Homecumming - Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026

Homecumming, directed by Marie Queenan and starring Magalie Rouillard-Bazinet is a vulnerable exploration of self-worth and pleasure and asks what happens when your body stops doing something you once took for granted. . Our nameless heroine looks back on a time when pleasure came easily, before, around the age of 22, toxic and confusing relationships began to change her relationship with sex and, ultimately, with herself. “I can’t cum anymore” becomes less a punchline than a symptom of something much deeper.

What makes the show so effective is the disconnect between her body and her mind. Her body still wants sex, still craves an orgasm, but mentally she simply isn't there. Her vagina almost becomes a character in its own right, interacting with her like Gollum and Sméagol, a surprisingly effective physicalisation of the battle between desire and emotional wellbeing. 

Rouillard-Bazinet is also a terrific physical performer. Much of the show takes place on a wooden chair, but she turns the restriction into an opportunity, finding an impressive range of movement within it. When she does break free, the performance expands into dance, splits and bursts of remarkable athleticism. There is a real sense of her body becoming part of the storytelling, rather than simply something being talked about. 

The Anatomy Theatre at Summerhall is an especially fitting setting. We are literally looking down on our heroine as she examines her own body, sexuality and mental state, making the performance feel almost like an examination or dissection. There is an intimacy to watching someone lay themselves this bare, particularly when the subject is something so often surrounded by embarrassment and taboo.

Homecumming explores what happens when you lose connection with yourself, and how difficult it can be to find your way back. Through therapy, self-reflection and a growing acceptance of herself, our heroine begins to understand that healing isn't necessarily about becoming the person she was before. It is about learning to love herself with or without the things she once thought she needed.

Lee Hutchison

4.5 / 5 

Runs at Summerhall until August 16