24 – 27 June

Outrageous puppets. Adorably awkward audience participation. A show with more costume changes and glitter than the Eurovision final. It can only be Awkward Productions.

Two years ago I braved a cold November night for Gwyneth Goes Skiing. This year it was the dense heat of a 35 degree Bristol, but The Fit Prince was absolutely worth it.

The opening scenes offer about as much exposition as a microdrama, which is to say: just enough. Think The Princess Diaries meets The Princess Switch, soundtracked by an uncanny ABBA tribute act called BAAB.  This was going to be a queer rom-com to remember. 

The stakes are established immediately: the ‘Fit Prince’ Elian, played with irresistible charm by Linus Karp, must find a husband before an upcoming royal holiday or forfeit his rule of the fictional Swedonia. Enter a heartbroken New York baker, played by Joseph Martins, en route to deliver a cake for the occasion, and predictably, delightfully, they fall for each other hard.

The whole piece is a love-letter to Sweden (Karp’s homeland) complete with recorded cameos from Swedish national treasure Tove Lo, and a warm throughline of queer joy and inclusivity. 

With only two performers and a sprawling cast of characters to conjure, Awkward Productions pull out every trick: outrageous matriarchal puppets, pre-recorded characters on twin screens, and the often-dreaded audience participation. Characters ranging from a prostrate king to a conniving doppelgänger were handed to willing volunteers from the South Bristol crowd, resulting in glorious, barely-contained chaos. Who knew such talent was sitting right in front of us?

Karp and co-performer Martin are genuinely enchanting — and if I have one small note, it’s that their individual brilliance occasionally got swallowed by the joyful mayhem of bringing half the audience onstage. I simply wanted more of them.

But make no mistake: The Fit Prince delivers. It’s anarchic, warm-hearted, and utterly alive  fringe theatre at its very best. With a new Edinburgh Fringe show on the horizon this summer, Awkward Productions are absolutely ones to watch.

★★★★☆. Beth Teverson, 25 June 2026

Photography credit: Anna Clare