Episode 303: Edinburgh Festival - Extra Dry

It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with writer and performer Michelle Renee Johnson about her new show Extra Dry. EXTRA DRY Willow Studio at Greenside Dates: 7-29 August 2026 Time: 15:05 (60 mins) “MJ dives headfirst into a chaotic and destructive romance with alcohol. As her nights spiral and the blackouts escalate, her stories become memorable to others - hazy or nonexistent to herself” Michelle Renee Johnson’s new one-woman play Extra Dry is poetic, vulnerable and staggered with blackouts. Not just a theatre concept, these blackouts chart the moments lost during her chaotic obsession with drinking. Growing up quieter by nature, but noticing that those who have larger personalities are more memorable to others, the MJ we meet in Extra Dry is drinking to be remembered, to be the anecdote, to centre herself. In a poignant moment she asks her college friends: would we have anything to say if we weren’t always drunk? Waking up in countless scenarios in which she has to piece together the night (or day) before, including nonsensical Snapchats, missing iPhones, and a mysterious red jacket; these stories give life to Michelle’s debut performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. What begins as a darkly comic rolodex of tales slowly twists into a knife of discomfort as MJ comes to realise the consequences of her infamy. And so Extra Dry asks questions about how we can live comfortably in our own skin, how we own our past and move forward, and how we resist our Sword of Damocles - for MJ, an extra dry martini. Now sober and inspired by the one-person shows she saw at the Edinburgh Fringe, including Nan, Me, and Barbara Parvi by Hannah Maxwell and Neporrhoids by Jake Roche, Michelle went home to New York and started to write her own story, putting pen to sobriety and her journey to get there: ”The Fringe Festival ignited in me a desire to create a personal piece of work. I saw these performers who were telling deeply personal stories in a poignant way, armed by a bravery I had not encountered before - either onstage or off. The level of vulnerability it takes to perform this show multiple times in front of multiple people, both friends and strangers, is daunting, but I hope those who see it are able to leave with something on which they can ponder, whether about themselves or someone close to them.” Tickets - https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/extra-dry OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE