Cheeky, funny, sexy – and harrowing, Sad Girl Songs is dark feminist comedy.
Audiences are invited to come along and be entertained (and in some cases educated) by songs like You Should Know Where the Clit Is (a handy user’s guide) and Daddy Issues Boyfriend.
Actor, comedian and singer Gwen Coburn then has fun with Bumble Songs – men’s real-life dating app profiles turned into song.
Praised by critics as “quick and sassy” (Theatre Beyond Broadway) and “full of wickedly pointed observations” (Edmonton Journal), the show is a “whip-smart autobiographical musical comedy” (Winnipeg Free Press) about gender violence in the world of comedy.
Gwen explores the trauma caused by an abusive student affair with her improv teacher and, just as importantly, the aftermath of the relationship. She describes it as being when “#YesAnd becomes #MeToo”.
It’s a show that takes in everything from memories of school self defence classes to classical mythology.
After all, the underlying the fact that women are made to bear the consequences of men’s wrongdoings is an ancient truth.
She recalls the story of the beautiful maiden Medusa, raped by the sea god Poseidon then, in the ultimate act of victim blaming, transformed into a snake-headed monster.
In 21st-century America Gwen found that after abuse occurred, despite being promised separation from the abuser and action to ensure a safer workplace for all women, what actually happened was that she was made to endure a “functional exile”.
Gwen says: “This is a comedy show, and a show about comedy. It’s also about what happens to women who experience abuse – not just the immediate results but the lasting aftermath.
“The show is brutally funny and brutally honest. It looks at the way we tell stories about women to women and the need for change, the need to incorporate care for those who experience abuse into the whole way that workplaces are run.”
She sets the abuse she experienced against a backdrop of other mythological figures like that “sad, sexy baby” Venus.
In her own case Gwen faced a struggle with her mental health and was eventually diagnosed with PTSD and faced a major battle to continue building her career in the performing arts.
Sad Girl Songs has toured North America winning multiple awards including Best Musical at the Winnipeg Fringe and an honour for artistic risk at the Vancouver Fringe.
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Notes for editors
- Interviews available – just get in touch.
Listings Details
- Venue: Greenside – George Street, Ivy Space (Venue 33)
- Time: 15:10
- Dates: Aug 1-9,11-16,18-23
- Duration: 55 minutes
- Ticket prices: Full price £14,50, concessions £12.50, family £12.50
- Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com
Cast and creatives
- Performer: Gwen Coburn
- Writer: Gwen Coburn
- Director: Kayleigh Kane
About the creative team
Gwen Coburn is a comedian, writer, and grown-up horse-girl based in Boston. Her writing has been featured in McSweeney’s (Ten Facts About International Men’s Day, As I Slowly Walk Myself Into The Ocean), Reductress, Gold Comedy’s digital sketch team Bloomsday, and Modern Love. As a comic, she’s featured at the Lysistrata Festival and won Brava Theatre’s award for Funniest Mami in 2021. Gwen’s comedy has been called “genuinely upsetting, in a good way,” which she genuinely loves. Learn more at gwencoburn.com
Kayleigh Kane is an intimacy coordinator, director, and actor working based in Boston, Massachusetts. She is a founding member of The Nova Comedy Collective, and the director of the comedy variety show, The Nova Show. Recent intimacy coordination credits include “Sorry, Baby”(2025 Sundance Film Festival, US Dramatic Competition), and the world premiere of “The Odyssey” by Kate Hamill at the American Repertory Theater. As an actor, she played the role of Huldey in Entropy Theatre’s production of “The Moors”, included in Boston Stage Notes’ “Best of Boston 2019”. Learn more at kayleighkane.com.
For media information contact Matthew Shelley at SFPR on 07786 704299 or at Matthew@ScottishfestivalsPR.org.