Minnesota writers bring endometriosis musical to Edinburgh Fringe
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A play by two Minnesota writers about women’s health will make its debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.
“Endometriosis: The Musical” is about Jane, a woman who is trying to find the answer to why she’s in chronic pain.
Turns out her ailment is in the title of the play. The musical illustrates the same challenge that many face trying to find the answer to that same question.
Maria Bartholdi and Kristin Stowell worked together to bring the play to life for the 2022 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Then in 2025, they premiered the full show at Theater in the Round in Minneapolis.
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Stowell said the play comes from personal experience, even if both writers didn’t know it at the time.
“So it’s like my goal to let women see themselves in this who are dealing with this and have a question they can bring back to their doctor. Like, could it be endometriosis?” Stowell said.
For Bartholdi, she didn’t realize she may have the same disease until after they premiered the play.
“This show helped diagnose me, which I think is just one of the miraculous things that we hope this the show does for other people as well,” Bartholdi said.
Dr. Wendy VanBuren, a radiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, said she’s a fan of the musical and how it spreads awareness for this common but underdiagnosed disease.
“Cells that are similar to but not identical to the cells that comprise the lining of the uterus, the inside of the uterus, are located outside the uterus,” said VanBuren. “When they’re outside the uterus, there isn’t the right environment to deal with that. So basically, what you get is bleeding, and then you get inflammation.”
Roughly one in seven people who are assigned female at birth live with the disease, and it can take nearly a decade to get a diagnosis.
Now, Bartholdi and Stowell's musical will have its international debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland.
“We're excited to bring it to a broader community and share it and help women with that feeling of 'it feels terrible to go to the doctor.'”
The show debuts at the festival on Aug. 5 and runs until Aug. 31.
