Edinburgh Fringe Chats (#110): David Morley, ELON MUSK: LOST IN SPACE
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 David Morley to find out more about Elon Musk: Lost in Space.
1. Can you begin by telling us about your show and what inspired it?
'Elon Musk: Lost In Space’ imagines that the planet’s richest man is on his way to Mars, but his mission is thrown into chaos by President Trump. I wanted to write a comedy about Musk that looked at the absurdity of his massive ego, in the context of the vastness of the universe, and at how his actions have had unintended consequences. I don’t believe he started out as a bad man, but like many others in the silicon valley broligarchy, he has been taken by the Dark Side along the way. He is a kind of 21st Century Frankenstein.
I wanted to hold Musk up to ridicule, in a sci-fi comedy. He cites 'The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy' as a great influence. I never met Douglas Adams but had the pleasure to work on several adaptations of his work with Douglas’s friend and colleague Dirk Maggs and I’m sure that if he was alive, he’d be just as shocked and revolted by Musk as I am.
2. What made you want to bring this work to the Fringe this year?
2025 has seen Elon Musk plumb new depths of behaviour and there is huge interest in him. This is a year when writers, performers and audiences all need to respond to him, Trump, Natanyahu, Putin et al.
3. How would you describe your show in three words?
Funny, pacy, surprising.
4. What do you hope audiences take away from watching your performance?
I’d like audiences to come away smiling, having enjoyed the brilliant performances of Ben Whitehead as Elon and Sarah Lawrie as the ship’s computer. If they want to find out more about how Musk has damaged democracies around the world, then even better.
5. What’s your top tip for surviving the Fringe?
Prepare for four seasons in a day.
6. Where and when can people see your show?
'Elon Musk: Lost In Space’ is at Venue 53… The Grand at theSpace @Surgeons' Hall.
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