Actress who tweeted about empty Edinburgh show has hit on her hands after celebrities rally

By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — An actress who tweeted tearfully that only one person showed up to see her play at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe performed to an almost sold-out crowd the following day, after celebrities rushed to console her on social media.

After performing her play “Sunsets” at The Gilded Balloon in the Scottish capital on Thursday, Georgie Grier tweeted: “There was one person in my audience today when I performed my one woman play, ‘Sunsets’ at #edfringe. It’s fine, isn’t it? It’s fine…?” alongside a tearful selfie.

The tweet, which has now accumulated more than 6 million views, prompted an outpouring of solidarity from celebrities and members of the public alike.

“We’ve ALL done it,” replied Irish comedian and TV host Dara Ó Briain on Twitter (recently rebranded as “X.”)

“Soon, you’ll dine out on this anecdote. More than once I had to buy my audience a drink, as a thank you for being the only ones there. Best thing though, it’s all stage time, and the show will get better every single time, ready for the big crowds later,” he added.

Comedian Sarah Millican tweeted: “Totally fine. And normal. Dara is right. Well done on having the bottle to do it. Feel proud. X”

Meanwhile, comedian and actor Jason Manford sent Grier a video, saying: “It is absolutely normal for one person to rock up to your show especially at the beginning of Edinburgh and also for you to be a bit upset or annoyed about it,” as well as recalling his own experiences at the festival in 2004 with “imposter syndrome,” and feeling embarrassed by the small audiences at his own shows.

After this wave of online soul-baring, the next day played out entirely differently for Grier. A spokesperson for the Gilded Balloon told CNN that her Friday afternoon show was a near sell-out.

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