The Fit Prince (Who Gets Switched on the Square in the Frosty Castle the Night Before (Insert Public Holiday Here)) | King's Head Theatre

Hear ye! Hear ye! The King of Swedonia is dead! The law states that the prince must wed by Christmas or the crown will go to the rival kingdom of Finlandia. The trouble is, all of the eligible bachelors leave a lot to be desired. But maybe the arrival of Aaron Butcher, the baker, will bring warmth to this frosty prince’s heart?

The show made its debut at the Pleasance Courtyard (Beyond) as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival earlier this year. Creators Linus Karp and Joseph Martin made Fringe history during the run, both with the first officially programmed LGBTQ+ wedding and by being the first couple to marry in front of a ticketed audience, which ended up consisting of 750 people. 

‘Sweedonia, Sweedonia, we’d love to get to know-iya’, a day later and we still have the Sweedonian national anthem stuck in our heads.  So what is this show? Honestly we aren’t entirely sure, but we enjoyed it all the same. Allow us to explain. 

In many ways, it is a hilarious parody of the common tropes of Hallmark Christmas movies: the eligible bachelor needs to have his frozen heart melted by a special someone, the obvious choice is someone he isn’t particularly interested in, they only have a limited amount of time but they do eventually get together in the end with the help of christmas magic and sexual tension. 

In many ways such tropes are challenged and subverted in the best way by allowing the prince to choose someone or multiple partners regardless of gender and in the rejection of a lot of gay male stereotypes. Yes, both guys are sensitive and want true love. We also love that they start out as colleagues/unlikely friends and are given the chance to properly get to know each other before something grows. 

In other ways, the tropes are given freedom to exist in a queer love story, which is unusual and we also love to see. The Baker has had his heart broken and is trying to show that he has actually moved on from his ex, the prince has a duty to his country which prevents him from showing his true self and of course, convenient situations lead to the development of the ‘will they, won’t they’ kind of tension found in traditional rom coms. Even though we know how the story is going to end, we still find the show highly compelling, which is a testament to Martin and Karp’s creationary prowess. 

The design of the show is relatively sparse, but this is purposeful to allow for the sheer amount of audience participation there is. And there is a LOT. You may think you’ve avoided this by choosing not to sit on the front row- not at this show. Before the performance even begins, multiple audience members are given roles, costumes and are told to follow the instructions on the screens, which provide lines and stage directions. 

On the one hand, it means that no one is singled out, everyone is there to have fun and laugh with each other, which creates a very supportive atmosphere, and it must be said that it generates a lot of the comedy within the show. On the other hand, if you happen to have performance anxiety or aren’t really into audience participation, this can be a very uncomfortable and cringeworthy experience. At least you’ll get a beautiful Sweedonian postcard out of it. 

Does it work as a comedy? It’s decently funny with its over dramatic-performances by Karp and Martin combined with the audience participation. However, we find it to be lacking consistency and punchiness, which in turn throws off a lot of potential comedic timing and means that the jokes don’t land as well as they otherwise might. We would’ve liked to have seen more comedic elements or more consideration over the current ones in order to give them more strength. 

The Fit Prince (Who Gets Switched on the Square in the Frosty Castle the Night Before (Insert Public Holiday Here)) is a fun and cheesy gay rom-com to kick back and relax with over the holiday season. 

The Fit Prince... plays at the King's Head Theatre until 03rd January 2026.

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★★★☆☆ (3*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Dave Bird