LIVE Performance Cast Album now streaming on Soundcloud

We've added a Soundcloud playlist to act as a cast album for songs from the 2025 LIVE performances of Absurd Hero at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In the final weeks before the performance some of the songs were cut down in length to best utilize the 60 minute format at fringe. These tracks were recorded at Willow Studio at Riddles Court between August 4th through 9th, 2025. It's important to capture all these sorts of things for performances in the future.

Cast album playlist from Absurd Hero
Recorded LIVE at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Performers: Antigone Biddle, April Alsup, Brian Bohlender, Cooper Kaminsky, Gunnar Bettis, Heather Westenskow, Jacob Frye, Jude Thurman, Kelly McAllister, Libby Shull, Mark Zarlengo, Patrick Brownson, Sonsharae Tull, Tanner Kelly

Absurd Hero: Now streaming in 4K

We’re excited to share a brand-new performance video of Absurd Hero—filmed in 4K and edited together from different nights and multiple camera angles. This isn’t just a static capture; it’s a dynamic look at the show, bringing you closer to the action, the comedy, and the chaos. Whether you missed it in Edinburgh or want to relive it from a new perspective, this video puts you right back in the room. Watch the absurd in stunning detail and let us know what you think.

Absurd Hero shines in The Scotsman

We’re still pinching ourselves—Absurd Hero received a glowing ★★★★ review in The Scotsman!

They called it “a clever, satirical romp that blends mythology with modern politics” and praised our little Denver troupe for bringing “wit, energy, and heart to the Fringe stage.”

For us, it’s not about reviews, it’s about the joy of sharing this journey together. From late-night rehearsals in Colorado to opening night in Edinburgh, we’ve felt the truth of Camus words "One must imagine Sisyphus happy”

Thank you, Scotland, for welcoming us so warmly. 💙

An Absurd Hero in Edinburgh... Vote Sid!

🎭 We had the incredible honor of performing at the Greenside Venues Gala, kicking off this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival — and yes, we’re still pinching ourselves. To be in Edinburgh, sharing the stage with artists from all over the world, performing for some of the most reputable media outlets in theatre — it’s beyond exciting. It’s also a bit… absurd. 

Which, of course, brings us back to Camus. He wrote that the Absurd Hero is the one who lives with full knowledge of life’s futility — and still gets up each day, brushes off the dust, and pushes forward with passion. That’s us. A little theatre troupe from Denver, carrying a musical across an ocean, and landing right in the heart of the largest performing arts festival in the world.

We laughed, we played, we opened the Fringe. And now the real journey begins.

#AbsurdHero #EdFringe2025 #GreensideGala #FromDenverWithLove #CamusWouldBeProud

Using ChatGPT for set design concepts

International theatre festivals like the Edinburgh Fringe present some unique challenges for the theatre maker. The 60 minute format, minimal sets and props, electrical, music and audio equipment, wing space, shipping and so on, We have our rehearsal blocks stored overseas at a local theatre college and this year we're integrating them with some lightweight sheer drapes.

AI generated image for the Absurd Hero set in Willow Studio at Riddles Court

One of the fun parts of performing preview shows in Denver is that we use the exact same sets and props we’ll take to Edinburgh. With only five minutes to load in and out, the design has to be flexible and fast. Once we land on a concept that’s both functional and true to the show, we use ChatGPT to mock up the layout in our actual venue — so we can see exactly how it all fits.

Eco-friendly Theatre Programs using QR Codes and PubHTML5 Flipbook

In 2018, we received Planet Connections Theatre Festival’s prestigious “Greener Planet Award” for reducing waste through digital innovation. Since then, we’ve doubled down; replacing printed scripts and programs with QR codes and PubHTML5 flipbooks. It’s cleaner, greener, and gives audiences instant access to everything from cast bios to show notes, no paper, no clutter, just smart theatre.

We're trying to be as eco-friendly as possible these days, so this July and August we'll be hanging posters with the QR code above around our venues' theater entrance and lobby so patrons can view our  Summer performance programs directly on their smart phones. Try it out now and yes we are tree lovers in Colorado. Here's the link to our digital program for this summer’s performances at Vintage Theatre and Greenside @ Riddles Court (Willow Studio): 👉 https://pubhtml5.com/mdgc/rmsu/

Kickoff for the Absurd Hero show

We recently had our annual kickoff meeting for participation in the Edinburgh Fringe. The event signals the end of development and the launch into the production stage of the show. For the last few years we've met at First Baptist Church on Grant Street across from the state capitol. We typically discuss important dates, talk about the show, group activities and ink our agreements. Afterwards, we head over to Charlie Browns for some piano bar fun.

Cast and performance date announcement

We have our cast and performance dates now and coincidentally it all coincides with our final Edinburgh festival poster. We love it when that happens! The image was created by Melissa Rick, we've been working together for eons and started talking about this months ago. We'll plan to print some up for our venues and as mementos for everyone.

Our first official press release

It's official now, we're headed back to Scotland! That's right, at 9:20 AM EST tommorrow our first Absurd Hero press release hits the AP wire and it's all about our brand new show "Absurd Hero." We're staying at the university again, they have some really nice flats for visiting theatre troupes through the artists program. What a great show we have in store for everyone, it's so fun. Next steps are to hold auditions and secure another fabulous cast from Denver. See you soon Edinburgh!

Creative strategy for branding, identity, graphics and visuals

Here's our creative strategy document for the Absurd Hero. It's the first step towards a complete marketing manifesto for the show. It's always prudent to get something on paper for your designers to use to craft their ideas and concepts from. Once they deliver the preliminary designs we're able to apply it to all sorts of different collateral and determine what's working and what could use some work. It's sort of like driving in a rain storm with different settings for your windshield wipers; eventually, things clear up and it's full speed ahead again.

A brief history of the Absurd Hero show

Towards the end of the first WYSIWYG run (Spring 2014) April had a brief discussion with Tony Domenick and Evan Duggan about more collaboration and somehow they got on the topic of Sisyphus. The idea intrigued her and the songs for the show came out naturally. About six months later, she had put together the story-line and a preliminary set of songs, but by then Tony was headed to California, Evan was already in Chicago and they told her to just go for it. So April connected with her dear friend Mary Scott from Denver's Performing Arts Project and she was happy to get involved with developing the book.

April and Mary (2017)

A few years and several readings later April hired Brandon Bill as director and they mounted the show as "Sisyphus the Musical" at the Aurora Fox theatre in June 2017. She had never put together a complete full length Broadway Musical of that scale before and this was a fun group to bring that show to life, but eventually she realized she had to revisit the underlying concept and create a whole new work.

Cast of Sisyphus the Musical (2017)

By the end of 2024 "Absurd Hero" had emerged as the title and the new show is now scheduled to debut at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. One challenge would be to simplify and streamline the show for the 60 minute format. Topics like politics, mythology and philosophy might be considered a bit heavy for broad audience appeal, but we knew that the Fringe would be a perfect place for some out of the box thinking. We created a modern setting, meaningful story arcs with fun plot twists for each character. April selected a subset of songs from the original show, added a few new ones and modified the lyrics to support and move the new story along.

Absurd Hero Logo (2025)

Making Sid the Absurd Hero meant integrating some of the fundamental concepts from the treatise on Absurdism by Albert Camus, who famously uses the Greek myth of Sisyphus as an example of the Absurd Hero and the human experience. In our modern day version of Sisyphus, Sid a politician, must take care of the homeless problem for city hall. To Zeus and his homeless friends, Sid is Sisyphus and many events that take place during the show can be found in the myth. A delusion that plays out in the homeless gods minds and the spectacle of the stage. Sid must please Zeus, city hall and teach the citizens that they are in control of their future and to accept their fate, whatever it may be.

Coming to a theater near you!

 Stay tuned for the announcement and plans for Absurd Hero, a new musical by April Alsup