Babyface at Edinburgh Fringe!

Part stageplay / part wrestling show, Babyface, debuted to a sold-out season at Dunedin’s New Athenaeum Theatre as part of the 2025 Dunedin Fringe Festival. Following this, the play took home numerous awards at the Fringe awards night, before also taking the Best Production award at the 2025 Dunedin Theatre Awards.

And now in 2026, Babyface is heading on the road. After shows in Ōtautahi and Tāmaki, the show will take flight to the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe, performing for seven shows at Paradise Green. Our campaign is aiming to cover the costs of travel to and from Edinburgh, as well as a contribution to accommodation while over there.

Nick Tipa is an Ōtepoti-based theatre-maker. He is the writer and performer of Babyface. He studied Theatre Studies at Ōtakou Whakaihu Waka, before travelling to Naarm, Melbourne, to study at 16th Street Actors' Studio. Recent acting credits include ensemble in The Court Theatre's production of 'End of the Golden Weather' and Pūpai in Taki Rua's 2025 tour of 'Te Kuia me te Pūngāwerewere'. He was also the 2025 NZ Young Writers' Festival Writer in Residence, staying at the Robert Lord Cottage. Nick is beyond excited to be taking this work to Edinburgh, and beyond grateful to everyone who has supported to project thusfar.

Sara Georgie is an Ōtepoti-based theatre-maker. She is the director of Babyface. She has been working as a professional actor, director, and choreographer throughout New Zealand for over 15 years. After studying theatre at Otago’s Allen Hall Theatre, she has performed in 13 productions at The Fortune Theatre. Highlights of her career have included touring the Talking House Production of Simon O’Connor’s 'Avis' and performing in the award-winning solo show 'Eloise in the Middle.'

Bronwyn Wallace is an Edinburgh-based theatre-maker and producer. She has been dramaturg for Babyface. Bronwyn's vast experience as a director, producer, and dramaturg, particularly in setting up Ōtepoti-based theatre company 'Late Bloomers' has been invaluable in a number of organisational aspects of the project, but particularly in developing the story of Babyface.

Greg Cooper is an Ōtepoti-based theatre-maker. Greg has been script advisor for Babyface. Gregory Cooper is a playwright, director, actor and occasional MC. His plays have been produced throughout New Zealand and internationally.

Zac Nicholls is an Ōtepoti-based musician and sound designer. He is sound designer and composer for Babyface. Zac's work spans a number of bands who have received many acolades, including Koizilla, Spoonicorn, Space Bats, Attack!, Spontaneous Rhombustion and A Distant City to name a few.

Quinn Hardie is an Ōtepoti-based theatre-maker. They are lighting designer for Babyface. Having studied at Allen Hall Theatre, Quinn has been a member of Improsaurus's amazing technical team. They are a qualified teacher and bring a huge wealth of theatre experience to the project.

Sofian Scott is an Ōtepoti-based theatre-maker and woodworker. He is set and prop-designer for Babyface. Sof's experience in the physical and practical elements of set and prop design span not only the world of theatre, but also the world of fine-furniture-making, which he carries out on a commission basis from his workshop.

Our campaign is aiming to cover the costs of travel to and from Edinburgh, as well as a contribution to accommodation while over there.

We currently have an application with CNZ for the Toi Tipu Toi Rea fund to help cover costs of the tour. However, results from this fund aren't released until mid-June, so we are hoping to ensure we have covered some of the necessary costs before then.

The $6000 will be allocated as below:

- Flights / travel to and from Edinburgh. Current pricing is between $3000-$3500 for total travel costs there and back.

- The remaining funding to be contributing towards accommodation (~$3000) and venue hire fees ($2600).

If CNZ funding is successful, the Boosted funding will be reallocated to help cover hire costs for equipment (wrestling mats), personnel (theatre technician), and marketing and promotion (postering, online presence, etc).

Babyface is going to Edinburgh Fringe and we need your help!

‘And he's coming in with the steel chair!’ From award-winning writer and performer Nick Tipa (Kāi Tahu), and with dramaturgy by Late Bloomers co-founder Bronwyn Wallace comes Babyface, a solo play about big-time wrestling and small-town Aotearoa. Whiplash is a professional wrestler and is the heavyweight champion of the world. Kahu is a 10-year-old boy
and has just moved with his parents to a new town. What do they have in common? They are the same person. Directed by Sara Georgie, and with music and sound design by Zac Nicholls (Koizilla, Space Bats, Attack!), Babyface explores one boy's experience of growing up, fitting in, and landing a suplex in rural Aotearoa. 

Part stageplay / part wrestling show, Babyface, debuted to a sold-out season at Dunedin’s New Athenaeum Theatre as part of the 2025 Dunedin Fringe Festival. Following this, the play took home numerous awards at the Fringe awards night, before also taking the Best Production award at the 2025 Dunedin Theatre Awards.

And now in 2026, Babyface is heading on the road. After shows in Ōtautahi and Tāmaki, the show will take flight to the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe, performing for seven shows at Paradise Green.

Babyface received a number of awards in its initial development season at the 2025 Dunedin Fringe. Feedback from the audience was that the show deeply resonated with them, and highlighted aspects of their own childhoods that they'd forgotten about. It also brought out a number of wrestling fans who likely would not have otherwise gone to theatre who connected to their own memories of growing up watching wrestling.

Babyface puts a spotlight on the growing up in rural Aotearoa, particularly in the South Island. It explores ways children develop a sense of identity based on place, passions and the people they idolise. It examines how our imaginations can act as shield and escape route for us. And it creates a path between the two often separate worlds of live theatre and professional wrestling, presenting an opportunity for understanding and the sharing of passions.

Babyface is a story close to my heart. It is inspired by so many real people in my life, and I think in that is its true value. The characters that Kahu meets, we all know, we've all met. Babyface is about wrestling, it's about small-town Aotearoa, it's about growing up. It's also about identity; inherited, discovered and chosen.