Sh!t Theatre's Evita TOO: Award-Winning Duo Premieres Mega Musical at Edinburgh Fringe 2025

Sh!t Theatre, the multi-award-winning performance duo behind some of the Edinburgh Fringe's most celebrated shows, are returning to the festival this August with their most ambitious production to date. Evita TOO, a self-described "mega musical like no other," will premiere at ZOO Southside's Main House from 7 to 30 August 2026, following a completely sold-out run at the Southbank Centre's Purcell Room in London.

The show tells the extraordinary, largely forgotten story of Isabel Perón, the first female president of any country in the history of the world. If that fact surprises you, that's rather the point. While Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita immortalised Eva Perón in the public imagination, Isabel's story has been almost entirely erased from popular culture. Sh!t Theatre are on a mission to change that, with their trademark blend of investigative storytelling, absurdist comedy, original music, and yes, possibly naked roller-skating.

Who Are Sh!t Theatre?

For those not yet acquainted with their work, Sh!t Theatre is the creative partnership of Louise Mothersole and Rebecca Biscuit. Over the past decade, the duo have established themselves as one of the most distinctive and decorated acts on the international fringe circuit. Their CV is formidable: two Scotsman Fringe First awards, the Lustrum Award, Best Theatre at Sydney Fringe, the Adelaide Critics Circle Award, an Off West End Award, and the BANKSA Best Theatre Award at Adelaide Fringe.

Previous Edinburgh Fringe hits include Drink Rum with Expats, DollyWould (their exploration of Dolly Parton and late-stage capitalism), and Letters to Windsor House. Most recently, their 2024 Edinburgh show Sh!t Theatre: Or What's Left of Us sold out its entire run, further cementing their status as must-see Fringe artists. The Guardian has described them as "an unlikely pair of state of the nation playwrights," while The Stage awarded their work five stars, calling it simply "unforgettable."

The Story Behind Evita TOO

At the heart of Evita TOO lies a genuinely remarkable historical figure. Isabel Perón (born María Estela Martínez Cartas) rose from nightclub dancer to become the world's first female head of state when she assumed the presidency of Argentina in 1974 following the death of her husband, Juan Perón. Her story involves coups, political intrigue, and, astonishingly, a literal wizard: José López Rega, her husband's shadowy advisor, was an occultist who wielded enormous influence over the Perón household and Argentine politics.

Perhaps most bizarrely, Isabel reportedly kept the embalmed corpse of Eva Perón, her husband's iconic second wife, displayed in her dining room. It is a story that seems almost too theatrical to be true, yet it has been conspicuously absent from the stage and screen treatments that have celebrated the broader Perón saga.

Biscuit and Mothersole travelled across Argentina and Spain researching Isabel's life, piecing together a narrative that history has largely chosen to overlook. Their stated ambition? To write a musical that can stand alongside "Tim and Andrew's" (Lloyd Webber and Rice's Evita). The result promises truth, justice, original songs, wizards, and the kind of fearless theatrical invention that has become Sh!t Theatre's hallmark.

A Show About Power, Women, and Erasure

The themes of Evita TOO feel particularly resonant in 2026. The show interrogates why certain women are remembered and others forgotten, how populism shapes and distorts legacy, and what happens when the story of the first woman to hold a nation's highest office simply vanishes from the cultural record. It is, in Sh!t Theatre's hands, both a political provocation and a wildly entertaining musical comedy.

As Biscuit and Mothersole explained in their own words: "Isabel Perón went from nightclub dancer to the world's first female president. She ran Argentina, kept Evita's corpse hanging in her dining room, survived coups and literal wizards… then somehow got completely erased from history." The biggest surprise, they note, is that Isabel Perón is still alive today.

Previous critical responses to the show have been enthusiastic. Time Out described it as "a ridiculous, beautiful, defiant piece of theatre" and awarded it four stars. WhatsOnStage called it "a bold, riotous and quietly devastating musical," also giving it four stars. With the Edinburgh Fringe premiere representing an expanded version of the Southbank Centre production, expectations are high that this could be one of the defining shows of the 2026 festival.

Creative Team and Production Details

The production is directed by Ursula Martinez, herself an acclaimed performance artist best known for Wild Bore, her collaborative show with Zoe Coombs Marr and Adrienne Truscott. Martinez brings a sharp directorial eye to work that sits at the intersection of live art, musical theatre, and documentary storytelling.

Producing duties fall to Judith Dimant Productions, whose credits include Armando Iannucci's Pandemonium and the stage adaptation of Max Porter's Grief is the Thing with Feathers. The combination of Sh!t Theatre's creative vision, Martinez's direction, and Dimant's production expertise suggests a show that is both artistically ambitious and technically polished.

Evita TOO will play at ZOO Southside's Main House, 117 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, from Friday 7 August to Sunday 30 August 2026 (with no performances on 10, 17, or 24 August). Show time is 18:25, with a running time of approximately 75 minutes. The show is suitable for audiences aged 12 and over. Press performances begin from Saturday 8 August.

Why This Matters for Musical Theatre Fans

For lovers of musicals, Evita TOO represents something genuinely different. This is not a traditional book musical, nor is it a straightforward parody. Sh!t Theatre's work occupies a unique space: deeply researched, politically engaged, and frequently hilarious, their shows use the conventions of musical theatre and pop culture to excavate hidden histories and uncomfortable truths. If you have ever wondered what lies beyond the polished narratives of the West End's biggest shows, this is the kind of work that provides an answer.

The fact that it directly engages with one of musical theatre's most famous properties, Lloyd Webber and Rice's Evita, adds an extra layer of intrigue. Sh!t Theatre are not simply telling Isabel Perón's story; they are asking why it was never told in the first place, and what that silence reveals about which women's stories are deemed worthy of the spotlight.

Should You Book?

If you are heading to Edinburgh this August, Evita TOO should be near the top of your list. Sh!t Theatre's previous Edinburgh runs have sold out rapidly, and given the buzz surrounding this production following its London premiere, demand for tickets is likely to be high. Tickets are on sale now through the ZOO Venues website.

For those who cannot make it to Edinburgh, it is worth keeping an eye on future London dates. Given the Southbank Centre sell-out and the scale of this production, a post-Fringe transfer or tour seems a strong possibility, though nothing has been officially announced.

Looking for more exciting theatre to book? Browse our full listings of musicals and plays currently running across the UK, or check out the latest theatre news and features on BritishTheatre.com.