2025 Fringe summer may be over, but autumn brings the promise of exciting Fringe transfers. Among them is Sam Edmunds’ The Chaos That Has Been and Will No Doubt Return. This piece captured hearts of Edinburgh in its sold-out Fringe run, and feels just as vital now amidst a tense political climate. Intimate, relevant, and unflinching, it attempts to confront darkness while retaining both its humanity, and its entertainment value.

Set in 2000s Luton, the play unfolds over the course of a single night. Best mates, Voice (Nathaniel Christian) and Lewis (Elan Butler), head to Lakisha’s (Leanne Henlon) for a raucous evening that oscillates between banter and brutality. What begins as a sharp portrait of friendship and youth culture builds into a searing commentary on class, family, and the crushing reality of knife crime.

The most impressive feat here lies in its storytelling. With just three performers, the show thrives in its own versatility, with actors slipping between roles while utilising an exaggerated characterisation that feels inherently “fringe” yet never gimmicky. Lakisha’s transformation from party girl to single mother smoking a cig, to the town’s notorious bully, or the doubling of parents and peers, becomes part of the play’s fabric. Most importantly, Edmunds’ writing avoids the trap of simply staging a grim sequence of events. Instead, we see chaos filtered through a protagonist’s lived experience – nuanced, human, and resistant to cheap moralising.

Christian’s performance as Voice is electric: vibrant one moment, quietly broken the next. His ability to command an audience without letting go of vulnerability is remarkable. Butler, as Lewis, matches him beat for beat – their chemistry utterly believable, their banter flowing with an ease that makes the inevitable fracture all the more devastating. Henlon is an unexpected standout. Her range is staggering, covering characters from teenage bravado to parental authority with equal conviction. If anything, one longs for more space for subtlety; the direction keeps them all at full throttle, when quieter moments would have deepened the impact.

The set by Rob Miles wears its fringe DNA proudly—a brick wall backdrop with ingenious pull-outs. Whether morphing into a corner shop or glitter-soaked party space, it roots the production in place without overcomplicating. Fairy lights flickering over a beautiful moment of romantic tenderness prove simplicity can land just as hard as spectacle.

And yet, chaos is sometimes its own worst enemy. The relentless energy borders on noisy excess, dialogue occasionally swallowed in the frenzy. Heightened emotion is powerful in bursts, but less so when hurled consistently at the audience. Still, when the show finds its balance—through biting humour (“Sean Paul as Our Lord and Saviour” drew audible howls) or the intimate confessions directed squarely at us—the room is utterly gripped.

The Chaos That Has Been And Will No Doubt Return doesn’t just tell a story about violence and youth—it implicates us in it. Messy yet urgent, it thrives on its contradictions. Even in its flaws, it is a piece that demands to be heard. One can only hope it finds life beyond the stage as well: this would make a brilliantly educational school tour, holding a mirror up to young audiences while confronting them with the raw reality of youth crime and the dangers it poses.

The Chaos That Has Been and Will No Doubt Return is running at the Southwark Playhouse Borough until September 27th. Get your tickets here.

Image credit – Harry Elletson