Franciska Schmoll on ‘How to Make Adult Friends’
After the success of our 2025 Camden Fringe Interviews, we thought it only right to attempt a repeat for 2026. So throughout July we published over 60 interviews to give a taste of what to expect from London’s best fringe theatre festival. The plan was to stop there, but as shows are still coming to us asking for interviews, we thought we’d do a few more! But we have to stop soon, we’re also very busy seeing the shows now.
You can find out more about Camden Fringe, along with details of every show playing here. You can also find all of this year’s interviews at here.
Navigating London as a newcomer, or simply trying to expand your social circle as an adult, can feel like an intimidating, high-stakes obstacle course. In How to Make Adult Friends, performer Franciska Schmoll turns the awkwardness of adult friend-making into a chaotic, corporate-themed comedy masterclass. Playing the relentlessly optimistic “friendship expert” Frances Kah, Schmoll hijacks a sleek slideshow presentation to tackle urban loneliness head-on.
Ahead of her run at The Courtyard Theatre, Franciska sat down with us to discuss expat struggles, low-pressure audience interaction, and why a pink sequin suit is the ultimate seminar attire.
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?
The show has the hyper-glossy, high-stakes energy of a mandatory corporate seminar hijacked by a chaotic, dangerously earnest “friendship expert” whose desperate plea for connection turns the audience into her captive co-workers.
Corporate Gloss Meets Unhinged Energy: The visual setup looks sleek and professional; a projected presentation deck, a clipboard on a stool, and official “Hard Corps Friendship Company” slides. But this polished structure is immediately disrupted by Frances entering in a head-to-toe pink sequin suit, pacing the stage just a smidge too long, and bringing an aggressively cheerful, high-intensity focus to “teaching” adult friendship.
Why is 2026 the perfect time for this show to be seen?
Because while we have more digital tools than ever to connect, and apps have done a great job getting us into the same room, nothing replaces the hilarious, unpredictable magic of real-life human connection.
I talk to so many expats and newcomers who move to London starry-eyed, only to realise how intimidating it can be to crack through established social circles here. Navigating this city as a newcomer, or just trying to expand your circle as an adult, can feel like a high-stakes obstacle course, but we rarely talk about how funny and awkward the process actually is.
How to Make Adult Friends feels so right for 2026 because it takes that shared experience and lets us all laugh our heads off at it together. It takes the online conversation around loneliness and brings it straight into a real-world room, giving audiences permission to drop their cool London facade, embrace the awkwardness, and trauma-bond in real time. Think of it as the ultimate live-action companion piece for anyone who’s ever put themselves out there to make a new friend in the city.
What was the ‘eureka moment’ that made you realise this story had to be told right now?
It hit me after having endless conversations with expats and people who had recently relocated to London. Person after person kept describing this strange, unspoken barrier; arriving in the city full of optimism, only to realise that cracking into established British social circles as an adult is like trying to scale a brick wall with no footholds.
My lightbulb moment was noticing the massive disconnect between how confident these people were in their professional lives versus how completely lost they felt trying to make a casual buddy. Everyone was going through the exact same bizarre, trial-and-error ritual in secret, yet feeling like they were the only ones failing at it. I realised that instead of letting it be this heavy, taboo topic, it was prime territory for dark comedy. I had to create a show that took that universal newcomer experience and turned it into a collective, hilarious night out.
What is it about your character that you most enjoy?
I love that the seminar host Frances Kah is essentially an unfiltered caricature of myself. She has this relentless, almost delusional optimism when it comes to human connection; she just tries and tries again, no matter how many times she hits a wall or completely misreads the room.
As adults, we’re all taught to be so guarded, polite, and terrified of looking desperate, but Frances has zero self-preservation. Playing someone who puts herself out there with such unabashed, high-stakes earnestness is insanely liberating. She says the unhinged things we all secretly think when we’re trying to make friends, but she does it with total conviction and a massive smile.
Being fringe and a festival, we all know sets have to be bare minimum, how have you got around this?
I am completely, 100% reliant on my slideshow. Beyond a slide clicker, the presentation deck is my prop, my set, and my scene partner.
In past projects I’ve overcomplicated things for myself. This time around, because I’m writing, producing, directing, and starring in the whole thing single-handedly, I wanted a supremely minimal, foolproof approach. Stripping everything back means no tech meltdowns, no giant props to lug across London, and no complicated preset routines in a tight fifteen-minute festival turn-around. It keeps the focus entirely on the comedy and performance, and means that no matter what happens, the show can always go on!
How important is audience interaction to you?
It’s huge for this show, but I’m super conscious that the word “interactive” can make introverts want to get a refund on their tickets! Nobody wants to be singled out or made to feel uncomfortable, so I’ve built a very consensual, low-pressure approach into the whole thing.
The interaction is all about safety in numbers. You get to yell out answers alongside everyone else in the crowd; very normal things like your own name, so you get the thrill of participating without the spotlight being on you. And if anyone ends up joining me on stage for an activity, it’s 100% voluntary. Whether you want to jump up and be part of the chaos or just sit back in the dark and watch, you’re fully in control of your own experience.
If you had to describe your show as a colour what would it be?
Pink and Orange. That’s the seminar host’s outfit and she is pretty consistent with her love for these colours.
If your show had a soundtrack, what songs would definitely be on it?
Cue up: weird, eclectic, upbeat, confidence, corporate, electro-pop instrumental playlist on Spotify. So that you can feel, and hear, the inspiration.
If you could invite anyone in the world to your show – who would it be?
An alien learning how to imitate human behaviour, because then they’d get things wrong, just like a real human.
Many thanks to Franciska for her time. How to Make Adult Friends plays at The Courtyard Theatre on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 (including matinee) August, as part of Camden Fringe.
