I Want To Speak To Your Manager Brighton Fringe 2026 arrives at the Actors Theatre this May — the UK premiere of a show that sold out Dublin Fringe Festival and is now asking Brighton the same uncomfortable question.
Is being a Karen really that bad?
Written and performed by Irish artist Holly Hughes, the show plays 14 and 15 May 2026 at 6pm at the Actors Theatre, Kemptown. Tickets £11 / £8 concessions. 2-for-1 for Friends of Brighton Fringe.
I Want To Speak To Your Manager Brighton Fringe 2026: Why This Show Now
The full title tells you everything: I Want To Speak To Your Manager (How I Was Radicalised And Became…Karen).
This is the true story of one woman pursuing justice — one complaint email at a time. It begins with a pint of Guinness and a choice no Irish person should ever have to make, and escalates from there into a full deconstruction of what it actually means to be a woman who speaks up, pushes back and demands what she deserves.
Holly’s own words on the opening moment:
“Staring at the revolting pint of Guinness, I had a choice to make. I could either drink the asbestos volcano put in front of me and thus commit an act of treason against my homeland or, I could do the one thing I’d sworn I would never do: I could complain.”
Why This Show Now
The Karen archetype — entitled, demanding, unreasonable — has become cultural shorthand for a certain kind of woman who refuses to be ignored. I Want To Speak To Your Manager interrogates that archetype with sharp humour and genuine political intelligence.
In a world increasingly dominated by what Holly calls “broligarchs,” this show asks whether female assertiveness is a problem to be managed or a power to be reclaimed. It champions serial complainers, recovering people-pleasers and anyone who has ever been told they were being too much.
Holly Hughes on her show: “At her core, Karen embodies standing up for what you believe in, being difficult and saying the uncomfortable thing out loud. I hope the audience will relate to this while having a laugh along the way.”
Who Is Holly Hughes?
Holly Hughes is a writer, poet and performer from West Cork — and her CV is one of the more remarkable in this year’s Brighton Fringe programme.
She represented Ireland at the 2025 Poetry Slam World Cup in Paris, where she won third place. She was runner-up in the 2024 All Ireland Poetry Slam and a State Finalist in the 2023 Australian Poetry Slam. Her poetry has been published in Westerly, Washing Windows V and The Stony Thursday Book.
She has performed at Electric Picnic, Beyond The Pale, the Irish Literature Festival Dublin and the West Cork Literary Festival. She was selected for the Abbey Theatre’s 2026 Box of Tricks playwriting programme and named a rising star by the Irish Independent in 2026. She is currently completing a Master’s in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick under Joseph O’Connor and Donal Ryan.
This is not someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.
I Want To Speak To Your Manager Brighton Fringe 2026: What to Expect
This is a 60-minute solo show that moves between personal storytelling, stand-up and genuine political provocation. Holly draws on her own experiences — including attempting to take the Australian public transport system to court — to build a case for the serial complainer as an unlikely feminist hero.
The show premiered at Scene + Heard Festival to sold-out audiences before its full run at Dublin Fringe 2025. Brighton is its UK premiere — and the Actors Theatre in Kemptown is exactly the right room for it.
Practical Details
📍 The Actors Theatre, 4 Prince’s Street, Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1RD
📅 Thursday 14 May & Friday 15 May 2026
⏰ 6pm ⏱ 60 minutes
🎟 £11 / £8 concessions / 2-for-1 Friends of Brighton Fringe
For more Brighton Fringe 2026 shows, see our full Brighton Fringe guide.
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