The Golden Fly Bomb – A Visually Striking and Darkly Comic One-Woman Show Comes to Camden Fringe

©️Photo by Mike Figgis

After earning recognition across major festivals in China, director-performer Zhiwei Wu makes her UK debut this summer at Camden Fringe with The Golden Fly Bomb — a visually striking and darkly comic one-woman show. Supported by The Cockpit’s bursary, the piece will be presented at Barons Court Theatre on 21 August and at The Cockpit on 22–23 August.

Set over a surreal 24-hour period, it follows a nightclub hostess spiralling through fractured reality — encountering talking cats, exploding candies, and men who morph into bowls. Grappling with family trauma and violent desire, she conjures a strange and metaphorical remedy: the “Golden Fly Bomb.” Merging original music, physical theatre, and projection by visual designer Chenchen Cai, the work invites audiences into a hyper-imaginative world where fantasy becomes the final refuge for survival.

Written and directed by Zhiwei Wu — whose past works have been presented at leading festivals including the Wuzhen Theatre Festival — the show continues her bold inquiry into East Asian womanhood and gender politics. Originally selected for a fringe festival in China, the production was never staged due to the refusal to censor its unflinching themes of violence and sexuality. Now translated and reimagined for the London stage, it brings a multilingual edge to the script’s wit and rhythm. At its centre is a daring, transformative performance by Jiyeon Song, whose dialogue with sound and movement embodies Wu’s cross-disciplinary exploration of theatre, music, and dance.

Creative Team

Director / Playwright: Zhiwei Wu
Performer: Jiyeon Song
Dramaturgs: Diyu Liu, Yueran Kan
Visual Design: Chenchen Cai
Choreographer: Yubing Chen
Voice Coach: Jun Yang
Lighting Design & Tech: Yuhan Zhao, Yaqi Sun
Associate Director: Josephine Yiting Jiang
Composers / Sound Designers: Yang Liu, Yancheng Jiang, Yanfan Zhang
Producer: Zoe Yingying Xie
Co-Producers: Cheng Qian, Alyssa Tianai Zhou

“In a world we cannot change, how do we find the strength to go on?”

This question lies at the emotional core of The Golden Fly Bomb, posed not just by the character on stage, but also by its producers Zoe Yingying Xie, Tianai Zhou, and Cheng Qian — who bring this urgent, hallucinatory story to life with a commitment to imagination, self-reflection, and the beautiful chaos of being alive.

Ticket Information:

Venue: The Cockpit, Barons Court Theatre
Dates: from 21st to 23rd August 2025
Time: 5:30 / 7:00 pm (60 mins)

Ticket Prices: £10 – £15
Suitable for: Age 16+
Content Warnings: indication of sexual assault, mentioning of abuse, suicide, death, Self-harm

For more information, please visit: https://camdenfringe.com/events/the-golden-fly-bomb/