Jade Franks is an English comedian, actor and writer who took a solo stand-up show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2025, which subsequently ran at the Soho Theatre, and was adapted for TV for Netflix.
Jade Franks | |
|---|---|
 Jade Franks at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe | |
| Born | 1996 or 1997 (age 28–29)[1] |
| Education | St Edmund's College, Cambridge |
Early life and education
editActing and writing career
editIn Cambridge, Franks took leading roles in a number of student theatre productions, including a play by Luke Barnes on the Hillsborough disaster, 'Bottleneck'.[5] Franks also started doing stand-up comedy while a student, and joined the Footlights club, and in 2020, was elected Footlights president.[2] She began writing an autobiographical play during her final year, and continued to work on this after graduating. In 2025, Franks’ one-woman show Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x) debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The story, about her first term at university, received excellent reviews. Writing in the Guardian, the reviewer called it a 'scorching comedy .. that uses deep rage and deadpan wit to skewer the ruling class'.[6] The show received a number of awards at the Fringe, including the Filipa Bragança Award for a solo performance by an emerging female, female-identifying or non-binary artist, and the Holden Street Theatres’ Edinburgh Fringe Award, which invites a production to headline at the Adelaide Fringe, South Australia.[7]
In November 2025, it was announced that Netflix were in discussion with director Philip Barantini, over the rights to the adaptation of Eat the Rich for the small-screen.[8] In January 2026, the show moved to the Soho Theatre, London, before touring to Liverpool and Bristol in April and May.[3][9][10] Franks subsequently ran the show in Melbourne, Australia, before returning to Soho for a three-week run in July.[11]
References
edit- ↑ Williams, Holly (2025-08-14). "Meet Fleabag 2.0: 'I led a double life as a cleaner while studying at Cambridge'". The Times. p. 9. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
- 1 2 Jones, Charlie (22 February 2026). "I cleaned toilets while studying at Cambridge". BBC.
- 1 2 3 Wyver, Kate (9 January 2026). "Jade Franks on how cleaning toilets at Cambridge inspired her hit show: I'm not watering down the fury – just sneaking it through the back door". Guardian.
- ↑ "The countdown is on… Edinburgh Fringe is calling!". 28 July 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2026 – via St Edmund's College.
- ↑ Wright, Lois (17 October 2019). "Bottleneck is provocative and powerful, and an overwhelming success". Varsity.
- ↑ Fisher, Mark (4 August 2025). "Eat the Rich (But Maybe Not Me Mates X) review – scorching comedy about class privilege". Guardian.
- ↑ "Theatre Awards, Edinburgh Fringe". Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ↑ Whittock, Jesse; Goldbart, Max (26 November 2025). "Netflix & 'Adolescence' Director Philip Barantini Developing Small Screen Version Of Buzzy Edinburgh Fringe Play 'Eat The Rich'". Deadline.
- ↑ "Jade Franks". Retrieved 22 February 2026 – via Bristol Old Vic.
- ↑ Barekat, Houman (21 January 2026). "'Eat the Rich'. Cambridge Was a Culture Shock. She's Getting the Last Laugh". New York Times.
- ↑ Ewens, Hannah (6 June 2026). "Eat The Rich Writer Jade Franks: Calling Me The New Fleabag Is Lazy". Retrieved 19 June 2026 – via Vogue.co.uk.