Emily Bowden & Alexane Roger on I Hate King Lear
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.
Sibling relationships are some of the most formative bonds in our lives, yet we rarely see their full, terrifying, hysterical depths explored on stage.
Enter I Hate King Lear (Or What Breeds About Her Heart), coming to the Old Red Lion Playhouse & Pub this August for Camden Fringe 2026. Produced by Loser Club Productions, this biting, darkly comedic, and deeply sincere production reimagines Shakespeare’s classic tragedy through the lens of overgrown children acting out an intense, life-or-death family feud.
We sat down with writer-performer Emily Bowden and actor Alexane Roger to talk about why King Lear is having a massive cultural comeback in 2026, the unique physical challenges of rope choreography, and how a real actor stepped in to replace a distinctly unprofessional mannequin.
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?
Emily: It’s not IF your sister murders you, but when.
In the first five minutes of this play, Phoebe says, “You know what happens at the end of this play? She [my sister] kills me. So we will have to game plan.” And that’s exactly it! You know going in that both sisters will not come out unscathed. As a human, you understand it is unlikely anyone comes out unharmed. But it is watching the descent into hysteria that forces us to lean in. Watching Phoebe make every wrong choice possible, the audience sees the pits of their own familial drama played out onstage.
Why is 2026 the absolute perfect time for this show to be seen?
Alexane: It’s funny because Em has been thinking and working on this for a while now, but somehow there seems to be a real comeback of King Lear this year! I’ve seen it programmed in so many places, so maybe it’s meant to be. I also think that sibling relationships are not the ones I’ve seen being focused on in stories about families that much, even though they shape us so much! So I’m glad that this play is putting the spotlight on it.
What was the original ‘eureka moment’ that made you realise this story had to be told right now?
Emily: I saw a play that almost did what I wanted to do. It was a good production, served its own purpose well, but I left feeling really passionate about the choices they should have made. My sincerity told me that this was a thread I needed to pull for my own writing.
How has the show changed or evolved since you first put pen to paper?
Alexane: I’ve seen this show evolve from almost its earliest stage and I have loved watching it grow. I think Emily has taken their already incredibly engaging initial idea and managed to get it to a place where most people, especially if they have siblings, can find a way to identify or understand one or both sisters, as is my case.
I read some of the earlier drafts and tried to help bounce back ideas for improvement. It got to the point where both Emily and I agreed that this play needed more than just a mannequin as the sister, and when Em asked if I would want to be in it, it was a no-brainer. Getting to perform some of Goneril’s lines on stage is also an added bonus!
Emily, what has Alexane brought to the character of Goneril that completely surprised you?
Emily: Working with Alexane has been lovely because nothing she says on stage was actually written by me, she only says lines from Shakespeare’s play. Her take on Goneril is so desperate and genuine. It’s honestly heart-breaking to act across from; she humanizes Goneril amidst and despite the absurdity of the other characters.
What has been the biggest practical challenge in bringing this production to life?
Alexane: Rope choreography was one of the biggest practical challenges: how to make it look like a normal occurrence, an extension of both of the characters, and finding interesting ways in which Phoebe interacts with it. Finding the right tone for the actual King Lear parts was also something we talked about a lot. It has been a journey to try to balance between fully committing to the original Shakespearean characters and the idea that both Phoebe and her sister are overgrown children acting out their family feud.
If you had to describe your show as a colour, what would it be?
Emily: Red. A deep red. A lot of this script was written while listening to the album Tallahassee by The Mountain Goats; specifically the exact shade of red on that album cover.
If the show was a love letter to a specific person, who would it be?
Emily: My actual sister! Who is quite normal. But also should probably never watch this.
What is the weirdest or most unconventional prop used in the show, and how did it end up in the production?
Emily & Alexane: Before Alexane joined the team, Goneril was played by a mannequin sat center stage, still tethered to Phoebe. She unfortunately had to be fired; she had a very unprofessional attitude.
Why choose to reframe Shakespeare instead of writing a completely detached, original piece?
Emily: I chose to reframe Shakespeare instead of fully doing my own piece because it is only through the stories of the past that we understand the future. King Lear and other Shakespeare plays have stood the test of time for a reason. They are relatable, and true to the human experience, and through watching King Lear I better understood myself and my sibling relationships. That is the exact journey Phoebe goes through on stage every night, and the journey I hope the audience takes as well. I hope everyone leaves the theatre and immediately calls their sister, brother, or father. Mothers, somehow, come out on top here.
Many thanks to Emily and Alexane for their time. I Hate King Lear plays at Old Red Lion Playhouse on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August, as part of #ShakeFest, Old Red Lion’s festival within a festival at Camden Fringe.
