Edinburgh Fringe Chats (#85): Jasmine Thein, I DREAM IN COLOUR
As anticipation builds for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025, we’re catching up with a range of exciting creatives preparing to bring their work to the world’s largest arts festival this August. In this series, we delve into the stories behind the shows, the inspiration driving the artists, and what audiences can expect. Today, we’re joined by award-winning actor and comedian Jasmine Thein to chat about their show, I Dream in Colour.
Can you begin by telling us about your show and what inspired it?
I Dream in Colour is a semi-autobiographical, one-woman show inspired from my own experiences battling childhood eye cancer, growing up in a Chinese immigrant community in Southeast Asia, and trying to create a new life as a young woman in the UK. My character Sophie learns that she has a tumour in her one remaining eye and is offered a choice: surgically remove the eye, or keep it and risk cancer a second time. What seems like an easy choice quickly spirals as Sophie jumps between the past and present, reliving the experiences that taught her she has no agency, and trying to navigate the here and now where it is a challenge to claim that agency for herself. It is at its heart a coming-of-age story where Sophie is forced to decide who she is and what she wants for her body and her life.
What made you want to bring this work to the Fringe this year?
Edinburgh Fringe has always been a dream, and I’ve felt for a while that there aren’t enough stories dealing with intersectional experiences which I see as this very messy, knotty thing that is so difficult to represent but such a lived reality for so many of us. It is only now that I feel I Dream in Colour is ready to be seen by a wider audience which makes me so proud and excited.
How would you describe your show in three words?
Raw, messy, hilarious
What do you hope audiences take away from watching your performance?
I hope that audiences, especially those from under-represented communities, see a little bit of themselves in Sophie’s story represented on stage. Women may relate to the struggle in recognising their bodily autonomy. Immigrants, especially BESEA (British East and Southeast Asian) immigrants, may identify with the messy parent-child relationship where there is an abundance of love but very few words expressing that love. Disabled audiences may recognise the daily relentlessness of moving through an able-bodied world and how exasperating and absurd it often is. Above all, I hope audiences come away reflecting on how they may take charge of their own agency going forward.
What’s your top tip for surviving the Fringe?
Vitamin C, sleep as much as you can, you won’t be able to see all the shows you want to see, and if you are able keep yourself away from comparison. Everyone else will appear to be having the best EdFringe experience ever and that can be a killer, so focus on you, your well-being, and your show.
Where and when can people see your show?
I Dream in Colour will be on at the Fresian, Bristo Square, Underbelly, at 2.20PM from July 30th to August 24th. We can’t wait to see you there!
Tickets here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/i-dream-in-colour
