Interview: Daf Hughes Girlz - (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)

Girlz the Musical is back! After its success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year and a nomination for Best Musical from Musical Theatre Review, this new production is bigger, bolder, and BACK!

Written by Daf Hughes, the story follows the life of a brand-new girl band over the course of a dramatic year, brought to life by a talented cast of seven. The musical also sensitively tackles important themes such as mental health and sexual harassment.

Featuring high-energy sections of the band's live show, Girlz is a tragi-comic tale of music industry highs and lows, filled with agonising personal choices that will keep the audience guessing until the very end. At its heart, however, lies an uplifting story of music, friendship, and love.

Could you tell us a bit more about who you are and what the show is about?

My name is Daf Hughes and I am the writer of the show. I took my first Musical to Edinburgh in 1989 as part of my degree. I submitted his second musical to CameronMcIntosh in 1996, who said it was 'not for me (I still have the letter). Since then I have worked principally as a teacher of Music and Musical Theatre in Further Education, as well as performing in various bands and projects. I I left teaching in 2020 teaching to set up my own company Meon Music to allow me to focus more on writing projects. In 2021 I (finally) completed my third Musical, the Christmas based Operation Santa, which was performed in December 2022. A first version Girlz was completed in 2023 and was workshopped in Feb 2024, before its Edinburgh premier in 2025.

Girlz a brand-new Musical which follows a dramatic year in the life of a brand new 5- piece girl band; GIRLZ. As well at the five girls, we meet their manager, the super slick Dan Cashman, and Adam, the musician boyfriend of Nicky, one of the Girlz. It’s a story with lots of twists and turns, lots of highs and lows, and plenty of laughs.

You wrote the book, lyrics, and music, what was the initial inspiration that got you started on writing Girlz?

I wanted to write something for a mainly young female cast. I also wanted to write a show about contrasting kinds of ‘pop’ music. So, I guess the pivotal thought was struggling ‘serious’ singer-songwriter and his successful ‘pop-star’ girlfriend and the tensions that would arise from that.

The show was nominated for the Best Musical Award last year. How do you feel looking back, and what has changed since last year that you absolutely cannot wait for audiences to see this time around?

We were thrilled and amazed to be nominated alongside some already very big shows (Hot Mess, World’s Greatest Lover, Nerds etc). We hadn’t expected them even to come and see the show as we weren’t at one of the ‘big’ venues, but I think the momentum built in the first 2 weeks with the audience reviews, and then there was more press interest. Although it’s essentially the same music and story as last year, everything about the show is much bigger this year. Although the show can (and did) work in a very small space, many sequences, particularly the sequences where we see the Girlz playing live

work much better in a bigger venue. They are meant to be playing large stadiums and it was hard to convey this on a tiny stage! The larger space also allows to really use the video projection that a lot of the show will really benefit from. Not only the Live Show sequences, but also in helping to create a real sense of atmosphere and mood without a huge amount of set (which you can never have at Edinburgh!) And extra space allows Simone to really expand the choreography elements which I can’t wait to see!

The show is described as a high-energy pop/rock musical. How do you balance that upbeat, energetic musical style with the heavier, emotional themes like mental health and sexual harassment?

One thing I’ve enjoyed doing in this show is really changing mood very quickly, and subverting expectations, hopefully. The opening 10 minutes is more traditional ‘musical theatre’ and quite upbeat, but I hope that where it goes tonally and story-wise is maybe a little unexpected. I like playing with these contrasts, and I think audiences are getting more used to shows which do this.

The show covers emotional and vital themes such as mental health and sexual harassment. More and more shows are exploring these important topics now; what do you think makes Girlz stand out or approach these themes differently?

I wouldn’t claim that I approach these topics differently from many other shows that explore them. I suppose maybe it goes back to the previous question, which is that maybe some of these topics hit differently because they happen within what might be seen as a ‘traditional’ musical theatre format.

What are you looking forward to the most when it comes to bringing Girlz back to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival?

It was great last year, but audiences were very small. I am hoping that we get bigger audiences this year, and we will be able to really gauge the impact of the show in a bigger space with a bigger audience. Fingers crossed!