Michael Trauffer-Edinburgh Fringe 2025-Part of July Challenge.

Michael Trauffer returns to the Edinburgh Fringe this year with his new play. Read on to find out more about it and the inspiration behind the play.

Show Title, time and venue.
The Pink List, 1:40pm at Gilded Balloon Patter House (Coorie), 30 July–7 August.

Where did the inspiration or ideas come from for your show/production?
After Fabulett 1933, I wanted to stay true to the topic and the audience, but still not repeat myself. The Pink List is inspired by real, often forgotten stories of gay men persecuted in postwar West Germany under Paragraph 175, a law that remained in force in its Nazi form for decades after the war. The story follows Karl, a fictional survivor of the camps who finds himself on trial again, this time in 1957. While the story is fictional, it’s based on real accounts of gay concentration camp survivors.

What do you plan on doing to relax and get some “time out” during the Fringe?
This is the first time I don’t have an evening show at the Fringe. So I’m looking forward to having the late afternoon and evenings off, seeing shows and meeting friends.

How do you deal with stage nerves before each performance, if you have them?
I tend to not get a lot of nerves before performances, especially now that we’ve already had quite a successful run with the show at the Brighton Fringe.

Where are you staying during the Fringe? Did you find accommodation quite easily?
I’m staying in a dorm of the University of Edinburgh. It’s affordable and I feel quite lucky that I could secure it.

What obstacles have you faced preparing for the Edinburgh Fringe this year?
It’s always the same – I do the whole producing including PR myself. Ideas for social media, filming content, contacting the media takes up a lot of time. Fringe prep is a full-time job before the show even opens.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?
From a Fringe perspective definitely the success of my previous solo musical Fabulett 1933; and then seeing people come back, bringing others with them. And now coming to see The Pink List.

Why did you decide to the venue you are using?
The Gilded Balloon was such an obvious choice: a pink venue for a pink show. And it has a brilliant reputation for supporting solo work and new writing

Favourite and worst thing about performing?
Favourite: creating something with a purpose, and then feeling the audience reacting to the material.
Worst: some brief moments on stage when I think I can’t remember the next sentence, freak out for a millisecond – and then, most of the time, remember it anyway.

In one sentence, why should someone come to see your show?
Because The Pink List serves as a reminder that the legacy of oppressive regimes doesn’t end when they fall; it lingers in laws, societal attitudes, and lives for generations.

Name one other show that you plan on seeing at the Fringe?
I Can Make You Italian in 55 Minutes by Stefania Licari and No Good Drunk by Stacie Burrows

Where are you taking your show next?
Our first show date after the Fringe will be in Birmingham, at the Old Stock Joint, on 6 September. And we’re currently working on further dates.