Swan Teeth, George Tavern
We continue on with our efforts to bring you at least 100 interviews for shows appearing at this year’s Camden Fringe 2025. We really want to demonstrate the sheer range and quality on offer, and hopefully convince you to go and see a few shows! We’re publishing fresh interviews each and every day of July, all of which you can find here.
Love and heartbreaks are certainly two experiences we’ve all had. Which is prehaps why they appear on stage so regularly. But even though they are such a common theme, it doesn’t mean plays can’t find new and interesting ways to present them. Sofia Bitelli‘s Swan Teeth aims to do just that when it comes to George Tavern for one performance only on 16 August (tickets here).
We caught up with Sofia, along with producer Tatiana Martinez and performers Josephine Moore, Benjamin Finch to ask more abou the show.
What can audiences expect from the show?
Expect a bold, unflinching bite of reality. The show delves into the raw, often painful (yet tragically hilarious) truths of a romance’s breakdown. Asking why some heartbreak wounds leave such lasting scars, and following through all the questions you wish you’d asked after it’s all said and done.
Is Camden Fringe going to be the show’s first time on stage, or have you already performed elsewhere?
Swan Teeth made its debut earlier this year in February running for two nights at the Theatreship, a nonprofit performing arts space onboard a historic ship in the old docks of Canary Wharf. The audience feedback and thoughtful review reflected the nuance and poetic sensibility of the show. Earning four stars from A Youngish Perspective, calling it ‘An entertaining and relatable deepdive into love’s complexities’. And three starts from Binge Fringe, noting it in their review as, ‘Definitely a writer on the pursuit of something great.’
What was your inspiration behind the show?
Sofia: That’s easy, heartbreak. I’m an overthinker and hopeless romantic, and I felt falling in love for the first time and seeing that fizzle out very intensely – it makes you slightly insane. But there’s a beauty in that, and in the chaos, passion and miscommunication of it all. This play is kind of an ode to that whole experience, through which I was able to connect with so many other amazing poets, writers, artists and generally ‘unhinged lovergirls’. Â
How long have you been working on the play?
Sofia: I had been writing poems that became the inspiration for Swan Teeth for around two years prior, the script itself took me three months. It’s interesting how different forms allow you to capture different elements, I think the poems are like emotional capsules but writing a script let me get into conversation – the biting intimacy you have in the way you speak to someone. It was a lot of fun to capture that, and I think it’s the strength of the script and Ben and Jo really understood that from the get go.
Is this version how you originally envisioned it or has it changed drastically since you first put pen to paper?
Sofia: The first draft was much longer. As I was writing I wasn’t too concerned with the practicalities of putting it on, I wanted to see where the writing would take me. But once we got everyone on board for the production I started thinking about it as a Director and Producer. We made edits and changes during the rehearsal process in a collaborative way which really sharpened the show. It was a really lovely creative process and I’m incredibly proud of the final product.
What was it that drew you to this show and role?
Benjamin: Sofia made this amazing online mood-board which I stumbled across on Instagram when a mutual friend put me in touch for the role. After my initial intrigue, her writing hooked me in.
Josephine: I felt drawn to Sofia’s vision immediately, before even hearing the concept fully – some sort of intuition, I suppose. Then, having read a scene from the script, the witty repartee and layered vulnerability solidified this feeling for me. I was intrigued by the concept of placing a relationship under a microscope for dissection.
What is it about your character that you most enjoy?
Benjamin: I enjoy the playfulness! There are moments when I can try to surprise Jo, and the audience too. That feeling of safe unpredictability makes theatre what it is.
Josephine: I enjoy the subtleties of the two characters that I play – their connection; their similarities; their differences. The combination of these roles provide a breadth of emotion, demeanour, and vulnerability for me to explore throughout the story. I particularly enjoy the catharsis that comes from the emotional peak of the play, through an explosion of repressed emotion from each of the characters.
How challenging has this role been for you?
Benjamin: Getting into the nitty gritty with any character is a challenge! But Sofia, Jo, our producer Tatiana and the entire team brought an awful lot of joy along the way.
Josephine: Certain elements have been challenging, in particular the necessary accent work and the subtlety required for expressing emotions that are layered beneath an exterior of self-preservation. But many elements of the role have come naturally, and the work done with our director, Sofia, and the wonderful team of creatives around us, has mitigated the challenges that arise.
What brought you all together?
Tatiana: Sofia first asked me to join the play as a producer. She’s the heart and soul of this show, and thanks to her deep connections within the art world, she quickly rallied a remarkable group of people around the project. Everyone was captivated by the concept – because in some way, we’d all lived it. Supporting the play felt natural; it was something we all believed in.
If you had to describe your show as a meal what would it be?
Tatiana: If I had to describe the show as a meal, it would be a hearty steak – the kind you have to keep chewing, slowly working through it until it finally breaks down in your mouth. That’s exactly what the unraveling of a relationship feels like: a relentless process that wears you down bit by bit, until there’s nothing left.
Many thanks to Sofia, Tatiana, Benjamin and Josephine for taking the time to chat. Swan Teeth will play at George Tavern on 16 August.
