J.K. Rowling Is the Subject of a New Controversial Comedy

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is one of the biggest arts festivals in the entire world, and it always features a number of interesting comedic acts. For example, this year we’re getting the premiere of a musical parody all about the shitty Willy Wonka event that we’ve already forgotten about and completely moved on from. But hey, at least non-Scottish non-comedian John Stamos is tangentially involved. 

One of the shows at the festival that’s getting a ton of media attention is TERF, which isn’t a misspelled stage show about foam toys, but rather, a satire seemingly about J.K. Rowling and her raging transphobia and unbridled enthusiasm for crapping all over her own legacy.

Hot off the heels of daring the police to arrest her like she’s Al Capone, simply because Scotland updated its hate crime laws, Rowling now finds herself the subject of a new play by Joshua Kaplan, which imagines what it would be like if the young actors from the Harry Potter series staged an intervention for Rowling — all of whom have been critical of her garbage opinions in real life. 

The official synopsis reads: “Jo led a blessed life. Literary phenomenon. Cultural icon. And beloved. Completely beloved... until everything went to hell in a broombasket. Now, Jo’s surrogate children — Daniel, Rupert, and Emma — have had enough. It’s time for an intervention. Except Jo isn’t in the mood for an intervention, especially not one organized by three A-list Judases.” 

At one point, the author sneers, “You have no appreciation for the world that made you possible,” to Daniel Radcliffe.

But TERF hasn’t had an easy time getting off the ground. Five Fringe theaters passed on hosting the show, before it finally landed a spot at the Ian McKellen Theater (is there anything that guy can’t do?). And some of the creatives behind TERF have been subjected to online abuse; one producer received vitriolic comments on a Facebook post commemorating the anniversary of his sister’s death. Because if there’s one thing the Harry Potter books taught us, it’s that bullying rules.

Weirdly, Terf isn’t the only fringe festival play we’ve gotten about Rowling in the past year. There was also An Evening with JK, in which Australian stand-up comedian Anna Piper Scott played Rowling — or rather a character named “JK” who is “legally distinct” from JK Rowling — during a fictional sit-down interview. 

But TERF premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival feels particularly pointed because Rowling lives in Edinburgh, and it’s where she wrote her famous books. Her penchant for taking inspiration from the city, including lifting names off of gravestones, has made Edinburgh a tourist hot spot for Harry Potter fans. 

While one café brags that it’s the birthplace of Harry Potter, you’ll note that no local establishments are bragging that they’re where Rowling sat down and penned all those tweets and blogs belittling trans women. 

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