REVIEW: Fempaths: Transistor Radio Hour, EdFringe 2026 ★★★★★

A stage overflowing with musical instruments and set pieces – a half-deflated blow-up rooster (cock), an old-fashioned silver radio, an oversized heart… – and FEMPATH’s pre-recorded voice describing the scene as real-time FEMPATH aka Mari Moriarty and her band take their seats. Whilst this is a brilliant way of making the show more accessible, it also perfectly sets up what we’re about to experience. And Moriarty really has created an experience.

Over the course of an hour, she takes her audience to the highest highs and lowest lows with songs created with real voices from trans history, activism and culture. From a number called Throat Goat (yes, it does involve phallic objects) to a love letter written by Moriarty’s late grandfather (this one does not), this show is a lyrical and vocal masterclass that will have you raging, sobbing and howling with laughter.

Once FEMPATH and her two brilliant musicians – Carolina Lopez Del-Nero on cello and Bebhinn Todd on sax & flute – have been introduced we’re off. One of the first songs has lyrics made up of a 12-year-old trans kid’s speech to their school board about not being able to use either bathroom; they say the other kids don’t care about their genitalia but about how they look and yet the adults have very different priorities. It’s a perfect introduction to Moriarty’s style of songwriting; it is clear these songs come from honest and emotional places. They’re not designed to be pretty (though some of them really are) but to deliver a message, a feeling. Not one number is half-hearted, not a moment wasted.

We meet the aforementioned Throat Goat, experience a live musical tarot reading, a song about exes featuring audience interactions as well as an introduction by Moriarty’s husband. But we also hear the words of trans icons Marsha P. Johnson and Kim Petras, a sexual assault report that went nowhere and reports of Moriarty’s suffering from a debilitating heart condition.

The most harrowing and powerful song is an homage to the song Cabaret from the iconic musical of the same title. ‘What good is sitting…’ FEMPATH sings over and over again but interrupts herself with headlines reporting transphobia as well as reports from her own life that lead to her decision to leave the US. It’s an emotionally and vocally powerful performance that fills the entire room, demanding your attention. With impeccable precision and raw vulnerability Moriarty will let you know exactly what it feels like to be trans at this moment in time.

As the end of the show draws near, she wipes her make-up off, removing any final aspect of performance and leaving behind herself in a narrow spotlight in an otherwise dark room. She says thank you. Thank you thank you thank you… despite the horrors she has shared with us she is grateful, she is glad to be alive, to be here. After the fast-paced ups and downs of the past hour this moment of utter simplicity and vulnerability cements this show as the masterpiece it is, a must-see for trans and cis people alike.

Recommended Drink: A shot of vodka. A shot of something. Just make sure it’s strong.

You can catch Fempaths: Transistor Radio Hour at Dexter @ Underbelly, Bristo Square August 5-30 (not 17) at 20:45 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Box Office.