+3 Interview: Trips and Falls

Posted in EdFestivals 2019, Plus 3 2019 – Features, Written Interviews by

“Trips and Falls is a feel-good relatable road trip comedy for everyone–from grandparents to moody preteens!”

WHO: Aimee Buchanan: Director

WHAT: “Trips and Falls follows two sisters on a mission to scatter their grandmother’s ashes in the perfect place. They steal the urn, take their mother’s car and head across the border for Scotland in miniature: the Isle of Arran! Hot on their tail though are Mum and Dad. Oh, and the local police officer with her work experience boy. Will the race to Arran restore some harmony or will it end in chaos? At this point, it’s anyone’s guess.”

WHERE: theSpace @ Niddry St – Lower Theatre (Venue 9) 

WHEN: 16:05 (50 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Student Theatre at Glasgow is really excited to be returning to Edinburgh for the Fringe, as a company, this is our 41st year of bringing student theatre to the Edinburgh Fringe. After two consecutive sell-out years, the standard has been set, and as a company, we aim to bring top-quality student theatre to the diverse international audiences we get to perform for here in Edinburgh. Last year I was able to perform as an actor and to have the opportunity to direct up and coming Scottish talent and represent local student theatre groups at the world’s largest theatre festival is an incredibly humbling experience. Trips and Falls is a feel-good relatable road trip comedy for everyone–from grandparents to moody preteens!

I definitely partly drew inspiration for this project from classic Scottish films and plays when thinking about how I wanted the show to look and feel. But I also wanted it to be something completely new. Growing up, I always felt boys were often at the forefront of these narratives. But Trips and Falls is about two sisters, their mum, Gran, and the amazing bond they share. I really love playwright Maddie Beautyman’s canon of work so much, because all her plays are nostalgic, but they’re nostalgic for a bright future–a contemporary and inclusive Scotland that everyone can call home.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

This is my 50th production that I’ve worked on, I started out almost exclusively as an actor–and I’ve been working professionally/semi-professionally/doing youth theatre for 8 years. It’s been a long hard graft to get to this moment, and watching all that hard work and training come together through this Fringe production has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Having collaborated with playwright Maddie Beautyman before as an actor, being able to be trusted with her story as a director is a huge honour. When we were at the fringe in 2018 together, I intently watched her direct, produce, and publicise her show ‘Ah Dinnae Ken’. She managed to pull off a sell-out and create a name for herself and I was able to watch her strategies and implement them for our Fringe show in 2019. She’s prepared me so much for this, and I feel very prepared for this run.

Tell us about your show.

Trips and Falls won STAG’s New Works Festival of new writing in March 2019. Winning this Glasgow based new writing competition allowed us to have the funding to put this show up at the Fringe. Inspired by her own journey of spreading her grandmother’s ashes on the Isle of Skye, this is a very personal and special story written by upcoming Scottish playwright Maddie Beautyman. Beautyman’s wholesome, heartwarming work has been making a splash on the Scottish theatre scene. Her play “Kicking the Can” was shortlisted for Dundee Repertory Theatre’s ‘Rep Stripped’ 2019 programme, and featured in the 2018 UK Inter-University Drama Festival. Her play “Ah Dinnae Ken” sold out STAG’s Fringe run last year. I would love to see Trips and Falls, her newest work, get another life, in a smaller festival, or be workshopped by a major Scottish theatre.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

Audiences should definitely go see Table Spoon Theatre’s Painted Corners. It’s Aug 2-3, 5-10 at Venue 36, theSpace on North Bridge in the Argyll Theatre at 10:10 am. It’s a great piece of physical theatre, and 10/10 recommend!

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