Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland are rapidly becoming something approaching Fringe royalty. Arriving from New York on crowdfunding in 2022, they won a Fringe First with And Then the Rodeo Burned Down, then repeated the trick in 2023 and 2024. Three consecutive Fringe Firsts inevitably creates expectation.
So, is Bigfoot Ripped My Dog in Half I Saw It simply riding a considerable wave of hype?
Not a bit of it.
This year’s Summerhall run is sold out, with the show heading almost immediately afterwards to Soho Theatre in London. On the evidence here, that trajectory feels entirely deserved.
Rice and Roland, two diminutive New York clowns with painted faces, impressive physical dexterity and an anarchic imagination, play teenage girls in an isolated Appalachian community who, largely out of boredom, manufacture a series of Bigfoot sightings.
But teenage mischief quickly becomes politically useful.
The town is continually flooding, its infrastructure is failing, and a mayor who would rather not answer difficult questions discover that the sudden appearance of a Sasquatch provides a perfect distraction.
Rumour becomes certainty, conspiracy becomes fact and soon everyone is seeing something that isn’t there.
That’s where the satire really bites. This isn’t simply about gullible people believing ridiculous things. It is about the political usefulness of those beliefs, and how readily a manufactured story can be encouraged when it diverts attention from something considerably more inconvenient. While everyone is looking for Bigfoot, the town is still flooding.
Rice and Roland create a whole community through voice, movement and physical transformation, throwing some impressive acrobatics into the mix. And then there is Bigfoot himself, an enormous, gloriously ridiculous creation towering above them.
The supposed sightings are extraordinary. Strobe lighting fractures the action into fleeting images of the creature, making us complicit in precisely the behaviour being satirised. Did I actually see Bigfoot, or simply what I expected to see?
A barrage of well nested ‘pop’ music and lyrics propels everything forward through beautifully choreographed explosions of movement, light and sound. Again, we, the people are being played, and we don’t even know it.
Beneath all the clowning is a pointedly painful portrait of America, Godly but violent, frightened but suggestible, where conspiracy becomes entertainment, entertainment becomes accepted truth, and accepted truth becomes politically useful.
Beautifully written, beautifully performed and theatrically inventive, this is two performers completely in command of their craft.
Sometimes the hype really is worth believing.
Playing until August 30th 2026, https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/2026BIGFOOT
Reviewer: Greg Holstead
Reviewed: 8th August 2026
North West End UK / Theatre Muse UK Rating:
Running time – 1hr