Harry Conway on Racists, Recessions & Revolutions
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.
This sweltering summer of 2026 marks exactly a decade since a quiet town in North Macedonia became the unexpected epicenter of a global political earthquake. The 2016 Macedonian “Fake News Gold Rush” fundamentally rewired how we interact with information, helping fuel the rise of Trump, the chaos of Brexit, and the erosion of institutional trust.
Heading to the Hen & Chickens Theatre for Camden Fringe 2026, Racists, Recessions & Revolutions tracks this precise turning point with a sharp blend of comedic joy and dystopic dread. Produced by DBN Productions and co-created by Harry Conway and half-Macedonian performer Isabella Jovanova Heaver, this exhilarating show unearths a bizarre, historically unprecedented true story. We caught up with Harry and Isabella to talk about unmasking internet algorithms, charting unknown theatrical territory, and bringing interactive AI slop directly onto the London stage.
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?
Exhilarating; we aim to take our audiences on a whirlwind journey through the world of fake news and explain just how the world got into its current state through moments of comedic joy and dread.
Why is 2026 the perfect time for this show to be seen?
This sweltering 2026 summer marks the ten-year anniversary of the Macedonian Fake News Gold Rush on which the show is based, that watershed moment everything changed, whether it was Brexit or Trump or all the bullshit that came with them. Now’s the perfect time to get to grips with how and why everything happened the way it did!
What was the ‘eureka moment’ that made you realise this story had to be told right now?
When we realised how interconnected so many contemporary issues were, from the loss of trust in established institutions and the accompanying erosion of community to the increasingly bizarre and dystopic horrors we see every day on social media. It all clicked when we went back to the source and realised that 2016 marked the start of this downturn, and the historically unprecedented fake news pumped out of Macedonia was a super-underexplored cause behind it all.
Is this version how you originally envisioned it or has it changed since you first put pen to paper?
You may have noticed we mention Macedonia a lot, and that’s not only because it’s almost completely uncharted territory on the British stage. The performer and co-creator of the piece, Isabella Jovanova Heaver, is herself half-Macedonian, and putting the spotlight on a homeland that most people struggle to find on a map was a key creative drive for the show. In this way, Izzy adds a huge amount of her personal experience and knowledge of the country, giving everything an added layer of authenticity and passion.
If your show had a soundtrack, what songs would definitely be on it, and why?
Something folksy from the Balkans, something socialist to pay respect to dearly departed Yugoslavia, and finally a club beat that’s too loud and too fast to end the night on a high!
If you could perform this show anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
There’s actually a city in Macedonia called Bitola which hosts a festival that focuses on solo shows (artfully using the term ‘monodramas’), so getting to bring the play back home to its roots there would be a perfect fit.
If budget or reality was not an issue, what’s the one piece of scenery or set you’d love to have in your show?
Interactive AI slop that creates fake news based on audience input before your very eyes; the crapness of it would emphasise just how much of a hellscape we’ve allowed social media and the Internet to warp into.
Are there any plans for what comes next after the show has finished its run?
We’re dying to do a longer run in London and a few other spots in the UK after this, as we think this is a timely, fascinating, and ultimately quite fun story that anyone with a mild interest in politics and the world of news would get a kick out of. Hit us up if you agree!
Many thanks to Harry for his time. Racists, Recessions & Revolutions will play at Hen and Chickens Theatre on Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 August before heading to EdFringe from 7 August.
