Deanna Strasse on Dead Doves and Lemons OR Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Fan Fiction (but were too afraid to ask)
After the success of our 2025 Camden Fringe Interviews, we thought it only right to attempt a repeat for 2026. So throughout July we’ll be publishing new interviews each day to give a taste of what to expect from London’s best fringe theatre festival. The festival starts Monday 3 August this year, so we may give ourselves a couple of days off inbetween the end of the interviews and the first shows… then again, we might not.
You can find out more about Camden Fringe, along with details of every show playing this August here. You can also find all of this year’s interviews as they are published here.
If you have ever spent a late night scrolling through niche corners of the internet, you likely already know what a “lemon” or a “dead dove” signifies in the wild world of archive tags.
Arriving at the Barons Court Theatre this August for Camden Fringe, Dead Doves and Lemons OR Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Fan Fiction (but were too afraid to ask) is an unhinged, deeply heartfelt love letter to the creator inside each of us. Written and performed by Deanna Strasse and produced by Joy & Joy Productions, the piece explores why underground fan culture is actually a radical act of self-love.
After a heartbreaking cancellation last year following the passing of her mother, Deanna is back from Wisconsin and ready to take the London stage. We sat down with her to discuss drawing parallels between fringe theatre and fan fiction, conquering her absolute terror of audience participation, and why Michael Sheen is the only correct choice to play her in a biopic.
If you had to describe the vibe of your show in just one sentence, what would it be?
Dead Doves and Lemons is an unhinged and heartfelt love letter to the creator inside each of us.
Why is 2026 the absolute perfect time for a show celebrating fan fiction to hit the stage?
This show, and by extension, fan fiction as a whole, is an act of self-love. We are inherent storytellers, but somewhere along the road to adulthood, we were told to stamp that out. I am encouraging people to have their say, write something down, and embrace the cringe! It’s probably not as cringey as you think it is.
There’s no doubt that 2026 is a politically charged time. Between AI, book bans, and the manosphere, the vibrant nuances of individuals are being washed away. Fascism thrives in a world where everyone is uniform. When people are made to feel like the things they love are weird or cringey, their shame compounds, their silence grows, and they become easier to control. Colouring outside the lines and unabashedly loving what you love is the simplest way to stop hate in its tracks.
We understand this run carries a deeply personal weight for you after last year’s cancellation. How does it feel to be back?
Camden 2026 is a beautiful full-circle moment for me. Dead Doves and Lemons was set to premiere at the festival last year, but I had to cancel the show because of my mother’s passing. My mom was a true Midwestern woman who hated to be an inconvenience, so I’m sure she would have told me to stay in the UK and do the show! But I knew I needed to be back home in Wisconsin with my family at that time. Now, a year later, I’m back and ready to go. Both my parents are looking down on me right now thinking, “I don’t get it, but I support it.”
What was the original ‘eureka moment’ that made you realize online fan culture belonged on a live stage?
This show began as part of a course at the University of Essex where I received my Master’s in Scriptwriting. My instructor was Dr. Cameron Abbott-Betts, one of the directors of the Colchester Fringe Festival. On the first day, he described fringe as theatre that explores taboo topics and doesn’t have to appeal to the mainstream.
Immediately, I saw the exact parallel to fan fiction. Like fringe theatre, fan fiction isn’t intended for mass appeal but rather for niche groups of die-hard fans. It’s entirely about the art rather than the money, though we would all quite like to pay our bills!
The show features live interaction. How have you found navigating that elements as a solo performer?
When I was developing the show, Cam noted that audience participation was a fringe staple, so I begrudgingly added some. I say begrudgingly because I was terrified of it, I kept picturing a stand-up comic getting heckled.
However, I’ve been really surprised and delighted by how well it has gone! I think the audience members are actually more scared of me than I am of them, and no one has heckled me yet. The informal moments of banter keep me on my toes, and I’m realising I’m much better at it than I originally thought. It’s been great for my own growth.
If a major Hollywood studio greenlit your future autobiography, who is taking the lead role?
Michael Sheen. He is an absolute gem and so incredibly good at playing real people. I would be utterly tickled to see him put all of my personal idiosyncrasies on display, including my distinctive Wisconsin dialect!
What is the best career advice you’ve received, and how does it manifest in this production?
I was once having a chat with an older friend of mine when I was in the middle of a massive quarter-life crisis. I was 25, broke, living with my parents, and feeling like all my peers had their lives completely figured out.
My friend, who had achieved all their corporate and family goals before turning 30, looked at me and said, “You know, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, to have your life entirely figured out at 23. There’s nowhere else to go so you just sort of stay there.” I think about that a lot. I hope this show gives people a gateway to something more, the exact same way theatre offered an escape to my friend when they felt trapped.
Before we wrap up, are there any other Camden Fringe shows you think our readers should put on their radar?
I’m so glad you asked! Please check out A Two Woman Hamlet, playing at the Old Red Lion Theatre as part of ShakeFest from August 28th–30th. It’s directed by Dr. Nora J. Williams with movement direction by Marina Cusi Sanches, and features the incomparable Sharmila Peake, the divine Lolly Taylor, and a brilliant woman named Diane Straus!
Many thanks to Deanna for her time. You can find Dead Doves and Lemons at Barons Court Theatre from Thursday 13 to Sunday 16 August.
You can find more out about Deanna on her website here.
