The legend of Mothman dates back to the 1960s and is part of Appalachian folklore. The humanoid creature is now a topic of a new comedy heading to the Edinburgh Fringe, Mothman: A Romance Musical, which is written by alternative comedians Alex Franklin and Nikola McMurtrie. Affectionately poking fun at B-movie tropes, this new musical covers themes of identity, sexuality, and self-acceptance. This year the musical was one of the 2026 Keep it Fringe fund recipients and I recently had the opportunity to ask co-writer and performer Nikola McMurtrie some questions about the show. It definitely sounds like a highly collaborative piece that also stars Alex Prescot and Hudson Hughes.
Alex and Nikola, what made you decide to collaborate on writing a new musical?
We were in a hotel cafe trying to co-work, then got onto the subject of monster erotica (I had recently bought a minotaur porn book, FOR A FRIEND). We then thought it would be a funny idea if Mothman was sexualised in the form of a comedy musical, and the rest as they say is history.
A 1940s super soldier, a moth mutation and monster hunting in the present day… how did you go about creating this new absurdist story?
We approached writing the show in possibly the most unhinged way. We each came up with lots of different characters, plots and themes and then tried to reverse engineer them together into a 1 hour show that makes sense. A difficult task. Later, we were told this is not the best way to create a narrative story. You live and learn.
I understand that you have all been involved in the show’s development. How did you all end up collaborating, ahead of the show’s Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe runs?
While me and Alex have written and funded the show, we’ve always felt it was important that everyone has the opportunity to contribute if they have ideas, and thankfully we’ve got plenty of talented friends who have been keen to be part of the show.
Alex Prescot has been a constant cast member/co-producer since the start, and not only is he the second best dancer in the cast but honestly, the show wouldn’t happen without him. Hudson Hughes is now our 4th cast member, joining for Brighton and Edinburgh and we’re thrilled to have a strong bass vocal register in the cast.
We’ve performed several iterations of the show since-mid 2025, and have had lots of lovely cast members including Aidan Pittman, Kit Sullivan, and Sharon Wanjohi, and direction from Kathy Maniura. We’ve also recently brought in Michael Clarke of Crybabies for additional creative direction.
You have described the show as the “ultimate romantic comedy musical that absolutely no one asked for”. How much fun are you as a company having, preparing to take this show to Edinburgh?
I mean, it’s incredibly fun to be creative and silly, especially working with your friends, but it’s also very stressful working on such a maximalist show. We’ve not done ourselves any favours with how ambitious we’ve been, but we’ve brought that on ourselves and no one can take that away from us!
If you were to describe the score in one word, what would it be and why?
Banging. (Self explanatory)
How did audiences react to the show at Brighton Fringe?
They were really up for it and incredibly supportive of the plethora of tech issues we faced during the show.
What is one thing that might surprise audiences about Mothman: A Romance Musical?
That there’s no planned nudity (but you never know).
Catch Mothman: A Romance Musical at the 2026 festival
If there was ever a place to debut such a bold and maximalist concept for a new musical, it’s definitely the Edinburgh Fringe. It sounds like such a unique show that has involved a lot of creativity and fun in the development of its ideas and themes. Mothman: A Romance Musical is based at Belly Button at Underbelly, Cowgate (venue 61) from 5th – 30th August (not 18th). Performances start at 18:50 (1 hour), with the show on sale via the EdFringe website now.
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