Hello!
We're taking This Blighted Star to the Fringe!
We’re so excited and it still doesn't feel quite real but we really need YOUR help!
We have not received any backing from funders and It’s impossible to take this show to Edinburgh by self funding alone. We need your support and generosity to help us cover the essential costs.
There are many upfront costs that we need support with. Venue hire, rehearsal space, marketing materials, transport and those sneaky costs we don't see coming!
We need YOU to make this happen - Please take a look below and see how you can help!
What is ‘This Blighted Star’?
Written and performed by Alfie Jones and directed by Alice Harding, This Blighted Star is a new play that will be debuting at the Edinburgh Fringe 2025.
This Blighted Star is a gripping solo show that follows a CCTV operator who becomes consumed by the disappearance of a childhood friend in their hometown. It twists and subverts the familiar tropes of mystery, pulling the audience into a world where the lines between obsession, conspiracy, and modern masculinity blur.
In a world where every move is watched, what happens when the act of looking becomes its own kind of entrapment?
Who’s the team behind This Blighted Star?
Alfie Jones - Writer and Performer
Alfie Jones is an actor, writer, and filmmaker from the West Midlands. In 2018, he co-created the play Blessings with Morning People Productions, then went on to train as an actor at LAMDA.
Since graduating, Alfie has appeared in productions at the Donmar Warehouse and Hampstead Theatre.
In summer 2025, he will debut his short film StickShift, while his new play This Blighted Star premieres at Underbelly as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Alice Harding - Director
Alice is an award-nominated director and writer from Kent. Alice originally trained as an actor at The BRIT School and National Youth Theatre. She is the co-founder of The Rehearsal Room.
Directing credits include: Fortunes of War (Apple TV/101 Films) American Monster, Caught In The Net and Married To Evil (Discovery) Lost Frequencies (Bridge Theatre Company) Exit Strategy (Rehearsed Reading) and her debut film Barton Turf, which received its premiere at Oxford Shorts Film Festival in 2024.
Associate Director credits include: Flicker (Soho Theatre)
Writing credits include: Barton Turf, Give Yourself Away.
Alice has also had her work featured in Rolling Stone magazine, for her music video for Everybody’s Saying That by Girl Ray.
Sam Pout - Producer
Sam is a playwright, dramaturg, producer and Literary Associate at Omnibus Theatre.
Sam’s writing has featured at Soho Theatre, Mountview and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with credits including Fisheye ‘incredible’ (★★★★ Everything Theatre, 2025) and The Brave Anthology (★★★★★ Broadway Baby, 2019).
Sam has also dramaturged and helped the development of work that has appeared at Soho Theatre, Theatre503 and various festivals across Europe.
Lilly Walker - Co-Producer
Lilly is an actor and producer working between New York City and London.
She trained at LAMDA, graduating in 2021, and has since developed her producing career alongside her work as a performer.
Recent producing credits include Jade The Icon (Big Apple Film Festival and Nyack International Film Festival Official Selections), StickShift (COGGIA Productions), and The Monkey’s Paw (Hammer Films).
She is also the co-founder of a creative collective currently in early development, aimed at supporting emerging talent across the film and theatre industries in Los Angeles, New York, and the UK.
Angelo Sagnelli - Lighting Designer
Angelo Sagnelli is Theatrical Lighting Designer, based in London UK and New York City USA.
Angelo has an MA in Collaborative Theatre Production & Design from Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Along with a BFA in Lighting Design & Technical Theatre from Marymount Manhattan College in NYC.
Recent Productions include:
— 2024 Fringe First Award Winning Show, Letter To Lyndon B Johnson Or God Whoever Reads This First, By Natasha Roland and Xhloe Rice
— 2023 Fringe First Award Winning Show, What If They Ate The Baby?, By Natasha Roland and Xhloe Rice
— 2022 Fringe First Award Winning Show, And Then The Rodeo Burned Down, By Natasha Roland and Xhloe Rice
Baby Sounds - Sound Designer/ Composer
Bio - TBC
Theo Vasiloudes - Set Designer
After graduating in 2023 from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Contemporary Art Practice, Theo has gone on to work with underground queer artists’ collectives throughout the UK including Stoggaf Co. (London) and Obscene Pomegranate (Lincoln). His work has been shown at group shows, most recently at Does Anything Else Under Heaven Really Matter? curated by Will Coups at D-Contemporary in London, and his work has been shortlisted for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries award in both 2023 and 2024.
Since April of 2024, Theo has been working with UK New Artists as part of their New Artists Collective in Derby, England. Working collaboratively with other artists, he produced a body of work responding to Derby’s industrial past that was presented in October 2024 as part of a weekend-long celebration of the arts in Derby. Theo will be returning to Derby in February 2025 with UK New Artists to lead a residency centering around the Language of Objects.
Scout - Moral Support
Trailer - Behind The Scenes
Why are we crowdfunding?
So, taking a show to the fringe is… expensive. Actually, really expensive.
There are a lot of up front costs that we need to cover. Venue hire, rehearsal space hire, accommodation, travel… And that's all before we even get to Edinburgh!
Funding theatre is always hard but it feels especially hard at the moment. While we hope to recover the costs through ticket sales, the upfront costs are killer!
We hope to recuperate our costs once we get our box office takings and any profits we do make will be shared amongst the extremely hard working creatives. Our team are taking minimal fees and have committed regardless of the box office success.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this page and we hope you can give whatever you can!
Where is your money going?