After three award-winning seasons at the Melbourne, Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe, NIUSIA arrives in London and Brighton for a highly anticipated run. NIUSIA is a powerhouse, one-woman show that weaves together memory, humour and intergenerational storytelling in a deeply tender exploration of cultural legacy and survival. The production tells the story of a Holocaust survivor through the voice of her granddaughter, Beth. Beth sets out to piece together the past of her grandmother, Niusia – a woman shaped by a history she rarely spoke about. But as she digs beneath the memories, she finds something far more complex: an unravelling of inheritance, silence, and the unanswerable questions that echo across generations. With heart and sharp Jewish humour, Beth confronts not just her Nana’s legacy, but her own.
Drawing on fragments of memory, inherited stories and interviews, the Scotsman Fringe First winner NIUSIA explores the fragility of identity and the unpredictable cultural legacy passed down through second, third and fourth generations. Audiences will journey with Beth as she is shown the tenderness she missed out on, learns to laugh at the unlaughable and wades through the intricacies of memories, intergenerational trauma, love and familial relationships.
Performed by Filipa Braganca Award-nominated Beth Paterson (The Pirates of Penzance, BK Opera; The Black Rider, Malthouse Theatre), she gives voice to the cruel thoughts you shouldn’t have about your Holocaust-surviving nana, stumbles upon her own Jewishness and confronts how deeply embedded these horrific memories are in her family line. Award-winning director and co-
collaborator Kat Yates (Altar, Edinburgh Fringe 2025; What-If Island, Melbourne Fringe) will join her, alongside producer Ryan Stewart (KINDER, Edinburgh Fringe 2025; NOTHING, fortyfivedownstairs).
Also part of the creative team is stage manager Tiah Bullock (KINDER, Edinburgh Fringe; DARKFIELD, Adelaide Fringe), with lighting design from Sidney Younger (Parade, Everest Theatre; Ghost Quartet, Hayes Theatre), sound design from Jack Burmeister (Australian Open, Theatre Works; Bright Light Burning, Theatre of Others) and set and costume design by Samantha Hastings (Melbourne Shakespeare Company).
Now, more than 80 years on from the Holocaust, NIUSIA turns toward the urgent question of what remains when those who lived through it are almost gone. As living memory fades, the work asks what responsibility falls to the generations that follow and how we carry stories that are incomplete while ensuring their meaning is not lost. With conflict and displacement continuing to shape millions of lives across the globe, NIUSIA places one family’s history within a wider human story, offering a reflection on survival, inheritance and purpose. It is both an act of remembrance and a call to listen, inviting audiences to consider not only what we remember, but why we must.
Director Kat Yates comments, The starting place of NIUSIA was “not knowing”. Beth and I were inspired by how much Beth did and didn’t know about her family (and identity) and how common this experience was for many children of immigrants. In this show, Beth does not leave the stage and all discoveries that she makes come from the set, pulling out books that were buried in boxes to tell stories she didn’t know she could share. We were inspired to stage a show that highlighted complex family histories, pushed back on.
Previous praise for NIUSIA:
★★★★★ (The List)
★★★★★ (Stage Whispers)
★★★★★ (SeeDoEat Review)
★★★★★ (Jewish Renaissance)
★★★★ (The Scotsman)
★★★★ (The Stage)
Previous accolades for NIUSIA:
Adelaide Fringe Best in Theatre Weekly Award 2026; Scotsman Fringe First 2025
Corr Blimey Best Storytelling Award 2025; Adelaide Fringe Cultural Diversity Award 2025 & Adelaide Fringe Cultural Diversity Weekly Award 2025; Melbourne Fringe Market Ready Award; Filipa Braganca Award-nominated; House of Oz Purse Prize Shortlist, Adelaide Fringe 2025 – Take a Chance On Adelaide Award-nominated
NIUSIA
Running Time 60 minutes
Age Guidance 14+
The show has been approved to be studied by later-age high school students in Australia as part of the Victorian High School Drama curriculum Website https://linktr.ee/BethPaterson https://linktr.ee/arypresentation
Lead Artist Beth Paterson (she/her)
Director and Co-collaborator Kat (Kathryn) Yates (she/her)
Producer Ryan Stewart (they/them)
Production + Stage Manager Tiah Bullock (she/her)
Lighting Designer Sidney Younger (he/him)
Sound Designer Jack Burmeister (he/him)
Set and Costume Designer Samantha Hastings (she/her)
Content warnings 14+, references to violence, war, antisemitism, concentration camps, war crimes, and genocide; depiction of a PTSD flashback; descriptions of concentration camp experiences; reference to and depiction of a hate symbol
Instagram @arypresentation @bethpatersonaus@katyatesdirector
Lead image: NIUSIA – Credit Mayah Salter
#NIUSIA
@lanterntheatrebrighton
@brightonfringe
@theatre503
UK Tour
Sunday 3rd – Thursday 7th May 2026 The Lantern Theatre, Brighton Fringe https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/niusia/
Monday 12th – Saturday 23rd May 2026 Theatre503, London
https://theatre503.com/whats-on/niusia/