Creative Scotland Crowdmatch has provided £220 of match funding
Milk On The Side: A Barista Musical
Glasgow, Glasgow City, United Kingdom
Aim: A three-person team, one Big Fringe Dream. Help us fund the marketing costs for our show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Being an indie theatre company at the Edinburgh Fringe is no small feat!
We’re sharing stages with big-budget productions and major players and we’re proud to hold our own. But to help our show get the visibility it deserves, we’re raising a little extra to support our advertising and reach more audiences.
After two incredibly successful sell-out runs at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Milk on the Side: A Barista Musical is ready to bring the struggles and ridiculousness of working in the service industry to the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe! From Karens to croissants, we can all relate to crazy customers right… Right?
Baristas Amy and Casey work together in the coffee-ground trenches of a hipster café in Edinburgh. People call it “low-skilled” labour, which is why Amy is getting out, if only she could get hired somewhere else that is. But what she doesn’t know is that it’s really Casey, who claims to love their job, who might be leaving first.
The audience are the café customers in this immersive play, where the characters take your coffee orders and ask for menu suggestions. Follow our two hapless baristas whilst they try their best to make the best of it, serving up comedic songs and a story that takes you through some of the best (and worst) stories from the hospitality world.
Is this a job worth leaving? And what does Harry Styles and a smashed avocado have to do with it?
Press, Bios and Info below.
‘Having all worked in retail and customer service roles for 10 years, we wanted to share some of the relatable highs and lows that come with your “for now” job and ask “what’s wrong with a job like this anyway?”’ - Clare Roberts
PRESS:
‘...entertaining and enjoyable, not to mention the ‘Ukulele Solo ’ that caught me off guard and had me laughing out loud.’ - Theatre and Tonic
'Funny, light-hearted and relatable... a bespoke and inventive performance' - Glasgow University Magazine.
BIOS:
Clare Roberts (@LittleStringsMusic) is an award winning performer, writer, and theatre maker who has toured internationally and across the UK. She has an MLitt from The University of Glasgow and is known for blending sharp humour and contemporary commentary. Her previous play #Like4Like received rave reviews at the Carlisle Fringe. She hopes to surpass herself with her writer debut at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Chris Honey is a Director and choreographer who has worked with Bard in the Botanics, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Scottish Opera. In 2022 he directed and produced Our Boy by Helen Hammond at the Edinburgh Fringe, a show about assault and neurodiversity, to very positive reviews. This Fringe, he’s looking forward to bringing the same level of feeling to something a little more light hearted.
Emily Mahi`ai is a multidisciplinary artist who graduated from Edinburgh Napier University’s Acting & English programme in 2024. Growing up in Northern California, they found their love of performing through dance, choral music, classical piano, & musical theatre productions, developing a passion for embodied storytelling & building community through theatre.
Clare and Chris met at University and struck up a lasting friendship not dissimilar to that of the characters in the show. They have previously collaborated on #Like4Like at Carlisle Fringe and the Glasgow International Comedy Festival. Emily and Clare bonded over shared nerdiness when they worked together through C Theatre, C Venues at The Edinburgh Fringe. All of them know the hospitality sector well, both as patrons but often as workers.
ABOUT REWARDS:
Every donation means the world to us, and we’ll be giving big thank-you shoutouts to all our amazing backers! Just like in a real-life coffee shop, we’ll have a “Supporters’ Wall” built into our set, featuring the names of everyone who helps bring this show to life. Your name will be right there with us, on stage and in spirit.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 23rd July 2025 at 8:24pm