After a triumphant, sold out international debut last year, “Little Squirt” Sailing back to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in July and it gives the same fearless heart, smart-but still transforming humor and radically honest stories that made it one of 2024’s prominent shows.
Written and performed by Australian rising star Darby James, the award-winning one-person’s musical cabaret will run from July 30 to August 24 at Gilded Balloon’s Anatomy Lecture Theater, with performances nightly at 19:30 (excluding 6 and 18 and 18).
In its core, “Little Squirt” is a salty, sincere and sharply fun exploration of sperm donation and everything that comes with it. Through 12 original songs, including sea skirt, ballads, emotional show stops and intestinal-stunning existential truths, James dives into deep personal territory: navigating donor forms, clinical meetings, moral gray zones and finally the question of what it means to create life in a world that is already overwhelmed.
Set Adrift on a symbolic island of confusion – yes, Sailor Hat is included – Darby James controls through the bizarre bureaucracy of sperm donors, from clinical troubles and genetic forms to deeper, unspoken moral women. What starts as a relaxed “yes” to a ad quickly lets into a deeply personal journey through identity, queerness and the complicated pursuit of joy in an uncertain world. With biting width and surprising tenderness, James gives humor and heart to a topic that would most not expect to see explored through sea skills – and yet it works.
The Show Premiered at Melbourne Fringe in 2023, where it Swept Three Green Room Awards, Including Best Cabaret and Outstanding, Being on to Win The Edinburgh Touring Award, which Secured ITS Fringe debut in 2024. Its Bold Storytelling and Genre-Defying Approach, With The scooters calls James ‘a winning, engaging artist’ and Music theater review Pours work as “raw honesty delivered with passion.”
This year’s return is produced in collaboration with gilded balloon and silent riots, the store production house founded by Linda Catalano (Hot Brown Honey, Batshit), and again directed by Casey Gould, with set and costume design by Betty Auhl.
But while “Little Squirt” takes its clues from a man’s donor trip, the emotional undercurrent goes much wider. James asks what kind of questions that are good after the house lights have come up: Is sperm donation selfless or self -service? Should we have children at all? And in a world that grows against environmental and moral crisis, what kind of future we create for them anyway?
After capturing the 2024 run I can say this: “Little Squirt” can be profane on the surface, open with sperm and a wink, but it is silent deep in the core. James has the rare gift to attract you with charm and cheek, just to turn your laughter into reflection before you even notice. For a moment you giggle at a nautical “sailors” -also; Next you are silently ruined by a letter written to a child who may never be fulfilled.
The show has its shortcomings. AA some songs land more powerfully than others, but it is a minor remark in what is ultimately a smart, brave and emotionally intelligent theater hour. It is the kind of French pearl that sneaks up on you and stops with you long after the lights have come up.
If “Little Squirt” sails into your city, release the anchor. You want to be on board.
View Details:
Written and performed by Darby James
Gilded Balloon, Anatomy Lecture Theater
July 30 – August 24 (not 6, 18)
19:30 | 60 minutes | Ages 14+
(?
For more theater coverage, review and pop culture features that dig a little deeper, follow @celebix on x/twitter or visit celebmix.com – we keep tabs on the best stories on and off the stage.
