Crystalia Varelis on Controlled Burn
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.
The phrase “blowing smoke” originally stems from early stage magic; a theatrical trick designed to manipulate perception, obscure the truth, and conceal what is happening behind the scenes. In Controlled Burn, hitting the stage at Camden People’s Theatre for the Camden Fringe 2026, smoke becomes the ultimate metaphor for the hidden fires of inherited family trauma.
Written and performed by Crystalia Varelis, this raw, striking production looks straight into the heart of modern isolation, personal burnout, and the competing truths we choose to believe just to stay sane. We sat down with Crystalia to discuss the grueling emotional toll of autobiographically inspired work, her unconventional post-show decompression routines (hint: involving trees), and why modern fringe festivals must fight to remain accessible and innovative.
If you had to describe the vibe of your show in just one sentence, what would it be and how does it manifest on stage?
Where there’s smoke, there’s family. You often see the smoke before you see the fire, and each character in this show is “blowing smoke” in their own way.
One character boasts about her ability to walk away from the family drama, but we learn she isn’t as skilled at this as she claims to be. Another character exaggerates her own qualities to obscure her deep insecurities. Another misleads the people around her to make herself seem more important than she actually is, even though she herself has experienced a family that completely obscures the truth. Inherited trauma, often burning unseen, can be not only distracting, but suffocating.
Why is 2026 the perfect time for this show to be seen?
Myth-making and coercive control are rampant in the world, and the earth is literally on fire. Yet, our day-to-day as individuals does not stop, and we are all at peak burnout. We are living in a time when access to information, but also misinformation, can be overwhelming and overstimulating. With so many competing truths and so much darkness hitting the light, we all have to question how to stay sane, what truths we choose, when to defend them, and when to cut ties.
How challenging has this role been for you to navigate as a performer?
The challenging part of performing this show for me is the aftermath. Dropping into the characters feels so natural that I was always surprised that by the end I could still feel their stress and worry coursing through me. I found that finding ways to tap out and regulate after a performance was crucial. Especially when working with fictionalised, autobiographically inspired stories, our bodies don’t always know when and where we are in time and space. Thunder, my service dog, definitely helps with this, but also dancing like a crazy person or climbing into a tree are very effective recovery rituals!
Fringe sets are famously minimalist. How did you embrace these physical limitations without losing the show’s impact?
This was something I struggled with until I recognised what it really offered: an opportunity to be vulnerable. It is easy to fall into the trap of wanting your new show to look as flashy and polished as larger productions. When I noticed myself wanting to up the spectacle of the show, I would ask myself: What are you afraid of the audience seeing? What insecurity are you trying to mask with clever design or complicated sets? I found that once I let that fear be spoken aloud, I was able to get back to focusing on the creative rigor of the writing and the performing.
If your show was a drink at the venue bar, what would be the ingredients?
Absinthe & Diet Coke. AKA The Poisoned Chalice. It’s fizzy, makes you question reality, goes down completely smooth, but leaves a bitter aftertaste.
Can you share a “fake” review of the show from an unconventional critic?
“The mum was really fun and gave me lots of attention. The pregnant one was smiling a lot but didn’t seem very nice. I liked the one that smelled like outside but I didn’t understand why she was singing. I would give it 4 stars but there weren’t enough foxes. 3 stars.” — Thunder the dog 🐾
What’s the most valuable piece of advice you’ve received during your career?
Eat the whale one bite at a time.
A project like this is massive, especially for a small team. Between social media, marketing, press outreach, writing, rehearsing, sound design, financing, and finding props, it can be incredibly daunting for a team of just two or three. Unless you break it into bite-sized chunks, you will choke. A little delusion is useful at the start; who would think they can eat a whole whale? That’s crazy talk! But there is wisdom in forging ahead little by little. When your project eventually surfaces for air, the reward is seeing your vision find its community.
Is there a question missing that you feel we should be asking you?
Yes – How has fringe theatre changed? For me, fringe is exciting because it fulfils what mainstream theatre does not: untold stories, artists at the start of their careers, making something from nothing. Necessity as the mother of invention.
However, as it makes its way into the overculture, it starts to homogenize. Fringe festivals are becoming incredibly expensive to participate in, creating a competitive pressure to conform that robs us of innovation. I wonder how we can keep fringe theatre truly accessible for performers and audiences. It’s not impossible. We just have to be creative.
Many thanks to Crystalia for her time. Controlled Burn will play at Camden People’s Theatre on Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 August. Thursday
