging cultures and celebrating what it means to sell yourself.

Very Cheap is an incredibly raw and real show from the two performers, and proves itself to be incredibly meta, dissecting the creation of the show, and their artform as a whole. The show features historic images of women, women who could have been sex workers. Their body and soul is laid bare for the art. These merge with recorded footage of zoom calls, phone calls, documents and scripts: all the elements of building the show, and the struggle of doing so.

Very Cheap so closely and vividly analyses the link between art, sex, and capitalism, and in these moments, we see the financial struggles that come with baring your soul and sharing your work. The performers, Patrycja Kowańska and Dominika Knapik, are baring their souls to the audience throughout: they are vulnerable, they are showing us truly what it takes to be an artist. 

At times the play feels unpolished, and though occasionally this was the intention and works well, there were moments that feel as if the performers were reading the script off of their laptops, sometimes taking us out of the moment. Overall, Very Cheap lands more like to a TEDxTalk, while feeling like a late night cabaret in a basement gay bar in other places, and it would have been nice to see both of these aspects refined.

Towards the end of the piece, Fat performed an old polish song known as The Willow Song which had been translated into English. Towards the end of the song, she poured fake tears onto her face, performing her emotions as she sings. She then took the little bottle of Fat Tears and auctioned it off to the audience. This, for me, was one of the greatest moments of the show, selling her art, her emotions, her soul, in the most literal way she can.

Fat and Dumb have created an analysis of the soul with this show. A mixed media, bilingual beauty that delves into the art of the self.

Recommended Drink: Sharlotka, mixed with Fat’s tears

Very Cheap has now concluded performances at EdFringe.