Writer: Izzy Radford
Director: Zoë Templeman-Young
Unleashed at Riverside Studios’ yearly short-form festival Bitesize is Big Dog from Izzy Radford (the TikTok comic whose Seating Plan was an Edinburgh smash last year). It takes aim at true crime podcasting and influencer culture via the workplace tribulations of Cambridge graduate ghostwriter Eve, recently hired at Cassie Does Crime and navigating a slew of moral hazards as she sensationalises suffering.
In common with all newbies, Eve is demeaned, belittled and faux-friended by her new colleagues. Exacting, paranoid manager Yasmin – the only one with direct access to podcast progenitor and anchor Cassie (the ‘Big Dog’ of the title – issues the corrections of Eve’s work in humiliating, door-stopping wads: “You write like you’ve swallowed a dictionary: stop trying to impress… more girly pop vibes please!”
Expensively dressed and tressed Scarlett emphasises that she’s up for promotion after two years’ slog in her role, but condescends to chat with Eve, succeeding only in revealing a breathtaking lack of general knowledge, overall dimwittedness, and capacity for criticism. “Eve, is that short for anything?”; “Ohh, you’re a Scorpio, they do a lot of scheming in their heads.”
As Yasmin eases and initiates Eve into the role, there’s much acutely observed humour around workplace motivation, one-upping and the micro-aggressions of all-female office life. There’s backhanded clapping as Eve gains positive feedback from Cassie, competitive clothing (especially on International Women’s Day, when the workforce is encouraged to dress as female murder victims) and a hilarious points-based incentive system based around lambs: cute, cuddly and obviously intended for slaughter. Revelations occur at well-timed intervals: it turns out that Eve’s predecessor Maia used Cassie’s proximity to bolster her own following, so had to be ousted. And Scarlett’s tangential response to Eve’s mention of The Godfather suggests a dark secret.
The stress of the fishbowl-like working environment, constantly monitored by bosses, sponsors and listeners alike, is well-evoked. Eve, Scarlett and Yasmin scroll obsessively through the – mostly negative – comments on their phones, and there’s amusing mention of the show’s ad content: “She kept the body in a trunk… but you can keep your storage in the cloud.”
Despite Scarlett’s aspirations, and Eve’s egging on – “Yes, you’re the business bitch!” – it becomes clear that the hierarchy is set in stone. Everyone’s locked in and going nowhere; Cassie’s Big Dog supremacy and privacy must be preserved. A constantly-looming presence in the play, via one-sided, Charlie’s Angels-style phone calls with Yasmin, Cassie never actually appears, raising questions around AI falsity and criminal liability: who’s to blame if the podcast strays into illegality and the boss mightn’t actually exist? This becomes relevant later in the piece as an aggrieved, unwilling participant in the podcast begins to kick up a fuss.
Big Dog is brilliantly structured and very satisfyingly wrapped up, with a startling turn of events and far from predictable mega-denouement that sees all the characters’ motivations laid bare.
The real joy is in the characters and finely-meshed interplay between them. Impeccable casting helps: Tumba Katanda is suitably earnest, eager and intellectual as nerdy/wordy Eve, Izzy Radford is irritatingly sweet and outstandingly stupid as Scarlett, and Lauryn Jenkins excels as highly-strung line manager Yasmin, goading, encouraging and cracking up in turn (at one point, after a dressing down by Cassie, she sits under her desk and repeats affirmations into a bin). Eleanor Cross, as late arrival Eliza, supplies an extra burst of energy and slick repartee.
Grace Rumsey’s Barbie pink, furry-textured ‘flexispace’ set is appropriately, oppressively feminine, and the intense lights and sounds of Jacob Henney and Pierre Flasse set the jarring tone admirably.
One of the few shortcomings of this pacy, on-point comedy is that there just aren’t enough actual true crime stories to underpin the podcast context: perhaps a short story read out by Cassie would help.
Most of the play’s jargon and references are comprehensible, but older viewers might benefit from watching with media-immersed acquaintances in their early 20s. They’re out in force to see this near-sold-out show, laughing and snorting in recognition: Big Dog is biting satire at its funniest and most relatable.
Runs until 1 August 2026 and then at Edinburgh Fringe
Bitesize Festival 50 runs until 30 August 2026
