Hot off the heels of another successful year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Pleasance Theatre Trust presents its London season of The Best Of Edinburgh. For audiences that didn’t make it up to Edinburgh, or for those who want to see their favourite theatre and comedy shows again, this is the perfect chance to catch the magic of the Fringe at Pleasance’s London home.
There are several LGBTQ+ themed shows in the season, one of which is Chatham House Rules, on the 10th and 11th of November. QX caught up with the writer and performer of Chatham House Rules, Louis Rembges, to ask him about the season and tell us about his show.
Hi Louis. What is the central premise behind “Chatham House Rules”?
A front-of-house worker at a star-studded tech networking event run under an old boys’ club rule falls into the merciless TikTok void (and kidnaps a certain ex-prime minister with an affinity for pigs).
What inspired you to create this show?
Working a star-studded tech networking event run under an old boys’ club rule and falling into the merciless TikTok void (I didn’t kidnap a certain ex-prime minister with an affinity for pigs).
What are the specific themes or messages that the show explores?
Chatham House Rules is “a rule or principle according to which information disclosed during a meeting may be reported by those present, but the source of that information may not be explicitly or implicitly identified.”
So I’m not allowed to say.
But if I did, it would be a frenetic investigation into the social elite and the money behind them, how Tory rule has decimated the NHS in a slow creeping ten-year plan in order to privatise and sell off chunks of UK infrastructure before they inevitably lose the next election, how TikTok and social media addiction is a lifesaver and a death sentence, and why sucking off fit waiters is good for the mind.
How would you describe the overall tone of the show?
Absolutely all over the place.
How does the show balance humour and drama?
There’s a horrific backstory laced with real accounts from paramedics, NHS and front-of-house workers, a giant pair of legs, and I spit out a mouthful of cum.
What do you hope audiences will take away from watching “Chatham House Rules” at Pleasance Theatre?
I hope they will discuss what the cum was made of and how I got it into my mouth without them seeing, quote long-forgotten Vines from the late 00s and feel a refreshed sense of rage at the Tory government, both old and new.
How was Edinburgh for you this year? Did you get the chance to see any of the other shows that are presented as part of “Best Of Edinburgh” at the Pleasance Theatre?
Edinburgh was one of the most stressful months of my life, and God bless anyone who does it. My voice went about four days into the run. I only had the energy and money to drink Huel, and once performed to just four angry Tory elders at the back who were desperate to leave and a jetlagged woman on the front row who kept her head between her legs the entire time. It’s also been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done, and I’d (maybe) do it all again – 52 Monologues For Young Transsexuals, All Aboard! At Termination Station & Baklâ are all amazing.
Follow Louis on Instagram.
See Louis Rembges perform in Chatham House Rules: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/chatham-house-rules
Tickets from as little as £15 each. Save 20% off tickets when booking two shows together!
LGBTQ+ themed shows in The Best Of Edinburgh.
How To Live A Jellicle Life: Life Lessons from the 2019 Hit Musical Cats (20 & 21 Oct) is an award-winning evening of queer chaos from the team behind Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story – expect jellicle laughs, jellicle dance and a very jellicle PowerPoint presentation.
Scaredy Fat (28 Oct) takes you to the movies as they poke fun at fat and queer representation in horror, asking what it means to love a genre that doesn’t love you back.
52 Monologues For Young Transsexuals (3 Nov) is an hour of verbatim and cabaret theatre to get the sleep-over honest truth about bodies, sex and love.
Baklâ (9 & 10 Nov) is a daring one-person physical theatre show about how intergenerational trauma takes shape in the modern Filipino.
Chatham House Rules (10 & 11 Nov) shows us hospitality agency work is never as stunning as we want it to be, but sometimes it can be particularly deranged with secret cults, Brexit revenge, the dark web, Birkin handbag prices and the trial of David Cameron.
Drag Queens vs Vampires (14 & 15 Nov) and Drag Queens vs Zombies (14 & 15 Nov) will delight audiences with Haus of Dench’s infectious brand of camp humour, audience interaction and fabulous musical numbers.
Weird Wood (17 & 18 Nov) is a late-night alternative variety show boasting the biggest award-winning stars on the scene and featuring a tornado of the hottest talents from the cabaret and variety circuit.
Aidan Sadler: Melody (17 & 18 Nov) invites audiences to spend an evening with this award-winning queer cabaret icon as they take audiences on a ‘fervently funny’ joyride into the apocalypse!
Tickets for The Best Of Edinburgh shows at https://www.pleasance.co.uk/events/type/bestofed
Best Of Edinburgh shows run from 17th October to 27th November 2023 at Pleasance Theatre, Carpenters Mews, North Road, London N7 9EF, United Kingdom.
