Pablo Lechuga caught up with ne recently about Elephant in the Room, coming to Vaulty Towers 29th and 30th of September as part of the Lambeth Fringe.

What was the inspiration behind your show?
Going for Christmas Eve dinner with my partner, we spoke about the elephant in the room we’d face at the dinner table. The inspiration came. Wouldn’t it be amazing to make a show called elephant in the room… about an elephant in a room? After a while, Babar appeared. And with him, the colonialist review of the great author Ariel Dorfman, with whom Babar is upset in my play and I have personally thanked him for the fascinating critique that has also inspired the show.

How long has your production been in progress?
Since 2023, it all started in Centre Civic El Sortidor in Barcelona, from there the show travelled to Reykjavík Fringe, Tallinn Fringe and Gothenburg Fringe. In 2024 we went with it to FinFringe, Prague Fringe and Edinburgh Fringe. And in 2025, before Lambeth we were back in Edinburgh and took it to Duisburg Fringe too.

Where are you planning on taking the play next?
The goal is Australia: Adelaide Fringe, Perth Fringe, Melbourne Comedy Festival… the elephant has seen already plenty of rooms around Europe.

What would you like audiences to take away from your show?
To be more aware of elephants’ alcoholism caused because of colonialist children’s books, to respect chess pawns’ rights and especially to take better care of plastic bags. You’ll get it all if you come to the show –or not, frankly, I get lost sometimes too.

What are you looking forward to most about performing your show?
The fun. More than half the festivals I’ve participated in don’t offer viable economical resources to even compensate the investments in transport or accommodation due to their size or lack of institutional funding. So as an artist who comes from a working class background I try to not take financially risky festival choices, but when I do at least I set a single goal: to have fun. Otherwise, why would I dress as an elephant?

Why did you choose your particular Fringe venue?
Because John Cleese’s moustache has always been an inspiring moustache, and I really liked the play of words with ‘Vaulty Towers’. Maybe a bit too much.

Which shows at the Fringe are you planning on watching?
Every single show I can catch while I am in London. It’s the best part of participating in Fringe festivals other than having fun at your own show: seeing other shows. ‘Prostituting Pigeons’, ‘Myths, Maps & Monsters’ and ‘Foreign Girl’ are on while I am there and have caught my eye so far.

Have you had any major hurdles to overcome to get this production on the stage?
In 2023, after our first shows in Reykjavík, we travelled to Tallinn Fringe. On our way there, Lufthansa lost our luggage with every single costume, prop and promotion of the show, plus plenty of personal stuff. The production got wiped out in one go. The bag never arrived to Tallinn. The organisers of the festival proposed me to perform anyway. A very nice girl, Liisa, lent me her giraffe costume and my partner and stylist producer, Samarah, made up an elephant trunk with a couple of things. There it was: the ‘Gireleffant in the Room’ was born. They were some of the funniest shows I’ve ever done.

What other productions have you previously been involved with?
I’ve been fortunate to be part of many productions throughout my career. Among my own creations, I’d highlight ‘El Partido’ (‘The Party’), a show about the creator of a political party for everyone who uses an eerie device to lead to power. He’s briefly imprisoned but comes out of jail and wins the elections and becomes an autocrat. I promise I wrote this way before January 6th 2021. I am also very happy with my short solo ‘Un Pelo Andaluz’ (‘An Andalusian Hair’), which is a piece about a bundle of hair that has been cut by its previous human and it is grieving.

https://lambethfringe.com/events/elephant-in-the-room

My site is https://pablolechuga.com, my Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/pabs.lechuga/, my Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/pabs.lechuga/ and my TikTok is https://www.tiktok.com/@pablo.lechuga.