Scotland

ALOK: Eat, Pray, Leave – Pleasance One

If I had to choose one word for Eat Pray Leave, it would be confusing. ALOK is difficult to quantify and, for me, frequently difficult to understand. Having reviewed more than 30 shows at this year’s Fringe, this was comfortably the most densely challenging in terms of language.

ALOK Vaid-Menon is an international star, writer, comedian, poet and leading non-binary voice, and there is no doubting the intelligence or purpose behind this hour. ALOK is not here to make trite jokes. They are here to provoke, challenge and demand recognition.

I came with an open mind, ready to listen and understand. But I also needed to be let into the conversation. Too often, the language felt constructed for an audience already familiar with its vocabulary and cultural references. I could sense comments and observations passing me by, not because I disagreed with them, but because I did not understand the language sufficiently to reach the punchline.

Ironically, the moment I connected with most was also the funniest. ALOK describes meeting a new boyfriend’s parents, arriving at a barn somewhere in America wearing a denim miniskirt and glittery shoes. Faced with the father, they suddenly adopt a gruff voice and begin admiring the timber roof and discussing the density of the insulation. Now this was a language I understood. More importantly, it is a beautifully constructed joke about the different languages we adopt to negotiate different worlds. For a moment, all the barriers disappeared.

That makes the rest of my difficulty with Eat Pray Leave more interesting. ALOK is capable of code switching brilliantly, finding common ground while remaining entirely themselves. I wanted more of those doorways into their world.

There is hurt here too. ALOK talks about experiencing abuse simply walking through Edinburgh because of how they look and dress. That is unacceptable. Nobody should have to make themselves less visible to avoid hostility.

But ALOK also deliberately confronts accepted norms. This is a performer who expects, perhaps requires, an audience to question its assumptions. The challenge works both ways. If the message is wake up, recognise us, accept us, then surely communication with those outside the community matters too.

Perhaps I am exactly the audience member Eat Pray Leave needs to reach: older, white, middle class, heterosexual, willing to listen but unfamiliar with much of its language. I left still willing to listen.

I just wish I had been given a few more ways in.

Playing until August 17th 2026, https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/2026ALOKEAT

Reviewer: Greg Holstead

Reviewed: 14th August 2026

North West End UK / Theatre Muse UK Rating: