Daniel Ansell
3 Sept 2025
At this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, playwright and performer Priyanka Shetty has been named one of the recipients of the Scotsman Fringe First Award, recognising her powerful and urgent solo piece #CHARLOTTESVILLE. Presented by stage and screen icon Miriam Margolyes, the award is one of the most coveted honours at the Fringe, celebrating exceptional new writing in theatre.
Shetty is no stranger to the solo format, and with #CHARLOTTESVILLE, she further cements her place as one of the most vital and thought-provoking theatremakers of her generation. Born in India and now based in Philadelphia, Shetty’s work exists at the intersection of personal narrative, political urgency, and rigorous theatrical craft. Her plays interrogate systems of power, identity, and belonging—often through the lens of her own lived experience as an immigrant woman of colour in America.
Her debut solo show, The Elephant in the Room, toured extensively across the United States and internationally, including a performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and a well-received Off-Broadway run at 59E59 Theaters in New York City. #CHARLOTTESVILLE is the second instalment in Shetty’s ambitious “Triptych of Solos,” with a third piece currently in development and a coordinated nationwide premiere of all three slated for 2025–26.
In #CHARLOTTESVILLE, Shetty turns her spotlight on the chilling events of August 11–12, 2017, when white nationalists convened in Charlottesville, Virginia, for the now-notorious “Unite the Right” rally. What unfolded was a national tragedy—violent confrontations between white supremacists and counter-protesters, dozens injured, and the murder of activist Heather Heyer. Shetty, who was an MFA candidate at the University of Virginia during the time of the rally, uses her proximity to the events to shape a deeply personal and politically resonant narrative.
Constructed using verbatim material from over a hundred interviews, court documents, and news reports, #CHARLOTTESVILLE belongs to the tradition of investigative theatre pioneered by artists like Anna Deavere Smith (Twilight: Los Angeles 1992) and Leigh Fondakowski (The People’s Temple). Yet Shetty’s voice is distinctly her own—unflinching, methodical, and emotionally charged, with a deep commitment to truth-telling and community accountability.
The production was directed by Yury Urnov, co-artistic director at Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater, a company known for bold, socially conscious work and recipient of a Regional Tony Award. The project also attracted the support of Olivier, Tony, and Emmy Award-winning producer Richard Jordan, who joined the team ahead of the Fringe run and will continue to collaborate on future touring efforts. The show’s Edinburgh production was presented in association with the Pleasance, one of the festival’s key producing venues.
Prior to its Fringe debut, #CHARLOTTESVILLE was staged at Washington, D.C.’s Keegan Theatre, where it garnered critical acclaim. In her review for The Washington Post, Celia Wren called it “a methodical, stirring solo play” and “a reminder that theater can offer bracing ideas that help us navigate reality.” After the Edinburgh run, the piece travelled to the Actors Theatre of Louisville for two special performances on September 14. A full national and international tour is currently in development, with further dates to be announced soon.
It is no small feat to bring such recent, emotionally raw material to the stage with clarity and compassion. Shetty’s #CHARLOTTESVILLE does exactly that—providing not just a recounting of facts, but a meditation on memory, complicity, and the role of theatre in bearing witness. At a time when democracy and civil discourse feel increasingly fragile, her work reminds us of the power of performance to confront injustice and foster understanding.
As the Fringe draws to a close, Priyanka Shetty’s recognition with a Fringe First Award feels not only timely but entirely well-deserved. Her voice is one to watch—not just in solo theatre, but in the broader landscape of contemporary performance.