Description:
After a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2024 and sold-out performances at Greenwich Theatre, Ascension returns for Edinburgh Fringe 2025. Ascension is based on the 300-year-old diary of Dutch sailor Leendert Hasenbosch, who was marooned on Ascension Island in 1725 for the crime of sodomy. Isolated and surrounded only by barren rock and endless ocean, he fought to survive. He was, however, pursued ashore by his personal demons. This bold and inventive adaptation reclaims his story for the 21st century, exploring queer identity, the weaponisation of religion and the resilience to love ourselves in a sometimes unforgiving world.