Shake Rag Hollow - Memory, guilt and buried secrets uncovered in gripping Edinburgh Fringe drama
This August, the acclaimed playwright Arlene Hutton returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with a mesmerising new play which explores themes of unreliable memory, guilt, dark secrets and hidden truths.
Shake Rag Hollow, which plays at The Assembly Rooms on George Street throughout the Fringe Festival, tells the story of Louise who, after serving 18 years in prison for her uncle's murder, returns to her mother's home in a small mountain town. Here she confronts the daughter she hasn't seen since birth. Laurel, now a college freshman, was raised by her grandmother and harbours resentment towards her mother believing her to be responsible for the tragedy.
Struggling with memory loss from drugs and trauma, Denise begins to question her guilt after flashbacks whilst hiking Shake Rag Hollow. As buried secrets surface from the basement, the family must confront the past. Can Denise, Laurel and her grandmother heal from the trauma that's haunted them all?
Shake Rag Hollow is a three-hander directed by Eric Nightengale and performed by Sofia Ayral-Hutton, Dana Brooks and Beth Lincks. It follows the runaway success of the multi-award-winning Blood of The Lamb which took the Edinburgh and Adelaide Fringe Festivals by storm two years ago.
Blood of The Lamb
Arlene Hutton received a 2025 Drama Desk Award nomination and a Susan Smith Blackburn Prize nomination for Blood of The Lamb, commissioned by B Street Theatre, which received the Critics Circle Award at the 2024 Adelaide Fringe and was critically acclaimed at its premiere in Edinburgh and Off-Broadway run. Hutton is a three-time winner of the Samuel French Short Play Festival, nine-time finalist for the Heideman Award, Francesca Primus Prize finalist, and a three-time MacDowell Fellow.
Hutton’s works have been presented in London at the Orange Tree Theatre, the Tabard, New End, and Wanstead Theatre, and six times at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Sofia Ayral-Hutton is a multidisciplinary artist based in New York City. Having finished her primary training at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute through the NYU Tisch Drama BFA program, she will be heading to the Atlantic Acting School this fall. Professional acting credits include Arlene Hutton’s According to the Chorus at 59E59 Theaters. Also a director and producer, Sofia directed Dryfall at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
Dana Brooke is an award-winning actor based in NYC. Her numerous credits in theatre, television, and film, include Blood of the Lamb by Arlene Hutton, Baby On A Train with Mike Birbiglia, Venecia with Chita Rivera, and the lead in the independent feature Laura Gets a Cat (Amazon). She is a Company Member at B Street Theatre (CA), and a Resident Artist with New Light Theater Project (NYC).
Beth Lincks first appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe thirty years ago in Arlene Hutton’s I Dream Before I Take The Stand. Her solo show Zelda: A Tale of The Jazz Age was presented at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Other credits include FringeNYC, Charleston’s Piccolo Spoleto, the Philly Fringe, New Circle Theatre Company, HERE, Red Earth Ensemble, Cherry Lane Alternative and Alice’s Fourth Floor. Most recently she was seen opposite Joe Spano in the short film Masking.
Eric Nightengale served as artistic director of 78th Street Theatre Lab from 1995 to 2008. He has worked extensively Off- and Off-off-Broadway and regionally. His work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has resulted in five Fringe First awards, four adaptations for BBC radio, two Best Ensemble awards, four Off-Broadway productions and a London transfer. His Off-Broadway production of Kennedy: Bobby’s Last Crusade is available on Broadway On Demand.