Firebrand performed at the The Water Rats in Kings Cross London on 17th -19th August 2026.
Firebrand is a brand new queer musical that has been set in France during the rein of Louis 14th. It has been written by Merilee Ettia and Robbie Hebert and covers the struggles between whether one should be truthful and come out as queer or conform to what society expects. Which, I would imagine, would have been more difficult back then.
The story is based on the life of Julie d’Aubigny, a bisexuality swordfighter and lesbian modiste Cecillia Bortigli, and their meeting and has been inspired by a true story.
Events take place at the Palace of Versaillies, and the grounds and a small amount of narrating are required to explain where the event is taking place as with many fringe productions, the stage and budget isn’t very big.
The performance is billed as a work in progress production, so all actors are carrying a copy of the script, but this does not impact the audience and the cast performances.
For a new musical, it is great to see a large cast of nine actors who all put on excellent performances with fine voices that match the fantastic quality of the musical score.
This musical deserves to be seen by more people than just those able to get to one of the three performances at the Camden Fringe and as a work in progress I will be interested to see how this production develops.
For more information about Firebrand and other productions at The WatervRats and Camden Fringe, please use the link below.
Four Stars
Reviewed by Simon Bell.
https://camdenfringe.com/events/firebrand-a-new-queer-musical/
Theatre, Art and Film Reviews 
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