Buds, Revolt! The Hen and Chicken Theatre
Our Camden Fringe 2025 interviews really are like buses aren’t they. Just when you might be wondering when the next one is coming, suddenly four appear all at once. Because that’s how many we are publishing most days of July, meaing we’ve now published more than 80 towards that target of 100. In fact we’re quietly confident that we’re going to smash through 100. Want to catch up on all the ones publishes so far? You can do so here.
What happens if your tastebuds go rogue? That’s the start point for Buds, Revolt!, where her tastebuds go so rogue they even start their own cookery show. This absurdist comedy explores this surreal concept and the importance of food and identity.
Ahead of Buds, Revolt! playing at the Hen and Chickens Theatre from 9 to 11 August (tickets here) we caught up with Wangjiayu Chu (Stephanie), Elisabeth Tu and Hanjue Zheng (Joyce) to ask some questions.
What was your inspiration behind the show?
The specific idea of runaway tastebuds came to me when I was ridden with fever and brainstorming for a meeting with our producer. This project draws inspiration from many different places, like lots of puzzle pieces coming together perfectly. In my art and work I always investigate the space of in-betweenness and the experiences of people who fall in between cultures, places and home. Throughout the years I’ve done a lot of research about migration, identity and the complexities of ‘home’ and the importance of food and art in this.
So when our producer Stephanie approached me with the idea to create a play about exactly these themes, it felt like it was simply meant to be. We wanted to make a play that shows all the beauty, complexity, comedy, and feeling of severance and absurdism that come with migration. So we infused these ideas with the style of great Western writers like Ionesco, Gogol, Beckett, to make the wonderfully strange concoction that is Buds, Revolt!
How long have you been working on the play?
Stephanie approached me around November 2024 and I was able to bring in a lot of research I did from the years before which was really great, so that I could really lean into the richness, specificity and comedy of the play.
Is this version how you originally envisioned it or has it changed drastically since you first put pen to paper?
I think it has ended up being more of a ‘traditional’ play form than we originally thought. Our discussions and my initial ideas learned a lot more into the form of abstract performance art, showing different tableaus like a mosaic, whereas the script now is much more dialogue driven, but it definitely keeps the punch and drive we envisioned.
What brought you all together?
A love for food, and good stories about migration.
Being a fringe festival, we all know sets have to be bare minimum, how have you got around this with your set and props?
We see minimalism as a poetic constraint. Each object is treated not as a decoration, but as a trigger — for transformation, for play, for rupture. The set and props, though few, can morph, surprise, and carry unexpected meanings. Scarcity becomes a space of invention, inviting us to think more sharply and to use less to evoke more.
What has been the biggest challenge in realising the writer’s vision for the show?
Our greatest challenge has been this: how can chaos erupt onstage, yet remain contained within the discipline that theatre demands — things like safety and spatial limitation? It’s like controlled combustion: a fire lit with intention, so it may burn wild without destroying. The illusion of disorder must be carefully composed, so that the audience feels the disorientation — but never loses their breath.
If budget or reality was not an issue, what’s the one piece of scenery/set you’d love to have in your show?
A huge tongue that we could use as a giant slide and a whole pool of paint, or a giant carousel with pieces of food instead of horses.
Thanks to Stephanie Chu, Elisabeth Tu and Hanjue Zheng for chatting to us about their show. Catch it at the Hen & Chickens Theatre from 9 to 11 August. Find out more and book here.
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