Eat the Rich: Hit Edinburgh Festival Fringe show in talks for Netflix TV series helmed by Adolescence director

It was a sensation at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, an ambitious solo show that scooped a coveted Scotsman Fringe First award and widespread praise.

Now Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x) by comedian Jade Franks - a play based on her own experiences of being a young working-class woman from Liverpool and attending the prestigious Cambridge University - could be transformed into a TV series.

Jade Franks in Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x) | Contributed

The independent company run by Netflix and Adolescence director Philip Barantini is reportedly in talks to translate the live show to the small screen.

Netflix is said to have won the rights and launched into early stage development on the series, with Mr Barantini‘s It’s All Made Up Productions driving the project.

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Mr Barantini is also known for helming the film Boiling Point, starring Stephen Graham.

A Netflix spokeswoman told Deadline the streaming service was “picking up the rights to Eat the Rich in connection to our development deal with Its All Made Up Productions”.

The Filipa Bragança Award, which recognises outstanding solo performances by an emerging female, female-identifying or non-binary artist in the theatre genre, went to Jade Franks | Scott Louden

Ms Franks is expected to adapt the play herself. The project follows in the footsteps of Richard Gadd, who adapted his own hit Fringe performance into the eight-episode Netflix series Baby Reindeer that he also wrote and stars in.

Such as been the success of Baby Reindeer that Mr Gadd won his first Golden Globe for the series earlier this year, in the best limited TV or anthology series or TV movie category. He pleaded with broadcasters and streamers to make stories that let the “little person tell their story” on the back of his awards triumph.

'Baby Reindeer', which Scottish performer Richard Gadd created and starred in, was the most talked about show of the year. A total of 952,000 Scots tuned into Netflix for the first episode to see what all the fuss was about. | Netflix

As well as winning a Scotsman Fringe First honour, Ms Franks also claimed won this year’s Filipa Bragança Award. In its seventh year, the award recognises the best solo performance by an emerging female, female-identifying. or non-binary artist at the Fringe.

The Scotsman gave Eat the Rich, which ran at the Pleasance Courtyard, a glowing four-star review in August.

Reviewer Josephine Balfour-Oatts said: “Eat the Rich promises an excellent script ... there is also excellent use of space throughout, with costumes and props housed inside a desk that functions as the Liverpool call centre, her university bedroom, a lecture theatre, and a nightclub, among other locations.”

The review adds: “If you’re not in, you’re out, and in this, Eat the Rich shows that the price of fitting in – using the correct cutlery at college formals, eating £7 ice creams in summer and ordering plates of fish and chips for £27 – moves swiftly from fantasy to become a socio-economic and moral quandary.”

In the play, Ms Franks explores her own real-life experience of juggling secret cleaning shifts against the culture shock of attending one of the UK’s most prestigious universities.

A bio of the show posted for the Fringe said: “ETR is a comedy which demonstrates the myth of meritocracy, the sacrifices we make to get ahead and who, in the end, these decisions will always disproportionately affect.”

Ms Franks was contacted by The Scotsman for comment.

The Scotsman Fringe First awards recognise outstanding new writing premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe. Shows in the theatre, dance and physical theatre, and musicals and opera sections are eligible.