Lambeth Fringe Interview: Bex Wall

Bex Wall’s solo show began life as EX Life, a piece about reinventing herself through each decade, from a clown-obsessed child to a PTA mum and beyond. It has since become Life Would Be Pretty Dull Without Sex, Raves and MDMA, a dark comedy about 90s rave culture, grief and finding yourself, arriving at the Lambeth Fringe this October after runs at Edinburgh and Brighton. Bex tells Red Bus Londinium what survived from the first draft, what she let go, and why that was hard.

Red Bus: You said this started as a very personal project long before Edinburgh. What did the show look like in its earliest form, and how much of that first draft actually survives into what audiences will see at the Bread and Roses?

Bex Wall: Originally, I was going to take a show called EX Life to Edinburgh Fringe. It was about how I’d reinvented myself through each decade of my life.

It started with Rebecca as a child, with stories about wanting to be a clown and even a story I wrote at primary school called The Smuggling Tale. Then there was Becky as a teenager, discovering not just raving but cheesy 90s nightclubs, different drinks, friendships and all those early memories that come with growing up in that era.

Then came Becca — the sensible, middle-class PTA mum years — and then Naomi, my dating years, before eventually finding Bex.

A lot of the original idea has changed, but there are still little pieces of EX Life running through the show. The clown-like essence is still there, as are bits of the pirate story, memories of raving and 90s rave culture, and some of the PTA mum material and that feeling of eventually breaking away from that version of myself.

So although the show has become something quite different, I suppose those earlier versions of me are still lurking around in there somewhere.

Red Bus: The show keeps evolving with each run, with new material for Brighton and presumably more since. Is there a scene or line from the original Edinburgh version that’s gone completely, and do you miss it?

Bex Wall: I’ve mainly reworked Act One. After Edinburgh, I felt there was a bit of a disconnect with the audience in places, so I knew I needed to rethink some of it.

There was one section I particularly remember where I was talking to my brother, then I sort of became my brother, and then I was talking to myself again and somehow he was also talking to the PTA. It just became a bit confusing!

I think there was a line where my brother was goading me on, but I honestly can’t remember the exact wording without going back through my notes.

So no, I don’t think I necessarily miss the line — I think I miss the idea behind it. Sometimes you have to let go of things you really like because they just don’t work for the audience in the way you imagined they would.

Red Bus: You’ve spoken about bringing your brother into the piece through imagined conversations. How did you decide what of him belonged on stage and what you wanted to keep just for yourself?

Bex Wall: I definitely wanted to bring his clown-like essence into the show, because that’s very much how I remember him there’s a lot of happiness and fun in those memories.

But you can’t portray a whole person and their entire life in an hour-long show. There are so many memories of him that are incredibly important to me that don’t belong on stage.

I think I’ve tried to bring in the bits that feel right for the story, rather than trying to tell his story. He’s there as part of my story and my memories of him.

Red Bus: You went through cancer treatment between the show’s creation and this London run. Has performing it now, on the other side of that, changed how any part of it lands for you, particularly the sections about survival and letting go?

Bex Wall: My cancer journey has actually been quite intense because I’ve been diagnosed with cancer three times now. One of those diagnoses happened in the middle of creating the show, which was incredibly strange.

The show was originally very retrospective. I was writing about things that had already happened in my life. Then suddenly I was going through something I was actually writing about, while still creating the show.

Having to perform some of those lines while I was going through it, without the audience knowing what was happening behind the scenes, was definitely a challenge.

I think it inevitably changes how those sections land. When you’ve actually had to confront some of the things you’re talking about, you can’t perform them in quite the same way. There’s a different weight to them.

Red Bus: Orbital’s music runs through the show and Phil Hartnoll has given you a quote for the press release. How involved were they in shaping which tracks made the final cut, and was there ever a track you fought to keep in?

Bex Wall: The Orbital connection actually came about a few years ago. I was in Edinburgh with my friend Robin Whelean’s and his show Cat GPT Robin who is a close friend of Phil Hartnoll, and Phil came along to support us and do our after-party.

At the time I was working on EX Life, so I shared some of the ideas and stories with him. He really loved them and was keen for us to work together on a film and create a whole new soundtrack.

With this show, though, I pretty much had free rein. I knew I wanted to use Orbital because their music is so emotive, and my brain naturally works very visually and musically when I’m creating.

When I’m working on a scene, I often know instinctively what kind of music belongs underneath it. So I’d listen to different tracks and think, that’s the energy of this scene, or that’s what this moment needs.

And when Phil finally saw the show, he said, “ Great soundtrack, Bex.”

booking details

Life Would Be Pretty Dull Without Sex, Raves and MDMA
Written and performed by Bex Wall, co-written by Sarah Asante Gregory
Lambeth Fringe 2026
Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 October 2026, 9:00pm
Bread & Roses Theatre, 68 Clapham Manor Street, London SW4 6DZ
Tickets: https://lambethfringe.com/events/life-would-be-pretty-dull-without-sex-raves-and-mdma

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