Edinburgh Fringe Chats (#105): Emma Frankland, NO APOLOGIES
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 Emma Frankland to find out more about No Apologies.
1. Can you begin by telling us about your show and what inspired it?
No Apologies is about wishful thinking. It was inspired by obscure trans internet discourse around Kurt Cobain’s gender identity - which has been a fun topic for years - but the aesthetic and the soul of the show really came from Kurt… In particular how we radically misremember Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged concert!
The show is rooted in grunge, personal story of growing up in the 90s by the seaside, we reinterpret Greek mythology and also Nirvana’s back catalogue in the process, but it’s about how important it is that, especially as trans or queer people who haven’t always seen ourselves reflected in culture, it is within our power to imagine things how we would like them to be - and in doing so, we could change the world.
2. What made you want to bring this work to the Fringe this year?
The show started life as a cabaret act in 2018 and it’s something I just kept coming back to and couldn’t shake off wanting to fully explore, so at the start of 2025 we began turning it into a full length production. Making the show, I’ve been able to work with regular collaborators including Harry Clayton-Wright, who directed the show, my brother Keir Cooper, who designed the sound and Simon Booth who designed lighting. It’s been amazing to see No Apologies come to life and be fully realised as this epic work, so of course we want to share that with audiences far and wide
But why Fringe this year? I am really passionate about telling this story right now, the current climate for the trans community is incredibly hostile and I want to honour not only this story, but our community and especially the life of Kurt Cobain. It’s also my tenth Fringe, so I’m veteran status at this point.
3. How would you describe your show in three words?
Surprising, passionate, raw.
4. What do you hope audiences take away from watching your performance?
I hope everyone, across the board, feels they can take away the message of freedom to live a life where you feel confident to reject gendered or societal expectations placed upon us and aspire to live authentically with absolutely no apologies. I hope that trans audiences feel seen and uplifted by it - it’s dreaming a history that we deserve and I hope that a cis audiences feel inspired to step up and be vocal in support of trans people.
5. What’s your top tip for surviving the Fringe?
Plenty of visits from family and friends, early nights and remembering to eat my green vegetables! I'm also hoping to get out of the city on days off and touch grass or get in the sea - Edinburgh is so close to such beautiful nature.
6. Where and when can people see your show?
No Apologies will be at Summerhall in the Anatomy Lecture Theatre at 8:45pm from the 31st July to 24th August (not 5th, 11th or 18th) and then while it will be performed throughout most of the Fringe as a sixty minute solo show, we have two performances at the end of the festival on the 21st and 23rd August which will integrate a five piece tribute band for two special live gig performances in the Dissection Room. Come through!
READ MORE FROM THE FRINGE..
