- Running Monday 2 – Saturday 14 February in Soho Theatre Upstairs.
- 24 shows and a showcase staged across 2-weeks
- Featuring past and present participants of Soho Theatre Labs programmes, including: Stand-Up; Character, Cabaret & Drag; Comedy Plus; Cabaret & Drag Plus; Writers’ Lab, Edinburgh Lab and Maker’s Lab.
2026 marks 10 years of Soho Rising Festival, spotlighting rising stars from Soho Theatre’s renowned Labs programme. The Labs are an industry-leading talent development programme that nurtures hundreds of ambitious creatives every year, providing space, support and expertise for emerging artists to hone their craft and make work that resonates.
This year, Soho Rising brings together an exciting mix of theatre-makers, comedians, cabaret performers and drag artists, each presenting an hour-long show that reflects the vibrancy and diversity of today’s performance scene. The Labs programme consists of Comedy: Stand-Up, Comedy: Character, Cabaret & Drag, Writers’ Lab, Edinburgh Lab, and Cabaret & Drag: Plus and Comedy: Plus, for comedians and artists with 30+ gigs already under their belt. The line-up will also include a showcase from current participants of Makers’ Lab, one of Soho Theatre’s new 2025 Labs programmes for emerging artists creating multidisciplinary work in non-traditional ways.
Artists supported by Soho Theatre Labs regularly go on to reach new heights across the UK and internationally, earning acclaim at major festivals and venues. Soho Rising offers audiences the chance to discover them first.
Artists in this year’s Soho Rising Festival are (in order of appearance): Alice Wordsworth & Joe Young, Diana Feng, Fatima Serghini, Genevieve Sabherwal, Kathryn Bond, Mikey Bligh-Smith, Shafeeq Shajahan & Vasilis Konstantinides, Simi Roach, Shona Babayemi & Demi Wilson-Smith, Dom McGovern, Alvin Liu, Caroline Regan, Martha Pailing, Holly Gifford, Ollie West, Benji Waterhouse, David Hoskin, Hadsan Mohamud, Jessica Durant, Theodora Van Der Beek, Rea Dennhardt Patel, Kathrine Payne, Aisha Amanduri & Hasan Al-Habib, Laurie Stevens, Alex Bertulis-Fernandes, Alex Prescot, Rosie Yadid, Hannah Samuel-Ogbu, Bronagh Leneghan & Mojola Akinyemi, Alana Jackson, Frances Keyton, Marty Gleeson & Su Mi, Charis King, and Jordana Belaiche.
Previous Soho Rising alumni include Archie Maddocks, Frankie Thompson, Jack Rooke, The Lol Word, Megan Prescott, Toussaint Douglass, Naomi Denny, Natasha Marshall, Lorna Rose Treen, Sadie Clark, Sami Abu Wardeh, Sikisa, Temi Majekodunmi, and Yolanda Mercy.
Jessica Draper, Head of Creative Engagement at Soho Theatre says:
‘Soho Rising is a fortnight-long celebration of the extraordinary talent emerging from our Labs. Each year our Upstairs Studio becomes a home for artists whose craft, imagination and fearlessness have already begun to make waves across the scene, and this year’s line-up is no exception.
We’re thrilled to showcase a range of new work from our alumni – artists who are shaping the future of comedy, theatre, cabaret and drag, and offering audiences the chance to experience groundbreaking voices at a pivotal early moment in their journeys. And for the first time, we’re proud to include extracts from our inaugural Makers’ Lab cohort, a unique development programme supporting multidisciplinary artists working in bold and non-traditional ways.
With past editions launching work such as Jack Rooke’s Good Grief, Fran Bushe’s Ad Libido, Séayoncé, Lorna Rose Treen’s Skin Pigeon, Sikisa’s Life of the Party, Flicker and Really Good Exposure, Soho Rising continues to be a vital platform for the next generation of innovative storytellers and performers. At Soho Theatre, we remain committed to nurturing fresh, original and compelling voices – and we can’t wait to see where these artists go next.’
LISTINGS
THEATRE, CABARET, COMEDY
MAKERS’ LAB SHOWCASE
Mon 2 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
7.15pm
Come see extracts of eight exciting, genre-bending and powerful new shows created as part of our brand-new flagship talent development programme: Makers’ Lab. Over the last eight months, ten up-and-coming artists have created eight hour-long shows that play with the intersection between different artforms – comedians, theatre-makers, drag performers, puppeteers and more. This performance will showcase eight formally inventive, fun & punchy stories which will take you on a journey from Japanese myth to Apartheid South Africa, from Bollywood to Hammersmith, from comedy & cabaret to shadow puppetry.
THEATRE
BOXES
By Shona Babayemi & Demi Wilson-Smith
Tue 3 – Wed 4 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
6.45pm
One woman clings to a box from her past as the world tilts and sweeps shelter from her feet. Fleeting friendships, custard creams, UK Garage, posh wine and the power of pounded yam keep her afloat. Chance encounters and the quiet magic of everyday survival lead to a hair salon where life – and the box – crack open. ‘Boxes are usually really disappointing. But no, not this one.’
COMEDY
DOM MCGOVERN: STUNS IN NEW PHOTO (WIP)
Tue 3 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
8.30pm
Stuns in New Photo is the work-in-progress show from award-entering comedian Dominic McGovern (Chicken Shop Date co-writer, BBC New Comedy Awards, Melbourne International Comedy Festival). Join Dom as he refuses to engage with any form of self-acceptance and instead yaps at you for 55 minutes about rock climbing, Miss Piggy, and the TV show Glee. Tour support for Sophie Duker and Olga Koch.
COMEDY
ALVIN LIU: SAKE KATANA
Wed 4 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
8.30pm
Sake Katana the Fastest Sword in Japan, Lost in Western Lands. A warm and mischievous comedy about honour, identity and very Western problems. He must learn strange new customs, find love and friendships, and prove he’s still the fastest sword in the country.
COMEDY
CAZZ REGAN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BAND
By Caroline Regan
Wed 4 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
10.15pm
Meet Honourabelle Mention, a sharp-tongued scullery maid who accidentally discovers the magic hidden in music and decides to swap the broom stick for the mic stand. She is now on a mission to spread the songs of the Band (no, not the one you know). An adventure through witty parodies that is chaotic, charming and guaranteed to leave you humming.
THEATRE
CHAT SH*T GET HIT
By Martha Pailing
Thu 5 – Fri 6 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
6.45pm
What if your anger just simmers underneath? If it never quite reaches boiling point, but it’s present, burning your insides. Combining spoken word, football chants, live art and theatre, Chat Sh*t, Get Hit dives into women’s anger: how it fuels, how it festers and how it is swallowed. A funny and uncompromising show about recovery, solidarity and the suppression of women’s rage.
THEATRE
BIG LITTLE SISTER
By Holly Gifford
Thu 5 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
8.30pm
Big Little Sister is a darkly funny and emotionally sharp solo play about growing up in someone else’s shadow- when that someone is your sibling with disabilities. The show cuts through the clichés of ‘inspirational’ disability-adjacent sibling narratives. Through surrealist storytelling, monologue, and multimedia- including dialogue voiced by her brother’s communication aid. Inspired by the term ‘glass children’ used to describe the ‘invisible’ siblings who grow up in the background of siblings with additional needs, Big Little Sister asks: what happens when the glass finally cracks?
Born from Holly’s lived experience, the show challenges the people and systems who benefit from sanitising or silencing the real stories around disability and care. It is a tribute- to growing up alongside someone profoundly different, and to the defiant joy stitched through the seams of grief, guilt, and fierce love.
COMEDY
OLLIE WEST: DISCOVERY (WIP)
Thu 5 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
10.15pm
A caveman steps on stage and tries to understand everything. The world. The audience. Himself. Every discovery is fragile, ridiculous, and stupid. From award-nominated comedian and Gaulier-trained clown Ollie West, Discovery is a surreal, interactive, and deeply stupid journey through human curiosity. A live experiment in play, failure, and connection — a reminder that discovery only happens once, together
COMEDY
BENJI WATERHOUSE: MADDENING
Fri 6 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
8.30pm
Psychiatrist, comedian and best-selling author Dr Benji unlocks the doors to the psych ward with Maddening. Following a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Festival, expect stand-up, book readings and an audience Q&A (your best chance to speak to an NHS psychiatrist without the 12-month wait)
COMEDY
A HAUNTED HOUSE
By David Hoskin
Fri 6 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
10.15pm
In a dark, dark house on a dark, dark street, a house of horrors wakes from sleep. Mime and physical comedy performer David Hoskin presents a hysterical, terrifying, and surreal tale about one hair-raising night in a haunted house. On a tour of a spooky old mansion, silly vignettes and strange time loops reveal murder, memory loss, and dancing zombies. It’s like spending the night with the League of Gentlemen and Jacques Tati in a Hammer horror film.
THEATRE
CRUSH
By Hadsan Mohamud
Sat 7 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
3pm 6.45pm
JanFirst returns with Crush – a double sell out hit by emerging new writer Hadsan Mohamud. A clinic waiting room. Two Somali teens. One awkward meet-cute. Najma has been in treatment for years. Zakariya’s just starting out. She sketches. He writes poems. Neither of them is ready to talk. Until they meet each other. As their sessions continue, so do the chats. And the jokes. And the secrets. Crush is a tender, funny and honest story about identity, connection and the messy path to healing.
COMEDY
JESSICA DURAND: OVER THE TOP
Sat 7 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
8.30pm
One woman’s love letter to fanfiction, and all the hot nerdy freaks who read and write it. Join Jessica Durand as she very bravely stages her very own self-insert Downton Abbey World War One fanfiction for a live audience
*No prior knowledge of Downton Abbey (or WWI) is required. Directed by Rowan Ellis Produced by Tazmyn-Mei Gebbett.
COMEDY
THEO VAN DER BEEK: MR CREEP
Sat 7 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
10.15pm
Following its award-winning Edinburgh run, Mr Creep is a dark, unhinged and sharply funny dive into the uncomfortable beige leather shoes of a man we all recognise, but wish we didn’t.
Meet Martin, the creep lurking in the shadows. Familiar yet alien, ‘harmless’ but predatory, comical but unsettling – he refuses to avert his gaze or listen to what you want. His fingers are all thumbs and he eats processed meat straight out of the packet, endlessly. With her trademark blend of dark comedy, lo-fi theatricality, and razor-edged critique, Theodora van der Beek invites us into Martin’s world—where sinister, retro nostalgia meets the cursed manifestations of our modern internet brains. Through him, she plays a game of consent with herself, unmasking the mechanics of sexual predation and society’s quiet complicity.
A provocative pull down the seedy rabbit hole that is Mr Creep, daring us to stop pretending he’s not there. Winner of the Birds of Paradise Emerging Talent Award 2025.
THEATRE
THE UNDYING
By Rea Dennhardt
Mon 9 – Tue 10 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
6.45pm
When Amba buys a pill called TwiceLifeTM that reduces human age each time it’s taken, her husband refuses to swallow. Until newer, younger Amba’s quest for personal fulfilment sets off a chain reaction… Should they go bigger, better, higher the next time around? Or simply avoid old mistakes? And is their solution the ultimate declaration of eternal love? The Undying is a play about losing and finding yourself again … About how we make ourselves and each other… What would you do if you could do it all again?
COMEDY
2 MUSLIM 2 FURIOUS: SHARIA? I HARDLY KNOW HER!
With Aisha Amanduri & Hasan Al-Habib
Mon 9 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
8.30pm
After a two time sell-out Edinburgh Fringe and raising over £8000 for Medical Aid for Palestinians- Aisha Amanduri (Runner-up Bath Comedy Fest. New Act Award) and Hasan Al-Habib (winner B’ham Comedy Fest. Breaking Talent Award 2023) return! Expect gameshows, sharp-wit and EDL (extremely deafening laughter).
COMEDY
LAURIE STEVENS: DAVID’S ONE-MAN BAND (F*CK YOU, STEVEN)
Tue 10 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
8.30pm
Emo teen David is a poet, a philosopher, a musical genius. And he’s here to headline Sticky Floors – the coolest under 16s band night in the Bay Area. But when his bandmate doesn’t show, will he handle himself with a sense of poise and rationality? This coming-of-age character comedy with live music is a nostalgia bomb of teenage awkwardness – from angsty poetry, to failed flirtations, to the perils of wearing black layers during a heatwave. It’s a silly, sweet exploration of how teenage boys communicate when, like, words are hard.
THEATRE
PLEWDS
By Kathrine Payne
Wed 11 – Thu 12 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
6.45pm
A cocky gay clown in therapy.
A clueless detective.
An X-Factor sob story.
Pop culture and queer drama drama drama collide against a rainbow backdrop. A surreal, fast-paced and darkly funny exploration of a queer relationship gone bad. Blending clowning, drag and a subversive take on the trauma-parading solo show, plewds is about the lengths we’ll go to avoid what’s right in front of us, in a story where the villains don’t look like villains. Being queer is the best, right?
COMEDY
ALEX BERTULIS-FERNANDES: MAY FIND DISTRESSING (WIP)
Wed 11 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
8.30pm
Alex Bertulis-Fernandes (British Comedy Guide Pro Award Winner, Channel 4 Sean Lock Award Finalist, BBC New Comedy Awards Nominee) presents an hour about the worst year of her life (so far). Longlisted for the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer and shortlisted for the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Joke of the Fringe. Warning: This show contains content you may find distressing. If you don’t, you have a cold, cold heart. Previous subjects discussed include (in order of popularity): dating, dogs, death, body image, sexual harassment and suicide. It’s gonna be a riot.
COMEDY
ALEX PRESCOT: COSY
Thu 12 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
8.30pm
Join comedy equivalent of sunshine Alex Prescot for a delightful debut hour that’s tailor-made for each audience. Expect a warm and fuzzy blend of joyful musical comedy and quick-witted improvisation. Don’t expect his notably absent double-act partner.
CABARET
ROSIE YADID: MIMI (WIP)
Thu 12 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
10.15pm
Dust off your spats and settle in for a timeless love/ghost story. Rosie Yadid – cabaret queen, burlesque clown and ‘power packing chanteuse’ (TimeOut New York) – presents the high flying antics of a vaudeville legend who will not be forgotten.
In recounting the life of his late wife, Mimi, Chayim Solonely tells of the greatest star who’s ever lived. From humble beginnings as a nickel swallowing, tap dancing orphan turned child star, to rubbing shoulders with the mob in Manhattan’s shadiest speakeasies, to the dizzying heights of Hollywood’s notorious studio sets… nobody did it quite like Mimi. But what makes a life worth remembering? What does it mean to be a STAH!?
In her debut solo hour, Rosie Yadid combines burlesque, musical theatre, storytelling and clown in this bittersweet love song to unsung divas and lyrical exploration of Jewish archetypes. Mimi is a surreal surrender to foolish love that’s nostalgic, naughty, silly and striking.
THEATRE
CARA AND KELLY ARE BEST FRIENDS FOREVER FOR LIFE
By Mojola Akinyemi
Fri 13 – Sat 14 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
6.45pm
Cara and Kelly are best friends, soul mates even. It’s 2013. They’re 14 and in the prime of their lives! Kelly is smashing it on the netball team. Cara is certain that love is blossoming with her crush. Most importantly, they’re gonna be besties forever. But everything starts to go wrong when a new face arrives. Things that once seemed certain are no longer quite so clear. Cara and Kelly, who’ve never had to doubt each other before, start to question how far they’re willing to go for their friendship.
COMEDY
ALANA JACKSON: LAST ORDERS
Fri 13 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
8.30pm
Alana Jackson, winner of So You Think You’re Funny? 2024 brings her debut show Last Orders to Soho theatre, after a sell-out run at the Edinburgh fringe. Tales of being from Glasgow, moving to London, going to drama school and working/drinking in pubs, Alana tells all, bringing to life the characters she’s met along the way. Fest magazine described the show as ‘rich in charisma and wit’ with one4review adding ‘the show was a hoot from start to finish, the sell-out audience were kept laughing all the way through.’
COMEDY
WHAM BAM THANK YOU MAM!
With Frances Keyton, Marty Gleeson & Su Mi
Fri 13 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
10.15pm
Behold! This is, WHAM BAM THANK YOU MAM! This absurdist trio of award-winning comedians brings you an hour of off-the-wall stand-up and sketch comedy through the Welsh, Irish and Malaysian perspective. Expect nothing short of absolute mayhem, exciting punches and rolling variation delivered with confidence and a resounding joy. Marty is magically surreal, Frances is way too open about her private life, and Su is…simply indescribable. Each give their take on navigating life as a thirty-something goofball, through storytelling, visual aids and character comedy, along with some ukulele, violin and bodhrán accompaniment. Their love of comedy and of each other shines through in this show. Come with your mates and make three more!
THEATRE
WUMMY
Written and performed by Charis King
Sat 14 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
8.30pm
Charis King’s multi-award-winning debut play — Wummy — is a whirlwind one-woman comedy about a wannabe yummy mummy manifesting it all. Wummy is broke, flat-sharing and craving luxury. Her dream? A Chelsea townhouse, husband, baby, nanny and most importantly – a bin hidden within a kitchen island. Wummy attempts to manifest her dream life, but the universe throws her an unexpected, cosmic curveball.
Written and performed by Charis King – Wummy is a brutally funny look at the absurdities of modern ambition and the fine line between manifesting and delusion.
Direction and dramaturgy by Octavia Gilmore.
COMEDY
LITTLE LORD FONDLEROY: AMO, AMAS, AMAT & ALL THAT!
Sat 14 Feb
Soho Theatre – Upstairs
10.15pm
Little Lord Fondleroy is a saccharine nightmare in velvet and lace, whose cherubic curls and perfect manners provide foolproof cover for his constant yearnings- primarily for poetry, pleasure, head boys and complete theatrical chaos. In this riotous hour, whirl through a formative annus eroticus at Flippitts Darstardly Boarding School for Badly Behaved Boys, where forbidden desires flourish amidst a sadistic culture of cruelty cultivated by prefects and masters alike. Here, Fondleroy discovers that masculinity and Empire are stitched together by caning, cunning and carefully repressed desire. Can he retain his innocent charm and boyish over-generosity while the forces around him attempt to stamp all that soppy, frilly, froppy feeling out of him?
Enter a world of boarding-school heartbreak, homoerotic hijinks, and imperial intrigue. Fusing drag, theatre and music, this hilariously subversive show rips open hidden histories to reveal the queer desires that have always been lurking beneath.