What Girls Are Made Of: Cora Bissett’s acclaimed show returns to Fringe

Cora Bissett’s What Girls Are Made Of tells her story of joining a band which almost made the big time, and what happened next - and that journey started when she answered an advert in the Fife Free Press.

What Girls Are Made Of won a Fringe First award in 2018 and toured in 2019, including two shows at the Adam Smith Theatre. Now she is putting the band back together for an extended run at the Assembly Rooms this August.

Cora’s life changed when she answered an advert to join a band, Darlingheart, who were part of a thriving indie music scene in and around Kirkcaldy circa 1990. They went on to sign a record deal – reportedly the biggest in Scottish music history – toured with Radiohead, hung out with Blur and recorded an album before Phonogram dropped them from a mighty great height.

Through it all, lead singer Cora kept a daily diary. The discovery of those hand-written books as she cleared out the family home following the death of her dad, sparked this gig-theatre show. It’s the story of her rollercoaster journey from growing up in Glenrothes to sharing a stage with Blur and Radiohead. It’s also a story of growing up, and finding the path you always wanted to explore.

And it all started when Cora answered an advert in the Fife Free Press from a band looking for a lead singer.

In a 2019 interview with the Press, she explained: “The advert in the classified section for an indie band mentioned The Pixies and REM . I thought ‘Yes! That’s me! I was really into music at the time – Patti Smith’s Horses album had a huge impact – and I really, really wanted to sing in a band.

“There was a great scene back then in Fife with a real DIY ethic. We’d organise our own gigs, do our own flyering with bucket and paste – proper old school! I went for the audition and got it. The guys had been working hard playing in bands for 10 years and this was their big push. They had studio time all lined up. I stepped in at the right time and in the right place. We got on the radio, we got a manager … it happened so quickly.”

Plans for university were jettisoned as she teamed up with Darlingheart and embarked on an incredible journey that shaped and changed her life. The stage show – complete with a live band which actually performs Darlingheart material along with some great songs of the era as well as playing key roles in the story – tells the story of what happened next.

In Cora’s case, that led to a career in theatre where she has directed and starred in a string of acclaimed, award-winning shows, starting with her debut Roadkill and embracing work such as the Glasgow Girls.

What Girls Are Made Of is at the Assembly Rooms from August 4-27. Ticket info at https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/what-girls-are-made-of