The Fringe Five | Salty Brine

New York-based cabaret artist, writer and performer Salty Brine made his Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut this year. He is the driving force behind The Living Record Collection, a series of shows incorporating classic albums with a unique style of storytelling. Several have been performed for short runs at Joe’s Pub in New York City featuring albums by Led Zeppelin, Cyndi Lauper, Radiohead and Queen. He appeared briefly at London’s Soho Theatre in 2023 to critical acclaim with Bigmouth Strikes Again – The Smiths Show.

Salty Brine chose to bring These Are the Contents of My Head (The Annie Lennox Show) to Edinburgh. Over 90 minutes, he weaves through Lennox’s first solo album Diva, while telling the story of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. The show features a full band, here led by the irrepressible Ben Langhorst and is directed by Shaun Peknic. It’s a big, ballsy show that’s difficult to define from a marketing perspective, but word-of-mouth gradually kicked in, turning it into one of the hits of this year’s festival.

‘His interpretation of Lennox’s Diva is little short of inspired’

What makes Salty Brine stand out is an exceptional storytelling technique that incorporates song, story and personal memoir. His interpretation of Diva, reimagined as a Judy Garland set list, is little short of inspired. Chopin’s masterpiece – a novel set in the US – is told with a feverish intensity, dovetailed with the story of his mother’s own awakening in the riptide of his parents’ divorce.

It’s a show that pays homage to strong women, featuring an assured musical direction, extraordinary dramaturgy and an unrepentant queer exuberance.