Sketch trio Crybabies bring their horror comedy The Scaring straight from Edinburgh to Soho Theatre for three weeks from 3 September, directed by Jon Brittain for Francesca Moody Productions.
Sketch trio Crybabies open their new show The Scaring in the main house at Soho Theatre on 3 September, with the run booking through to 23 September. Performances are at 9pm and press night is Monday 7 September.
Michael Clarke, James Gault and Ed Jones come south from Pleasance Two, where the show has played since the opening days of this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Jon Brittain directs, and Francesca Moody Productions produces in association with Plosive Live.
It is a horror, played for laughs. A former priest, Arthur Holland, checks into a remote hotel and finds that the breakfast buffet is not the deadliest thing on the premises. Pushed into a double act with Gerry, the ghost of a guest who died there long ago, he has to face down demons both public and private while the manager, Mr Lyle, keeps watch from behind the desk.
The three of them play dozens of parts between them, switching costume at speed and often inside the same scene. The effects stay deliberately handmade - costumes built from scraps, scares conjured largely by suggestion - and the show finds room along the way for Shakespearean zombies, a serial killer with a broken arm and a set of walking waxworks.
Crybabies said: "We're thrilled to be performing at Soho Theatre for the first time since 2023. And because the world hasn't become terrifying enough in those convening years, we thought we'd do a horror. Inspired by everything from Scary Movie to scary movies, we're determined to put even more boos into the Soho evening air. The fact we've managed to drag the good folks of FMP into it is still, quite frankly, baffling."
Francesca Moody said: "I'm delighted that we're transferring this horrifyingly funny show to Soho Theatre. It's hugely exciting to be bringing together the comic genius of Crybabies with the imagination of a top tier creative team led by Jon Brittain. This wonderfully talented group of people are making something ambitious, surprising and truly terrifying."
Set and costume design is by Cecilia Carey, lighting by Bethany Gupwell, sound by Ed Lewis and video by Nina Dunn, with illusions by John Bulleid. Grace Duggan is associate director, Jodie Underwood associate lighting designer and Jack Boissieux production manager.
Brittain won an Olivier Award for his play Rotterdam and went on to direct Baby Reindeer, which took the same prize three years later. He also directed Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!. Francesca Moody Productions has sent work into Soho Theatre before now, Fleabag and Weather Girl among it.
Crybabies were nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer, and last appeared at Soho Theatre in 2023 with Bagbeard, having brought Danger Brigade there before that. Their BBC radio series Crybabies Present... began in 2024 with a version of Bagbeard and continued last August with Yours, Fatally; both were nominated at the BBC Audio Drama Awards, in 2025 and 2026 respectively. Away from the trio, Clarke has appeared in Lockwood & Co and Extraordinary, Gault in After Life and Trespasses, and Jones in Bridgerton and Big Boys.
The Edinburgh run drew a run of four-star notices. The Guardian called it "a torrent of great gags and illusions" and The Telegraph described the company as "the most exciting sketch troupe of recent years". The Scaring is one of several Fringe productions already booked into London venues this autumn, four of them at Soho Theatre alone.
