BACKSTAGE AT FRINGE with Jen Mcauliffe | Chip on her Shoulder
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- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
In today's 'Backstage at Fringe', we spoke to Jen Mcauliffe, Playwright and Director of Chip on her Shoulder, which opens on October 7 at Explosives Factory as a part of our Fringe 2025 season.
Single, Snacking, and Struggling: A Play About Chips, Comfort and Coping Kate wishes she was all that — and a bag of chips. Spoiler: she’s not. She’s a mess, and she knows it. But she’s trying, sort of. She might even be a little bit salty — at life, at love, at herself. If you’ve ever eaten your trauma like it’s a bag of chips you can’t stop digging into, if you’ve cried into crinkle cuts and found carbs way more comforting than people — welcome home.
Q: Take us back to the start. When did this show first drop into your head? How did it get to where it is now?
A: I was on the couch, halfway through a bag of chips I probably shouldn’t have finished in one sitting, when it hit me. I suddenly saw how ridiculous I must look—grease on my fingers, crumbs everywhere, fully committed to my own rage-typing. And then the idea of the show just clicked: using chips as a metaphor for all the things you love and rely on, and pairing that with the literal ‘chips on your shoulder’ felt like a fun thread to pull at.
Q: What will audiences find in your show that they won't find anywhere else in fringe?
A: What sets this show apart from the rest of Fringe is that chips aren’t just a metaphor—they’re part of the story itself. The audience is invited to snack along as we confess our story online. It’s brutally honest, messy, funny, and vulnerable—like trying to eat chips in a dark theatre, getting crumbs everywhere, and desperately trying not to make loud rustles during the show. Confessional storytelling meets playful, interactive indulgence.
Q: What will surprise audiences about this work?
…at how much they recognise themselves, or people they know, in Kate. Her stories about chips, therapy, and messy relationships are funny, awkward, and familiar, but also show how the struggles we carry from our teens often follow us into adulthood. We constantly adapt strategies to cope, justify choices, and even lie to ourselves…often deflecting with humour. That’s mirrored in the tonal shifts, where sharp comedy suddenly collides with raw honesty, creating moments that are both entertaining and unexpectedly revealing.
Q: You're on a blind date. Nervously, you walk into the bar. Across the smoke and pool tables you see them - there they are. Your exact target audience member, personified. Can you describe them?
Q: They’ve already eaten all the free bar snacks — even the stale pretzels — and are now hunting, very much on the sly, for where the staff might keep a secret stash. Their cocktail? Chosen entirely because it’s called “Tequila Mockingbird”rather than what’s actually in it. They’re awkwardly texting, pretending they’re totally fine being alone, until their friends show up. A couple of hot selfies were definitely taken in the loo mirrors on the way in — lighting’s terrible, but angles are everything. They’re across all the latest spicy book releases and with the same enthusiasm they’ll dissect a Jane Campion performance. They keep up with reality TV gossip just as much as highbrow arthouse theatre — and honestly, they don’t see the difference…it’s all art!
Q: What has been the most memorable moment in your process to this point?
A: Hearing and seeing the work come alive through Vanessa. She brings a depth and relatability that makes the character feel instantly familiar. She finds the humour and heartbreak in the same breath, and it’s in those moments that we realise how recognisable these experiences are. Through her, we can already see how audiences will connect, seeing themselves and their friends reflected back at them, and recognising the shared messiness of trying to cope, connect, and keep going.
Chip on her Shoulder plays at Explosives Factory from October 7-11. Stay tuned to the Theatre Works Backstage Blog, where we have loads more Backstage at Fringe content on the way!
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