Em Tambree
At the beginning of this decade, before an unnamed billionaire children author went on a gender-critical crusade, Scotland appeared to be setting the pace for gender equality across the United Kingdom. Advancing progressive reform, producing leading gender studies research at the University of Edinburgh, and preserving generations of queer history through the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive initiative.
Yet, in 2026, Scotland’s internationally renowned queer archive has faced the threat of closure. That an institution safeguarding decades of LGBTQ+ literature and legacy came so close to closing its doors, while trans human rights are legislatively at risk, captures the precarity of Scotland’s current political landscape.
In Transmission, playwright and drag artist Nelly Kelly asks how a nation with such a resilient queer culture has become the fertile ground for an anti-trans movement disguised as patriotism, and how this political shift is complicating the love they have for their country.
Blending DIY cabaret, political theatre, and drag, Kelly introduces Big Jimmy: founder of the Scots Mission, leader of the Freedom Party and one hundred percent Scottish beef. His objective is simple. He’s here to protect yur grannies, defend traditional values, and Make Scotland Cis Again.
With his slogan ‘True Scots for Tradition‘ (T4T, naturally) Big Jimmy embodies the reactionary politician who understands remarkably little about hormonal healthcare yet remains determined to legislate it. When he questions why a woman in her fifties or sixties could possibly need hormones, knowing laughter ripples through the audience, exposing the ignorance beneath his alarmist antics.
Kelly’s writing is ferociously intelligent as it follows anti-trans arguments to their most absurd conclusions. Trans people are obviously building an army in public bathrooms. Drag storytellers are introducing children to polyamory in neighbourhood libraries. Unicorns are merely trans horses, and the furry community is waiting in the wings to turn everyone into cats and dogs the minute gender-affirming care becomes accessible.
The satire is outrageous yet remains frighteningly close to genuine political rhetoric that we see on our screens today. Pre-recorded campaign videos illuminate this reality as tongue-in-cheek pastiches of real world political propaganda indicate Jimmy’s rise to power.
Integrated BSL interpretation receives the same political wit and respect. The interpreter becomes a tokenised identity within Jimmy’s political circus: reluctantly translating his nonsense before being accused of operating as a spy for the trans community. Even Jimmy’s attempt to appear accessible becomes another carefully managed campaign performance, exploiting, misrepresenting and speaking over yet another marginalised community for political gain.
Importantly, BSL interpretation is not confined to a one-off accessible performance but is embedded night after night, with sign woven into the show’s comedy throughout its development. And it shows. This integration cleverly demonstrates the kinship shared between d/Deaf, d/Disabled and trans liberation: neither community and/or culture should have to depend upon conditional diversity for their bodies to be respected and their needs met.
Kelly makes their own needs radically visible throughout the show. They rest on a beanbag between scenes, wear noise-cancelling headphones, stim, and invite us to take a sensory break alongside them as Tunnock’s Tea Cakes pass around the audience. As an autistic artist accustomed to hiding their needs backstage or in public bathrooms, Kelly translates bodily care into part of the production.
Rest does not pause the work. It is the work. Creating a community built upon nurture rather than political ownership.
Within these little loving breaks, Kelly interrupts camp spectacle with soft monologues that bathe us in warm light. These soliloquys wash over us as they speak about loving the church as a child before discovering they weren’t welcome there, meeting trans youths who simply want reassurance that they will be okay, and supporting Scottish independence while feeling alienated from a Scottish nationalism increasingly intertwined with transphobia.
Transmission ultimately refuses to let trans people become weaponised as a fear tactic. Overcoming dysphoria to speak at a moment when trans voices must be heard, or risk being silenced, Kelly uses their own voice in a show for the first time. Their request is not to be saved but for others to stand beside trans people while we learn to speak for ourselves, however imperfectly.
Hilarious, humane and politically razor-sharp, Transmission transforms anti-trans fearmongering into an irresistibly mischievous campaign for collective courage at a time when we need it most. Whilst Kelly is vulnerable about sharing their own story for the first time, I look forward to discovering what Kelly’s astute and sensitive voice might create when it is no longer forced to defend its right to exist. When a trans artists is afforded the freedom to create without the weight of advocacy.
Recommended Drink: A warm, comforting brew from MF Coffee Shop to enjoy alongside your Tunnock’s Tea Cake. Let yourself take a deep breath for a moment or two in the comfort of collective rest.
Performances of Transmission have now concluded at EdFringe 2026.
Lola Rose Wood
Issy Cory
