The Performing Arts Project

It’s been another amazing year for Denver-based theatre troupe April Alsup Productions, a regular at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival—the world’s largest performing arts festival and one of the greatest celebrations of arts and culture on the planet. This year, they were honored to be among just 20 troupes chosen by Greenside Venues to open the festival. The prestigious event welcomes professional theatre guests and media from around the world to preview the work of companies who have traveled to Scotland to share their art on a global stage.

The cast and crew of Absurd Hero on set at Riddle’s Court in Edinburgh Scotland

It's the third year in a row for this troupe to be invited to perform in Edinburgh and expectations were high. Last year the group’s show received four-stars and became a local sensation for its heart felt portrayal of a local theatre company banned from the theatre festival. The show went on to be nominated for six (6) Broadway World regional awards including "Best New Musical" and as you can imagine, everyone on both sides of the pond were delighted when the troupe agreed to return in 2025.

Absurd Hero cast performing "Eleusinian Mysteries" to kick off the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Early on, the troupe discussed how the new show would be different than their last two and the members decided to reinvent “Sisyphus,” an April Alsup musical about the Greek myth of Sisyphus in antient Greece. The new musical reimagines "Sisyphus" as Albert Camus's character the Absurd Hero and plays the spectacle out in modern day Columbus Ohio. There were all sorts of clever marketing tactics deployed that followed the Camusistic theatre troupe to the festival.

Absurd Hero Poster at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival

After opening night it was clear that the theatre troupe had another hit on their hands. The Scotsman, Scotland’s National Newspaper, gave the show four stars and stated "With the way things are Stateside, a musical about community, determination, resilience and love seems like a poignantly fitting response to more brutal measures currently being enacted by government. And you’ve got to hand it to Denver-based April Alsup Productions, who fill Greenside’s tiny stage with what feels like a whole town of singing, dancing actors (12 of them, in fact, plus a two-strong live music section) for Alsup’s strong, catchy and uplifting tunes." Closing with “Absurd Hero is a complex, richly imagined show whose energy and conviction blaze off the stage – and one that dares to stand up for human warmth and compassion.”.

The cast and crew of Absurd Hero backstage at Riddle’s Court in Edinburgh Scotland

Theatrical success doesn’t come about in a vacuum; it really does take a village to mount a new musical production and Denver has a vast array of organizations that support the performing arts. From rehearsal spaces to performance venues, from theatre professionals to theatre goers, this community is the perfect place to incubate a meaningful, relevant and important show for international stages.

For more information on “Absurd Hero” or to watch a video of the Edinburgh performance run, visit www.absurdhero.show.