Lamesha Ruddock
This was my biggest surprise from the Fringe yet. Thanks for Being Here was a deeply heartfelt experience that made me reflect on the offering audiences give by turning up and how energy and genuine presence impacts performances far greater than you realise. It is a collective creation with the very people who make theatre possible.
This is a show dedicated to the audience. A raise-your-glasses moment. It came at the perfect moment in the Fringe, after weeks of bearing witness to messages and performances, as if to say: you matter most of all. The effect was joyous and affirming.
If a tree falls and no one hears it, did it really fall? If a show is performed and the audience are not acknowledged or witnessed, was there ever truly a performance? Thanks for Being Here asks this question with wit and warmth, folding us into its fabric. The show’s themes ripple outwards demanding your presence, attention, community, and the truth that witnesses complete the circle of art.
You peel into the audience, trying to find a seat in this filled-to-the-brim auditorium. You settle and stare out onto a deep stage, a camera on a stand centre stage. The house lights go down, then they come right back up again. You are the show. You have always been the show.
The curtain is drawn, revealing a live projection of the audience looking back at themselves. The camera zooms in, scanning the room, spotlighting faces, whimsical poses, awkward reactions. Laughter ripples through as people cringe, grin, or even pick their noses. The entranceway is streamed too, bearing witness to the people of Edinburgh rushing by: dashing to their next show, walking dogs, even cheekily taunting the lens. Disclaimer: you are being filmed, it is not being recorded.
This is theatre that trusts us completely. To sit with ourselves. To meet strangers. To carve out time from a busy Fringe day to enter the auditorium. To even leave voicemails that become material in the performance.
The ensemble of Karolien De Bleser, Charlotte De Bruyne, Patricia Kargbo and Leonore Spee perform with exquisite empathy, embodying the audience itself. They lip-sync voicemails with precision and care, becoming vessels for our voices. Their generosity and humour create a feedback loop of recognition and connection, reminding us why live theatre endures.
Thanks for Being Here is a toast to those who melt into the darkness when the stage lights are on celebrating the simple act of turning up. The show stands out across the cultural landscape by stripping theatre back to its essence before the 16th century turned to the inside with unhurried presence and acknowledged communion.
You can catch Thanks for Being Here until Sunday 24th at Zoo Southside from 13:45 (75mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake Mace
Jasmine Silk
