Cabaret

  • Fringe Festival

Flies on What-If Island

A cabaret about breaking up, breaking down, and feeling less broken.

Ilana Charnelle, a white woman with short brown hair and bright red lipstick, is pictured on a rocky outcrop with the ocean visible in the distance. She leans back at a dramatic angle against the rock, with one hand on the rocks and the other striking a pose above her head.
An image from above of Ilana Charnelle, a white woman with short brown hair and red lipstick, sitting on a pile of rocks that leads to the ocean. She is wearing a long pink dress that is wet in patches, and is looking down with a sad expression on her face.
An image of Ilana Charnelle, a white woman with short brown hair and red lipstick, walking in the shallow waves of a beach. The ocean can be seen behind her. She is wearing a long pink dress that she is holding up with her hands to stop the hem falling in the water, and she is looking away from the camera with a bewildered expression.
Past Event

Image Credit: Polish Media

Ilana Charnelle, a white woman with short brown hair and bright red lipstick, is pictured on a rocky outcrop with the ocean visible in the distance. She leans back at a dramatic angle against the rock, with one hand on the rocks and the other striking a pose above her head.
An image from above of Ilana Charnelle, a white woman with short brown hair and red lipstick, sitting on a pile of rocks that leads to the ocean. She is wearing a long pink dress that is wet in patches, and is looking down with a sad expression on her face.
An image of Ilana Charnelle, a white woman with short brown hair and red lipstick, walking in the shallow waves of a beach. The ocean can be seen behind her. She is wearing a long pink dress that she is holding up with her hands to stop the hem falling in the water, and she is looking away from the camera with a bewildered expression.

  • Artist: Ilana Charnelle

  • Directed by: Kat Yates

  • Musical Director: Ned Dixon

An autism diagnosis, a crippling breakup, and an apartment alone to do nothing but think. What could go wrong? From the Green Room Award nominated* duo behind 'A Class Act' (2016) and 'Play Nice' (2017), 'Flies on What-If Island' examines the buzzing doubts we try to brush away to hold onto our serene shores.

Feeling like her brain is fundamentally faulty, Ilana Charnelle has found herself washed up with the wreckage of her relationship and her neurotypical life. Through an hour of original songs alongside musical director Ned Dixon, Ilana questions how long we can live in fantasy before it all crumbles, what happens when you've been looking for answers in the wrong places, and how to love our broken parts.

*Musical Direction (Cabaret), 'Play Nice' (2017)

Access: Lyric books and a relaxed guide (with wayfinding and content information) will be available for all performances.