Boy Crazy, Canal Cafe Theatre
As we hurtle towards the end of July, we’re also drawing our Camden Fringe 2025 interviews to a close. And just in time too, because it means we can turn our attention to actually heading out to see many of the shows we’ve had the pleasure to interview over the month. You can find all our Camden Fringe interviews here and you can then go and book all the wonderful shows here.
With so many of the creatives bringing shows to Camden Fringe fresh out of training, a lot of work we see here started life during their studies. It’s what makes this festival so fresh and vibrant. Madeleine Bloxam‘s Boy Crazy is certainly one of those, having originally begun as part of her final thesis before growing into a full production. So it was our delight to chat with Madeleine to find out how this show turned from that thesis into what will be playing at Canal Cafe Theatre on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 August, tickets available here.
What can audiences expect from the show?
Boy Crazy is a one-woman show about love, longing, and what happens when you spend your whole life trying to be chosen. It’s part comedy and part emotional excavation, stitched together from playground crushes, awkward first kisses, and heartbreak.
Inspired in part by Shakespeare’s Helena (one of literature’s original hopeless romantics), Boy Crazy explores the pressure to have it all by 30, the myth of “cool girl” perfection, and the absurd expectations we place on ourselves in the name of love.
Expect journal entries, pop music, a piñata, and a whole lot of honesty. For anyone who’s ever felt left behind, too much, or not enough – this show is for you.
Is Camden Fringe going to be the show’s first time on stage, or have you already performed elsewhere?
Boy Crazy actually started as a short piece I wrote for my final thesis at LAMDA. I was researching vulnerability and the female voice – drawing from the work of Brené Brown and Patsy Rodenburg – and this piece became the emotional heart of that exploration. The response from classmates and tutors was so encouraging that I knew I had to keep going.
Camden Fringe felt like the perfect space to debut a full-length version; it’s accessible, full of exciting new work, and it gave me a real deadline to aim for. This is a passion project that kept me creatively grounded after graduating and I knew I wanted to bring it back to life.
What was your inspiration behind the show?
I’ve been working on Boy Crazy since early 2024, when it began as a 20-minute solo piece for my thesis at LAMDA.
The inspiration behind Boy Crazy came from a few places. It started with a connection I’ve always had with the character of Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream … this woman who throws herself so unapologetically at someone who doesn’t want her. I started to wonder, what happens when that girl grows up?
At the same time, I was researching vulnerability and voice at LAMDA, digging into the work of Brené Brown and Patsy Rodenburg. I wanted to explore the emotional gap between how women are told to present themselves and how we actually feel.
So the show became this blend of research, personal memory, and imagination. It’s fictional, but it’s stitched together from familiar threads, from first crushes and awkward dances to red flags and the quiet panic of feeling like you’re falling behind.
Is this version how you originally envisioned it or has it changed drastically since you first put pen to paper?
It’s definitely changed from my initial concept! Expanding it from a 20-minute thesis piece meant I had to kill my darlings as they say, to let the story grow into something deeper and more layered. With thoughtful feedback from friends and collaborators along the way, the script has evolved gradually. Every small change has added up over the last year, and it now feels like a fuller, more honest version of the story I set out to tell.
What is it about your character that you most enjoy?
What I love most about Helena is how honest and messy she is. No one’s interrupting her – she finally has the stage, and she’s figuring out how to use it in real time. We see all the different sides of her, from her most self-conscious to her most confident.
How important is audience interaction to you?
Hugely important. Boy Crazy is built on direct address – Helena is speaking to the audience the entire time. She’s aware they’re there; she’s just not totally sure why… or what they want from her. But she’s doing her best to give it to them.
Part of my original research for this piece was about performer vulnerability – how being emotionally open on stage can deepen our impact on an audience, and how to do that sustainably. So that connection isn’t just a theatrical device, it’s the heart of the show.
What is the weirdest or most unconventional prop used in your show?
Inarguably, it’s the man-shaped piñata. The idea popped into my head early in the development process – it felt absurd, a little unhinged, and exactly right. And well… you’ll see what happens.
What’s the most valuable piece of advice you’ve received during your career, and how has it influenced your work on this show?
This wasn’t advice someone gave me, but a quote from Brené Brown I found during my initial research that’s stuck with me: “You measure vulnerability by the amount of courage it takes to show up and be seen, when you can’t control the outcome.” That’s exactly what taking this piece to Camden Fringe has been about: sharing a story that means a lot to me, with no control over how it will be received. And that takes courage. Every single person bringing work to the Fringe is choosing courage over comfort. What a beautiful risk to take.
Boy Crazy plays at Canal Cafe Theatre on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 August.
