CALL GIRLS

a smash debut comedy play and web series.

Co-creator Kelly Hodge and I have been announced as recipients of the highly selective Adelaide Fringe Fund for our show Call Girls. An outrageously fun and relatable new comedy about two best friends working in a call centre, Call Girls will tour at Adelaide Fringe Festival in February 2024.

The award announcement is the latest strength in the show’s short history. It follows the completion of Call Girls’ successful debut Brisbane Fringe season and its subsequent adaptation into a web series also titled Call Girls. Created in collaboration with Exit Ghost. Productions, the web series was released in October 2023. Watch the full series, streaming now on Youtube.

Call Girls Web Series - Episode 1

"Our Adelaide Fringe Fund selection panel were impressed with the quality of Lauren and Kelly's application and their capacity to communicate their creative vision. The Adelaide Fringe Foundation - ARTS UNLIMITED aims to support promising emerging talent, we're excited by the opportunity to contribute to this production and excited to see what these rising stars will deliver for Adelaide Fringe audiences." - Adelaide Fringe Fund

about the show

Call Girls audiences can expect a fast paced and biting show that reveals the world behind the hold music and pays homage to a lineage of beloved workplace comedies. Created post-pandemic by members of the burnout generation, Call Girls adheres to upper management’s return-to-office policy and sanitises everything (except the jokes).

The show’s heart comes from the relationship at its centre, the hilariously dysfunctional best coworkers turned best friends Ella and Alexis. Hell bent on having a good time from 9 to 5, the work wives must confront what happens when they keep putting their lives (and the calls) on hold. A love letter to anyone who’s salaried and languishing, Call Girls is a comedy that resonates on a deeper level.

creating 'call girls'

The writing process for the original Call Girls playscript was incredibly collaborative. Kelly and I knew we would also be performing the show, so we took advantage of the complete creative freedom to shape the world of the play. After the script was drafted, we made discoveries on the rehearsal room floor that were so delightful we knew we had to re-write them into the script. After months of writing, and another month of re-writing through the intensive rehearsal process, the show debuted to overwhelmingly positive response.

Following the debut, Exit Ghost. Productions approached us to produce a web series version of the show. Adapting the scripts for screen, I led the writing team and worked as co-producer to help bring the expanded world of the call centre to the small screen.