Edinburgh Fringe Chats (#134): Gaia Mondadori, CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE
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 Gaia Mondadori to find out more about her show, Centre Of The Universe.
1. Can you begin by telling us about your show and what inspired it?
I wrote this show out of a need to make sense of the great mystery of why we are all here...Are we here to climb and climb and make it to the top? Or are we here to connect? Mary’s fear of being nobody - a tiny grain of sand in the immensity of the cosmic order-is the fear that the age of narcissism and spectacle thrives on. When you win that award, buy that holographic Ferrari, reach that summit, then you’ll be significant. You’ll amount to more than the collective. You’ll be enough...whole...at peace...seen. Right?
Told through the perspective of Mary, the show examines the ways in which we may hide from pain and seek to be defined by the glory of material success. A seemingly normal teenager with no discernible talents, Mary believes that she is destined for greatness and refuses to be defined by the death of her mother. When an iconic TikTok influencer Gabriella Dios visits her school, a burning need for success is ignited within Mary–she will be a star. Led by the signs she believes she is receiving from the Universe, Mary forges her own path to greatness.
From hosting her own funeral to dropping out of school to cleaning bins and making love to her anger, there is nothing Mary isn’t ready to do to prove herself. But at what cost?Centre of the Universe invites audiences to look outwards and question what we value as success.
2. What made you want to bring this work to the Fringe this year?
Well, Mary would say that we followed the signs of the Universe...I feel incredibly lucky to be performing every night for a month, sharing a show that I love and connecting with audiences. It feels like such a gift to be a part of the Universe that is Fringe! The Fringe is a place like any other but on steroids...anything could happen. In truth, it really is a full circle, pinch me moment to be performing at Summer hall and with such a wonderful team.
3. How would you describe your show in three words?
TO FEEL SEEN
4. What do you hope audiences take away from watching your performance?
There’s a certain shame to ambition. It’s an admittance of our lack; it reveals that we are not as whole as may pretend to be. I hope to hold a mirror up to the audience and ask-what’s your dream? Who do you long to become? Have you felt that pain, her yearning, this anger, this loneliness? Have you feared being nothing? At its core, the show is an invitation to look beyond our own individual bubbles and to connect. It’s a love letter to theatre and to the audiences who share Mary’s journey every night.
I hope that audiences will be reminded of the wonder that life holds. I also hope (and pray) that audiences will laugh!
5. What’s your top tip for surviving the Fringe?
Infinite gratitude, abundance, balance and humility. I’m being silly (I can’t help it!) but I do think that a great poster is really important and I’m very grateful to Rich Lakos for creating our artwork. He’s amazing and I would recommend him to all!
6. Where and when can people see your show?
Summerhall, Tech Cube Zero, 7:30pm, 31st July-25th August
INSTAGRAM:@centreoftheuniverse_show and @gaiamondadori
SHOW LINK:https://festival.summerhallarts.co.uk/events/centre-of-the-universe/https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/centre-of-the-universe
READ MORE FROM THE FRINGE..
