Happiest I've Ever Been - EdFringe Debut 2026

Aim

Help us raise the final £800 needed to get 'Happiest I've Ever Been' to Edinburgh Fringe 2026!

Who are we? 

Hot Cross Theatre is a new Scottish-Irish theatre company dedicated to creating and amplifying bold, female-led stories which explore the complexities of modern life, womanhood, and marginalised identities. 

Driven by a passion for new writing, we blend humour, honesty, and cultural perspective to create intimate, dynamic work that centres underrepresented voices and lived experience. 

Our Show

'Happiest I've Ever Been' by Holly Archibald and Katie Young

'What happens when the high-flying corporate girlie finally snaps? Somewhere between a breakdown and a fever dream, Fiona finds herself face to face with an infuriating stranger who knows far too much about her life and who, quite frankly, thinks she's a massive d***.

With her reality scrutinised and her old wounds reopened, Fiona is forced to confront not only the person she's become, but her very idea of picture-perfect success. 

A sharp, funny and sincerely touching debut play about burnout, butterfly clips and what happens when the voice in your head stops cheering you on.' 

Where & When? 

'Happiest I've Ever Been' will be playing at: 

10:40am.
6th-30th Aug (not 18th)
Just The Tonic @ The Caves (Just Out The Box)

Ticket available at: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/happiest-i-ve-ever-been and https://edinburgh.justthetonic.com/event/88:6134/

What Will We Use The Money For? 

Being a new company, we are completely self-funded and are giving it our all to bring Happiest I’ve Ever Been to Edinburgh Fringe 2026. 

Our main goal for fundraising at this point in the process is to hopefully be able to cover Fringe travel costs for our team, our tech costs, and to properly invest in our advertising. 

We are not in the EdFringe catalogue this year and thus our passive advertising is at a minimum. It’s our goal to be in a position that allows us to fully invest in maximising our posters, flyers, and online marketing as much as possible so to reach far and wide and find the audience for our show! As a new company with no existing network or reputation yet, we are depending on advertising to attract an audience that can enjoy our show and make this a successful Fringe debut for Hot Cross Theatre.  

Your support would help us massively by easing the financial strain of this debut venture on our company and allow us to fully focus our time and energy on making our show the very best it can be.

Our Team

Holly Archibald (Co-Founder of Hot Cross Theatre)
Actor. Co-Writer. Co-Producer.

Katie Young (Co-Founder of Hot Cross Theatre)
Assistant Director. Co-Writer. Co-Producer.

Nadja Bonk
Director

Eilidh Harrower
Actor

THANK YOU!

Thank you for reading, and for possibly donating and sharing our crowdfund further! We are incredibly grateful for your support of our show, and we hope to see you in August! 

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 19th August 2026 at 10:36am