Baby Reindeer and Moulin Rouge! producers join forces for new podcast thriller play

Francesca Moody Productions and Global Creatures will present the world premiere of Roleplay by Hannah Reilly at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Written and performed by Reilly and directed by Paige Rattray, the one-woman show begins as a comedy before shifting into a psychological thriller. It follows a broke feminist podcaster who reinvents herself as a provocative online persona in pursuit of fame, only to lose control of the identity she has created.

Reilly is the recipient of the ATYP Rebel Wilson Comedy Commission, for which she developed the musical comedy The Deb. Rattray’s previous work includes Fangirls at the Lyric Hammersmith and a period as Director of New Work and Artistic Development at Sydney Theatre Company.

Reilly said today: “I’m beyond thrilled to unleash Roleplay at the Edinburgh Fringe with my dream collaborators. Feels like I’m going to the theatre kid Olympics. Writing this play has been equal parts joy and terror, which is the beauty of trying to make work as fearlessly as you can. When you have to crawl into bed for an entire weekend after submitting a draft, you know you’re onto something. I can’t wait to see what happens when it meets an audience.”

The production marks the first collaboration between Francesca Moody Productions (responsible for the likes of Fleabag and Baby Reindeer) and Global Creatures (with productions including Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Muriel’s Wedding The Musical) The new piece was originally developed as part of Belvoir St Theatre’s Up Late Series.

Moody added: “Roleplay grabbed me from the first page of the script. It is a piece of theatre that I just knew we had to produce and I can’t think of anywhere better than the Edinburgh Fringe to start its journey. It’s bold, unflinching, achingly funny, prescient and above all entertaining – made with artists who are daring to take risks. I am thrilled to be working with Hannah, Paige and partnering with Global Creatures – it’s a dream team of formidable women to collaborate with.”

Global Creatures producer Carmen Pavlovic concluded: “Roleplay is fearless work. It’s incisive, uncomfortable and irresistibly current. Hannay Reilly has created something that speaks directly to the moment we’re living in, where identity, economy and performance are in constant negotiation. I have immense admiration for Francesca Moody Productions and the daring solo work they consistently champion. Hannah Reilly and Paige Rattray are a creative team whose trust, rigour and appetite for risk make this work feel genuinely alive.”

Francesca Moody Productions will also present Garry Starr: Classic Penguins at Pleasance Grand and Crybabies: The Scaring at Pleasance Two as part of its Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 season, both running from 5 to 30 August.

The company’s venue Shedinburgh will also return with a programme of more than 70 shows featuring artists including Inua Ellams, Sara Pascoe, Bryony Kimmings and Rosie Jones.