What starts as an internet rabbit hole you might find yourself in at 3am becomes a funny, fascinating, and surprisingly wholesome hour in Depths of Wikipedia. Internet archivist and comedian Annie Rauwerda brings her viral social media project to the stage, taking audiences on a journey through the strange corners of the world’s largest crowdsourced encyclopaedia. Along the way, she makes a compelling case for why Wikipedia matters.
Rauwerda presents the audience with a simple format – a PowerPoint presentation of bizarre Wikipedia pages, obscure facts, strange photographs, and the occasional behind the scenes editorial battle, drawing on her own years as a Wikipedia enthusiast and contributor. The resulting hour is part comedy, part internet trivia, and wholly a celebration of the odd things that ordinary people choose to spend their time documenting.
We learn everything from the “meaning of life” to Wikipedia’s extensive collection of unusual photos, and along the way watch an argument break out over dogs wearing hats. If you’ve ever wondered if Longcat is known for being a long cat, or being an internet meme, this is the show for you. Rauwerda further enlightens the audience with the concept of “wiki vandals” – contributors that deliberately insert false information, just because they can.
Beneath the bizarre and fascinating trivia is a much more interesting conversation around Wikipedia itself.
Rauwerda talks about the importance of a website that is created and maintained by ordinary people, rather than corporations or governments. It’s contributors aren’t looking for money, fame, or even recognition; they are just people that care about information reaching the public. Wikipedia is framed as a sliver of hope in an era increasingly saturated with “AI slop”.
While Depths of Wikipedia is hilarious throughout, it is also touching at times, and part of it a genuine comfort, reminding the audience that things are profoundly human still exist. Behind every obscure article is someone who cared enough to write it, correct it, or argue about it. Behind the scenes, wars are fought in editor discussions about what is relevant and necessary, and what should be left behind.
Rauwerda’s enthusiasm about Wikipedia is genuinely infectious, and by the end of the hour she had reframed the encyclopaedic website entirely. What can seem like a website for 3am rabbit holes, or desperate last minute essay research, suddenly became a remarkable monument to human curiosity and collective knowledge.
The production itself is almost aggressively simple, focusing entirely on a comedian with a microphone and a silly PowerPoint. This is precisely the right choice in format for a show like this. There is no need for elaborate staging when the material speaks for itself. The rapid succession of images, pages, tables of contents, and fast bread (if you know, you know), gives the show a rhythm while Rauwerda’s delivery keeps the audience engaged throughout.
Most important, Depths of Wikipedia reminds us that there is joy to be had in even the most simple of knowledge. In a world where so much of the internet increasingly feels manufactured, commercialised, or algorithmically designed, there is something wonderful about celebrating one of the last corners that still feels like people making something that is only for the good of humanity.
Depths of Wikipedia runs at Underbelly Cowbarn (Bristo Square) from 5-30 August 2026, excluding 18 August, at 12pm.
Theatre Scotland 
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