“It was mind-blowing to be in an environment where everyone was so free to be, well, free..”
WHO: Oskar Saville
WHAT: “Why would a woman leave her career as the lead singer of a multi-platinum band? Was it fate, family, or something else? Fate had brought Oskar to her husband – which she hoped would create the ideal family and shield her children from the pain of her own childhood. When she hears a compelling voice within her closet, urging her to leave her marriage, Oskar must make a choice, stay and continue as is or take a bold step to find her voice and make a new beginning for herself and her three children.”
WHERE: theSpace @ Surgeons Hall – Theatre 3 (Venue 53)
WHEN: 10:45 (50 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
This is my first time coming to the Fringe Festival as a performer, and actually, my very first time putting on any form of theater. I was able to go to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 20 years ago as a spectator, and it was such an incredible experience. I went to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival it was on the suggestion of a friend in London, where was living at the time. I had no idea what I was walking into. I had never really experienced the joy of theater before; I didn’t grow up in that kind of family. So it was mind-blowing to be in an environment where everyone was so free to be, well, free.
The rest of the world that I had experienced was in black and white, and I was standing in a world full of color. People got to express who they were: funny, sad, all of it. I really just felt like a kid in a candy store. The talent was just incredible, I must’ve seen at least six shows a day over the week that I was there. Who knew that so many years later I would not only get to come back, but come back as an artist expressing my own self and telling my own story. I can’t wait!
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
The end of 2022 felt like the end of a six-year healing period for me. Six years prior to 2022 I heard a compelling voice in my closet telling me to leave my husband. The next six years were the space in which I tried not to leave, left, and then started the healing journey of the wounds of my marriage and of my childhood. It felt like every floor beam had been pulled from under me and finally, just as 2022 was just about to end, I could feel I was on a totally new foundation. Today I can say that I am a totally different person from who I was.
My idea of a one-woman-show, something I never dreamed of doing, came in December of 2022. This show came out of the culmination of that long period and the blessings that came out of that time for me. It feels like I’ve been handed back the reins of my life with an exciting new direction.
Tell us about your show.
This is the grand premiere of my one-woman-show, Breaking Open. The show is about how I hear a compelling voice in my closet telling me to leave to my husband. At first, I don’t want to. I mean isn’t this what we call a happy life- being married and having a family? I must be brave enough to see and acknowledge that I am only repeating my abusive childhood and take the journey to free myself and my three children from the cycle of pain. As I take the audience across three continents, I must also reckon with the fact that I gave up my career as the lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs in order to please my husband. Through this intimate journey, I find the real meaning of love and family.
My production team, like myself, is not conventional. I wrote this show and I have an amazing friend Douglas S. Hall who is directing it. Douglas is a director, actor and teacher who has worked at theatres across the US including The Williamstown Theater Festival, the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival, Merry Go Round Playhouse, Mountain Playhouse, and Seven Angels Theater. My production team is mainly me and my three kids, 17, 15 & 10. My eldest daughter helped design the posters and flyers, my second daughter is helping me with social media, and my youngest, well he will be part of the flyering team. I also want to acknowledge all the amazing people who donated and just gave me lots of encouragement -no artistic endeavor is ever done without a lot of support.
As for where I am taking my show after Edinburgh, who knows? My hope is that by bringing Breaking Open to Edinburgh, I can create a launching pad that will bring this show to many different places. But, I am in talks with The Naked Angels and Public Theater in New York City to perform it back home in New York City, and Who knows, maybe Broadway is next…But really I am just so excited to be in Edinburgh and play in front of a live audience. There is nothing better than a conversation with an audience.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
At the moment, because I am a total newbie to this all I only know of one amazing show performing at the Fringe, which is Breaking Up With Jesus. It is written by my talented friend, Joseph Richards.
Having said that though, as having been a spectator before, I would encourage people to see as many shows as they possibly can! In New York City it’s around $125 to see a single show. Here it’s only £11, which opens up the possibility of seeing a plethora of shows without emptying your wallet. Go see everything and anything. I would encourage people to see things they aren’t sure of, and step out of their comfort zones because theater is about being moved, sometimes in ways that you like, and sometimes in ways that you don’t. I know that I am going to be taking my three kids to as many shows as we can.”
LIKE WHAT YOU JUST READ? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! OR SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST!
INTERESTED IN BEING INTERVIEWED TOO? CLICK HERE!
Get Your Coats On 