INTERVIEW: A Digital Pint with… Lucie Trémolières, on Community, Cabaret, and Punk-Rock Clowning

Lucie Trémolières steps into the role of a raging, queer, punk clown to scream at fossil fuels, fascists, and microplastics in her upcoming EdFringe cabaret Loose T: Anger is Love X. Serving up laughs, punk tunes, and visceral emotion hot enough to burn the stage down, we caught up with Lucie to dig into this blazing cocktail of a show.

You can catch Loose T: Anger is Love X at studio in C ARTS | C venues | C aquila from August 11th – 24th (not 18th) from 9:30pm (50 mins). Tickets are available online through the EdFringe Box Office.

Callie: Hi Lucie! Could you tell me a bit about what inspired the show and how Loose T came to be?

Lucie: In 2016 I was very angry about Brexit and working the most boring admin job I’ve ever had. As I was queuing to buy hard drives I heard her…BR-BR-BR-BREXIT!!! Loose T. was born!! Fast forward a few years and my friends have convinced me and supported me to do a few gigs. We released an EP in June 2024 on my friend’s non-profit label Pear O’Legs Records. I was turning 30 and the EP release gig had to be the last silly thing of my youth. But it was way too much fun! So now it’s a longer show with more songs and more silliness. 

My inspirations are everywhere. It’s how angry I am at everything and how unable I am to express it in normal life – and the show reflects that, it’s equal parts angry and silly. You can expect punk songs – but from someone who listened to High School Musical as much as The Clash when she was 13. You can expect playfulness and a lot of joy. It’s about reconnecting with how great it is to be a girl (even when you’re not one). 

Callie: I’d love to dive into the process of developing the show – what’s your approach to clowning and cabaret, and how did it all come together? 

Lucie: I had no idea I was a clown but I did a show three years ago (with another character) and professional clowns in the audience asked me what clown school I had gone to. I was very confused!  People kept telling me I was a clown. Then last year I went to see Piotr Sikora’s Furiozo at Underbelly. He is a “punk rock clown” and I was mind-blown – everyone was right! What I do is called clowning and other people do it!! The more I pushed that side of Loose T. the happier I felt with the show. So I went with it. 

Then almost the same thing happened with drag queens who told me that Loose T. was basically drag, which I also didn’t realise. It’s about putting on an identity that allows you to be someone who can be outrageous, ridiculous and beautiful. I think I kept wondering where I fit…and cabaret is where the ones who otherwise don’t fit can always fit. The show is basically a (fake?) concert so cabaret also evolves quite naturally from there. 

Callie: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience?

Lucie: That we’re not alone. I love live performance because that’s what it reminds us of: we go in as separate individuals and we come out as a group that has been through the same journey. I’d love people to feel that togetherness. There’s also this core feeling at the state of the world and the way we’re being actively robbed of our future by a group of insane billionaires and fascists: the play is about that anger, and how it’s rightful, beautiful and shared. The show’s not about turning anger into action – it’s about accepting it and celebrating it before we start the revolution.

Callie: With Edinburgh Fringe 2025 just around the corner, what are you most excited for?

Lucie: Meeting the audience! Coming to the Fringe is a present to myself. I’m coming because I want to shout and dance and sing and share that with people I’ve never met and see how they surprise me with the way they receive what I’ve come to give. I know it’ll be stressful sometimes and it’s very competitive but I’m really planning on enjoying the process. It helps that I’m doing it with my friend Maureen, the director, who I met when I was 4. 

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?

Lucie: Your inner child’s made-up mocktail with juices that are all different shades of pink – grapefruit, pomegranate, grape, tomato… Something that’s bright red but surprisingly sweet. Made with a lot of slightly chaotic love. Refuses to be commodified. 

Remember to catch Loose T: Anger is Love X at studio in C ARTS | C venues | C aquila from August 11th – 24th (not 18th) from 9:30pm (50 mins). Tickets are available online through the EdFringe Box Office.