EdFringe Talk: The Gospel of Joan (Crawford)

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2024 by

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“I’ve never gotten the opportunity to attend theatre festivals or even arts festivals in a deep capacity so I’m extremely excited.”

WHO: Amanda Whyte

WHAT: “Five would-be somebodies find themselves united in Hell, part of a trial run to solve Hell’s oncoming population problem. Faced with a poker match with the devil’s right-turned dealer – the one and only Joan Crawford – these women must vie against each other for a spot in Heaven, all while contending sins, histories, sexual identity, and their own dispensability… because in this game, winning is more than eternity – it is fame.”

WHERE: theSpace @ Venue45 – theSpace @ Venue 45 (Venue 45) 

WHEN: 21:40 (75 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is indeed my first time at Edinburgh Fringe! In my lifetime, I’ve never gotten the opportunity to attend theatre festivals or even arts festivals in a deep capacity so I’m extremely excited because my team has been like “This is THE festival to be in and THE festival to experience.” Already, without even being in the country, I’ve received so much love from other shows as well as positive feedback from past performers and creatives.

I can’t even fathom there being so many creatives in one space all performing outside of a place like New York, so that’s what makes this special to me. I want to be able to walk down the street and run into as many creatives as possible. (Maybe I’ll even make a bingo card and knock certain titles off when I meet them!)

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

So much has happened since last year that I’m so grateful for! Off the top of my head, I got to lead in an action film, a psychological thriller, a drama, a horror film, and a period piece—some of which are in the festival circuit as we speak and some that are just wrapping up on post-production. I also very recently made my off-broadway debut at 59E59 with the show I get to perform in at Fringe! (We sold out for opening and closing which was crazy!) I was also trusted with some really amazing beauty campaigns that are actually coming out very soon…so stay tuned!

I’m so thankful that I’m busy in this industry but one thing that all of these projects continue to teach me is that kindness and professionalism go a long way. I was able to get many of my auditions solely through word of mouth and to those directors and CDs, I’m so honoured they thought of me for the role.

Tell us about your show.

Our show is a crazy, wacky, campy, queer show about these five women from different time periods (who, in my opinion, all have ego issues) who end up in hell after death. All is fine and dandy and HOT in hell until they realize hell is very much overpopulated. The solution? A game of poker of course. The winner gets to go back to earth and redo life. (You can imagine five women who all think they’re the poop all want that ticket back.)

But why is the show camp you ask? Oh, because the poker game is led by Joan Crawford. And who is Joan Crawford??? Some old washed-up Hollywood star that is somehow worse than the rest of them. (When you meet the five, you think, “There’s no way Joan is worse”…and then somehow…she is…TRUST ME.) There’s love, there’s laughs, there’s melodrama, there’s bad dancing and bad accents…what more could you want? After watching this show, you can then die happy.

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

After you see The Gospel of Joan (Crawford)—which you MUST see—you absolutely 100% have to, have to, have to, see Company Della Luna’s, Love’s Concordia Bar. It’s a pop musical/play style of theatre and I saw it in New York when it first opened under Eduardo’s direction (the director/playwright and fellow actor of the theatre company). I fell in love with it and I think everyone should see it. It’s so fantastical and they do a great job of building the world around the music. The costumes are great, Bridget, the choreographer is great (the numbers are fantastic), and Olivia, the composer and songwriter is amazing at what she does—expect to have these songs stuck in your head for the coming years. That whole company is so talented and I have so much love for them so please do find a seat in their theatre…and then blow them a kiss for me.

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