Emma Frankland’s No Apologies achieves something genuinely rare: a radical reimagining that feels both vital and sumptuous. Her premise echoing as a refrain throughout the piece— “Kurt Cobain was trans”— is intended, she says, not as a provocative assertion, but as invitation to wishful thinking.
Departing from Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged performance, Frankland excavates her fourteen-year-old self’s connection to Cobain through a scenographic brilliance that frames personal revelation within classical mythology. Initially Frankland reconstructs Cobain’s 1993 Unplugged attire from white rimmed sunglasses and bedraggled cardigan to a worn out pair of Converse. But then her license to wishful thinking delivers a stunning transformation into a baroque Icarus swinging from chandeliers to provide structural elegance to Frankland’s now signature pyrotechnics for full visceral impact. This is theatre that burns bright literally and metaphorically.
Under Harry Clayton-Wright’s direction, the work navigates that treacherous “knife edge of funny and gut-punching” with careful precision. In this context, Frankland’s sun costume for the finale becomes a luminous metaphor for dangerous visibility, a position claimed here with a remarkable gusto.
No Apologies — arguably this Fringe’s most gorgeous offering — serves however a deeper purpose than mere spectacle. Every design choice supports the work’s central investigation of identity, memory, and the life-affirming power of imagination. Internet discourse meets classical mythology in ways that entertain, while the “radical mis-remembering” creates space for truths unavailable in conventional biography. In this way, Frankland’s personal journey becomes a collective invitation to imagine ourselves and our heroes more expansively, all in a serious bid to save lives from suicidal despair. This is precisely the kind of fearless, formally inventive, emotionally devastating theatre the medium needs.
This post was written by the author in their personal capacity.The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of The Theatre Times, their staff or collaborators.
This post was written by Duška Radosavljević.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.
