Gladiatrix: The Musical - Fringe 2025

Aim: Help Gladiatrix (an original, historical, action musical) raise funds so it can put on the best possible show at Edinburgh Fringe 2025.

Hello, My Name is Paul Bianchi. I'm a writer and performer living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Edinburgh is a beautiful city filled with history, moss-covered graves, cursed objects, and The Edinburgh Fringe festival. This year, I am teaming up with some talented folks and bringing Gladiatrix: The Musical to the festival for a two-week run.

What is a Gladiatrix? I'm glad you asked.

A gladiatrix is a female gladiator. Yes, they existed. Rather, they existed until they didn't.

In 200 AD, Emperor of Rome Septimius Severus decreed that women could no longer compete in the gladiator games. I stumbled across this historical curiosity while researching for my mythology podcast, Mythunderstood. What could have led to such an event? How did it all go down? I dove deeper into research and found very little.

In my years of researching mythology and its surrounding culture, I learned Ancient History is fleshed out with context clues and supposition. I also learned history is most often written by men who have no interest in fleshing out the stories of marginalized people.

Rather than tell this story as "Gladiator- but with women," I resolved to bring in collaborators, shape the story as a musical, and give voice to these intriguing women lost in history.

After finishing a draft of the show, I got together with Tony Gonzalez and Sam Johnides to start crafting the songs. Sam and Tony are incredibly talented musicians and musical directors. They lend their talents working with book writers on new musicals like Supportive White Parents and Bachelor: The Unauthorized Musical Parody and develop their own projects like Happily Ever Under.

We worked to create three demos (sung by the fantastic Mary Lou) and you can 

listen to them here:

The demos complete, it was time to wrangle additional collaborators:

Kirsten Longmuir, a powerhouse musical theatre performer, choreographer, and singing coach. She is also helping refine and focus the script.

Calum Fleming, Founder of CF Creative Productions with years of Fringe experience under his belt. He trained as an actor but has a mind for spreadsheets. It's a deadly combination.

Stella Antonogiannaki, musical theater performer, gymnast, and reformed physicist.

We performed at a scratch night, Pitched at BEAM (UK's largest showcase of new musical theatre), and now we're taking the show to Edinburgh Fringe for a two week run at theSpace @ Venue45

We are committed to diversity, led by a mixed gender, queer and neurodiverse production team. Along with being focused on these women's stories, the show specifically calls for a diverse cast, including characters such as Septimius Severus and Deireoe (BME). We want to prioritise authentic representation and enrich our storytelling with empathy and authenticity.

We're very excited, but we're not wealthy. Putting on a Musical for Fringe is expensive. Your funds will contribute directly to:

• Rehearsal Space rental
• Props
• Costumes
• Make-up
• Feeding actors
• Marketing Expenses
• Travel Expenses
• The Creation of a cast album

We want the show to look and sound as good as possible to give it the greatest chance of succeeding at and living beyond Fringe 2025. Your pledge will help us get there and any/all amounts are greatly appreciated.

(For all pledges, if you do not wish to receive a specific pledge item/reward in return for your pledge, please email us to let us know.)

It hasn't been lost on us that modern, real world events share dark correlations with the themes of of our show. In 200 AD, the emperor of Rome was essentially "trying to make Rome great again" by increasing its show as a military power, embracing conservative policy, and widening the gap between the rich and the poor. According to some historians, Septimius's reign laid the groundwork for the collapse of the Roman Empire.

In sharing her story, that of the Gladiatrix, we hope to encourage critical thought and reflection. For all its fun and action and drama, Gladiatrix is more than a musical; it's a war cry.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 9th August 2025 at 12:00am