Performing in the Bunker at Pleasance this Fringe, Ros Watt’s Trans People Are Awful couldn’t be placed in a more perfect venue. Set in the garage of a farm just past Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, the cavernous dinge of the Bunker does emulate the feel of a serial killer’s hideout.
We are witness to the crimes of a murderous young man as he dissects the bodies of men in a quest to find the perfect body parts. Boy, played by Watt, is videotaping every moment of his process in an act of explanation. He wants to undertake a self-surgery in which he attaches the member of one of his victims onto himself – he just hasn’t found the right fit yet.
Rhythmic, voracious, and vigorous, Watt’s performance is electric. You feel completely absorbed in the character’s world thanks to this in-your-face dynamism Watt has. With thrusting dance moves, tabletop posing, and a quiet tenderness, you never know what’s coming next in this surreal portrait.
Rifling through a smorgasbord of jars filled with all kinds of preserved body parts, Watt hits us with visceral physical comedy. Manhandling the genitalia, Watt uses them as telephones – playing pretend, before sloshing them back into their jars. Even going so far as to devour a large intestine, only to spew it back up into a bucket – he’s vegan you see. And my word it really did smell like rotting flesh after that.
Although Boy is clearly a very twisted individual, you still feel for him, especially given his genuine honesty about everything. He is clearly unwell; he is lonely and going to the furthest extremes to try and fill the void. He is awful. But he’s awful because he’s a murderer, not because he’s trans.
Trans People Are Awful is absolutely my pick of the Fringe so far by a landslide. The production design, the writing, the delivery, the direction, all work as one to create this masterful story. There really is too much meat to unpack here – it’s so clever, so heartfelt, just indescribable. There really are no words to summarise this production.
The Edinburgh Fringe run of Trans People Are Awful ends on the 31st of August 2026, with a run at the Camden People’s Theatre soon to follow. More information is available at https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/trans-people-are-awful
Reviewer: Jessie Martin
Reviewed: 25th August 2026
North West End UK / Theatre Muse UK Rating:
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