Sophie Melville and Nigel Barrett cast in Charlotte Josephine's Pops

Cast has been announced for Charlotte Josephine's new play Pops, which opens at the Edinburgh Fringe in July.

Sophie Melville (Wolfie, Iphigenia in Splott) and Nigel Barrett (Mysteries, Party Skills for the End of the World) have been cast in Josephine's new play, which runs as part of Assembly and HighTide's new Fringe Festival Disruption season. The season aims to showcase new writing at the Assembly Roxy venue in the Scottish capital.

Pops, which is directed by Ali Pidsley from Barrel Organ, follows a father and daughter who are caught in a cycle of addiction. It has sound design by Kieran Lucas, design by Bethany Wells and movement by Jennifer Jackson.

Josephine, whose other work includes Bitch Boxer and Blush, said of the show: "The cruelness of austerity is, of course, that it damages those who need the most support. The tabloids enjoy spreading lies that addiction is a choice, an ignorance, a greedy self-indulgence. It's hard to get well when the national narrative is repeatedly insisting you're bad, not sick. Shame is a killer, and the antidote to shame is empathy."

Pops runs from 31 July to 26 August as part of the Edinburgh Fringe.