REVIEW: Cardstock - A Sharp and Poetic Inquiry into Fandom, Fiction, and Survival

©️Photo by Qiao Zhang & Chang Liu

Premiered at Brighton Fringe 2025, transferred to Edinburgh Fringe. Presented by Seagull Sisters & HERstage, Cardstock is the debut collaboration between writer Qianyue Ang and director Xiaoyao Luo. With a young and international creative team, the show presents a sharp, emotionally charged two-hander that dives into the responsibilities and risks faced by online writers, especially women navigating public platforms.

Mae is a popular online erotica author at the height of her influence. Lily is a former reader who once found comfort in Mae’s stories, until the words started to feel too close to her own past. When Mae shares an anonymous account of sexual assault, she is questioned by the police. She says it was just fiction, or maybe someone else’s truth. As the lines between reader and writer, private and public, begin to blur, Cardstock examines the emotional impact stories can have when they spread beyond their original intent.

Ang’s writing is sharp, poetic and direct. The metaphor of cardstock, paper that is strong but still easily folded, runs throughout the play, reflecting both characters’ experiences of pressure, memory and survival. The text raises important questions about what it means to be heard and how creative work can unexpectedly affect those who read it.

Director Xiaoyao Luo builds the show with precision and care, letting key moments breathe. Her approach allows space for silence and small shifts in emotion to land fully. Movement direction by Sook Kuan Tang adds a ritualistic layer, helping express inner conflicts without relying only on words. One memorable sequence uses masks and live handpan music to show the weight both characters carry.

Cardstock also stands out thanks to the care and curiosity of its producers, Lin Cao, Dina Nan, and Yuqi Wen. All of them have long engaged with online fan fiction communities as readers. Their personal connection to fandom culture shaped the production’s core questions: What does fan fiction mean to Asian women today? How do these digital stories provide comfort, escape, or even healing? Their contribution brings a thoughtful layer to the production’s framing and focus.

Lyrical, powerful and deeply thoughtful, Cardstock explores the delicate boundaries between fiction, testimony, and truth in the age of online storytelling. At its heart, Cardstock is about stories, how we tell them, why we need them, and what happens when they take on a life of their own. It is a smart and sensitive debut from a promising team, and one that invites the audience to reflect, not just react.

★★★★

This show is currently performing at Clover Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court until the 16th of August. For more information, please visit: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/cardstock

Credits

CAST

Lily: Xinyue Zhao
Mae: Ching Chen (Jin)

Voice-over Performers

Officer 1: Jack Yearsley
Officer 2: Ethan Bareham
Editor: Tara Kitson

Creative & Production Team

Writer: Qianyue Ang
Director: Xiaoyao Luo
Movement Director: Sook Kuan Tang
Production Designer: Qiao Zhang, Chaoying Lin
Producer: Lin Cao & Dina Nan & Yuqi Wen
Technical Director: Dina Nan
Voice Coach: Aiqian Song
Original Music: Handpan by Jaiden Xiu
Marketing: Rey Aviles, Parasol Wu

Seagull Sisters & HERstage Present