10 Hidden Gems From Edinburgh Festival 2019
8. Kate Smurthwaite - Bitch
A savvy, intelligent show about the consequences of being a woman in the public eye with opinions, Bitch is Kate Smurthwaite's fifteenth Edinburgh show - and it is incredible.
As the audience files in, Kate has a slideshow playing every YouTube comment containing the word "bitch" that was left on just one of her public appearances. Each slide is shown for four seconds. To see all of them, you would have to arrive 25 minutes early; a sobering thought.
This is a show that pulls absolutely no punches – and yet, Kate is blisteringly funny, making you gasp, recoil and guffaw in equal measure. As well as reclaiming the word 'bitch', the show is gilded with hilarious stories from her dating life, anecdotes (and invitations to the protests) from her work with asylum seekers, and an explanation of why people who order takeaway breakfasts have caused Brexit.