Author Archives: Dan Lentell

+3 Interview: Not Black and White

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

“We are very excited that Not black and white will premiere at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019 and will be followed by a UK tour in 2020.”

WHO: Henry Bays, Producer

WHAT: “United by love, broken by reality. Remelle faces a constant battle to feel comfortable in her own skin. Her family want her to be proud of her heritage but she hasn’t become a successful business woman by flaunting her Jamaican roots. Now life’s pressures are starting to get to her, but are they all real? A new piece from the award-winning creators of the critically acclaimed Freeman. Praise for Strictly Arts: ‘a revelation, a piece of stunning physical theatre’ (Guardian). ‘Outstanding artistic courage’ (BroadwayBaby.com). ‘Breath-taking ensemble work that is visually captivating’ (Everything-Theatre.co.uk).”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Above (Venue 33) 

WHEN: 17:10 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Our first time at Edinburgh Fringe festival was last year performing Freeman. It was quite an overwhelming experience, not only because Freeman did so well and we received tremendous support, but also because the festival is so BIG. It’s exhausting but also rewarding which is why we’re coming back for more.

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

We went International for the first time! Off the back of the Fringe run, we were given the opportunity to perform Freeman in Chicago at the Physical Theater Festival in June, and in August the Freeman cast will be heading to Peru to perform the show and deliver workshops in Lima.

Tell us about your show.

Our new show, Not Black and White, explores the pressures placed on a young successful black woman; in the workplace, at home, from her family, and the struggles she has with her own identity, through the prism of an interracial relationship. Her husband also struggles with his own feelings of inadequacy and his finite capacity to empathise with the issues he’s never had to experience.

It is written and directed by Strictly Arts’ Artistic Director Corey Campbell, recently made a Creative Lead for the Coventry City of Culture 2021 project, and is produced by Strictly Arts Theatre Company in association with The Pleasance. We are very excited that Not black and white will premiere at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019 and will be followed by a UK tour in 2020.

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

The Fishermen was our favourite show last year and it’s back for 6 shows only so do go if you can. We’d also recommend The Charlie Hartill Special Theatre Reserve Fund recipients: Poor Michelle’s Bible John and Wonderbox’s A Womb of One’s Own.

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+3 Interview: Shit-Faced Shakespeare: Macbeth

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

“Our Artistic Director got our resident drunken Technician pregnant which has meant neither of them are at the Fringe this year and we have had to hire an even bigger drinker to don our tech box for Edinburgh 2019.”

WHO: Beth Louise-Priestly, Producer

WHAT: “They have toured the world, won multiple awards, broken onto London’s West End, survived eight consecutive Festival Fringes and once received a zero-star review in The Times! They are Shit-Faced Shakespeare and they are back in Edinburgh with an all-new show for 2019. Featuring a cast of classically trained actors and a single drunken performer thrown into the mix every night. What could possibly go right? And to make sure that luck will be on their side, this year they are bringing Macbeth! Is this a lager I see before me? Yes, yes it is.”

WHERE: Underbelly, Bristo Square – McEwan Hall (Venue 302) 

WHEN: 23:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

No we have been mixing our cocktail of The Bard, Booze and Bonny Edinburgh together since the opening of the Olympics back in 2012. This year is our 8th Edinburgh Fringe Festival and we are delighted to be back in the beautiful (and really rather large) McEwan Hall.

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

Oh, want the gossip do you? Well, our Artistic Director got our resident drunken Technician pregnant which has meant neither of them are at the Fringe this year and we have had to hire an even bigger drinker to don our tech box for Edinburgh 2019 – is that the kind of personal news you were after?

Tell us about your show.

Shit-faced Shakespeare was the brainchild between Rev. Lewis Ironside and Cpt. Chris Snelson; one drunken night they came up with the concept, then one – I forget who – accidentally blurted to a national newspaper that they would be putting it on at SGP that year. When the article got published the show had to go on and so the hilarious combination of an entirely serious adaptation of Macbeth with an entirely shit-faced cast member was born. This year marks our 10 year anniversary of performing SFS so the formula is still ‘going down nicely’. We basically take 6 classically trained actors and get one of them, classically, Shakespeareanly, shit-faced. What could possibly go right?

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

We are a huge fan of the guys at Massaoke – you can’t come to the fringe and not go and have a mass singalong with all the other festival goers… Also it’s the best gig in town to get your sequins on for.
If you really enjoyed our show though do go and check out our younger better-looking sister performing at the Cowbarn, Shit-faced Showtime: Alice through the cocktail glass – we may be biased but it really is bloody brilliant!

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+3 Interview: McNaughton

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

“Steve Buscemi, Michael Gambon and Simon Pegg were in my category to name a few so I was chuffed to bits to be in with these A-Listers.”

WHO: Jason Harvey, Actor 

WHAT: “In his cell, woodturner Daniel McNaughton, wronged by his father, dismissed by the Glaswegian legal establishment, awaits sentence for his botched attempt to shoot Prime Minister Robert Peel. Lawyers are keen to use him as a test case for pleas of insanity in murder trials. Whatever the outcome, it will set a precedent for a hundred years… The McNaughton Rules. This prize-winning dramatic monologue by Steve Gooch is both powerful and engaging but is also laced with rueful humour.”

WHERE: theSpace on the Mile – Space 1 (Venue 39) 

WHEN: 19:00 (65 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

No I’ve performed at The Edinburgh Fringe before in 2008 in a Play called “The Pipers Trail”
Where I was part of a large cast and I played 6 different characters. McNaughton being a one man play will certainly be different to say the least.

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

I was nominated for BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR for Playing “Wallace “ in Feature film “RETREAT’” at the NATIONAL FILM AWARDS in January and the Ceremony was in London late March. Steve Buscemi, Michael Gambon and Simon Pegg were in my category to name a few so I was chuffed to bits to be in with these A-Listers. An amazing experience.  RETREAT was also nominated for BEST FEATURE FILM

Tell us about your show.

McNaughton is a one man play that tells the story of Glaswegian Woodturner ‘Daniel McNaughton’ Who tried to assassinate Prime minister SIR ROBERT PEEL in 1843.

His court case was used as a test case in his plea for INSANITY, which changed LAW forever in Britain. McNAUGHTON was written by Award winning Playwright Steve Gooch and Directed by Christine Kimberley.

Skelf Productions are Producing the show and on its first run at the Edinburgh Fringe.
There are plans to tour the show after the Fringe.

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

I would definitely go see “ZOMBIE ZOO” at the Hill Street Theatre. Basically set in a Zombie prison with lots of song Dance and Humour. No doubt a few Brains getting eaten so no doubt a good laugh.

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+3 Interview: Gabe Mollica: The Whole Thing

Posted in Theatre by

“The show went from being a distant idea to a thing I was performing and working on all year.”

WHO: Gabe Mollica, Comedian/Writer/Performer

WHAT: “Gabe Mollica started doing stand-up in Edinburgh after he got dumped for his best friend. Five years later, this New York comedian returns with a debut show about embarrassment, what it means ‘to comedy’ and rice cakes. Gabe’s stories have appeared on the Moth Radio Hour Podcast (NPR), he’s written jokes for the New York Video Game Awards and Hard Drive (TheHardTimes.net). He runs a popular show in New York City called The Funniest People I Met This Month. He does not have a podcast.”

WHERE: Just the Tonic at The Mash House – Just the Snifter Room (Venue 288) 

WHEN: 23:150 (60 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my first fringe show, but I lived in Edinburgh in 2014 after graduating uni in the states. I had a rough year, you could say. My best friend and my ex-girlfriend got together and my life sort of spiraled… so just like everybody else I became a comedian.

Now, five years later, I’m very excited to return to Edinburgh and reclaim the city where I felt at my worst!

It’s been basically my only goal in comedy to create a show for Edinburgh and let’s just say I’m very excited to share.

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

The show went from being a distant idea to a thing I was performing and working on all year.

Since 2014, I knew I wanted to have a show that was essentially a long story but to go about actually putting together has been challenging and rewarding. (I had my first panic attack, did my first preview to a sold-out room of 70, and stayed up all night writing down very silly ideas that went nowhere.)

Tell us about your show.

Like all the stand-ups at the Fringe, I wrote the show myself, with of course help along the way from my friends and fellow comics. I’d love to keep going with this story, perform it a bunch when I return to America, and one day maybe record it as a special or an album or something like that.

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

There are so many talented American comedians coming over. I’m most familiar with them, so I’ll say Kevin James Doyle has been a hilarious and helpful person while working on my Edinburgh Show. Check out his show “Loud, Blonde, Bald Kid.” Kevin has a way about talking about puberty and childhood that will make you laugh and blush and feel grateful to be an adult.

Emmy Blotnik is one of my favorite jokewriters in new york. She’s smart and silly. Cat Cohen makes me laugh in a way I didn’t think was possible. She feels like the future of comedy in a lot of ways. Dan Soder is an incredible comic, perhaps one of the best in America. He’s done my show in New York and I’ve continually been blown away by his material. Caitlin Cooke is an extremely talented comedian, musician and podcaster. I can’t recommend her show enough: It’s funny and sweet. (She’s also like, the nicest person. Sean Patton is one of the great American comics, his material is unique and interesting. I can’t wait to see his show a few times.

There’s also some great folks in the UK I’m excited to see like Christopher KC and Stephen Carlin. I met both of them while doing comedy in the UK in 2014 and they were both super nice, smart, and funny. It will be so exciting to see their shows and how much they’ve changed in 5 years

Anyone trying to get the most out of their Edinburgh experience should start with those comedians!!

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+3 Interview: Basil Brush: Unleashed

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

“…appearing at Glastonbury and meeting Kylie Minogue behind the pyramid stage …I’ve lent her some of my costumes, we are both the same size.”

WHO: Basil Brush, Writer/ Performer

WHAT: “Showbusiness legend, national treasure, fox. Children of the 2000s, 1970s (and everything in between) this one’s for you. As Basil makes his much-anticipated Fringe debut in a show for the adults! Fresh from appearances on The Last Leg (Channel 4) and Celebrity Juice (ITV2), join Basil as he gives his comedic take on everything from Love Island to Westminster in his trademark anarchic style, with different guests nightly. ‘Hilarious’ (DigitalSpy.com).”

WHERE: Underbelly, Bristo Square – Cowbarn (Venue 302) 

WHEN: 18:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my very first time to the Edinburgh Fringe as a performer… I didn’t think they would want such an English fox up there, but how wrong was I and now I can’t wait to be part of the biggest festival in the world and in the wonderful city of Edinburgh, do they have the real Edinburgh Woollen Mill up there? Is it different to the one in England…

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

The biggest thing to happen to me since the Festival last year was appearing on ‘The Chase’ …and winning! Also, I do Panto every year at the Theatre-Royal Windsor and met Prince Edward, and I won £10 on the National Lottery ……and appearing at Glastonbury and meeting Kylie Minogue behind the pyramid stage …I’ve lent her some of my costumes, we are both the same size.

Tell us about your show.

We have two shows at the festival, ‘My Basil Brush Family Show’ in the afternoons, obviously for the families and kids …high energy, lots of audience participation, lots of getting grown-ups wet, and maybe cream pies! Then in the evening at 6:45 we have a slightly more grown-up show for the bigger kids up there… for those that grew up with me on CBBC and even those who were around in the 70s, it’s not a blue show but something where we take a look at the world from a talking fox perspective, lots of fun, but more Graham Norton meets ‘Crackerjack’!

I’ve been working with my current mister, Mister Martin for three years and we met in Panto and he wanted to be my sidekick, so he can stand at my side and kick him!

It’s going to premier in Edinburgh but it carries on at the Southbank and a select theatre tour as well! It’s is. Sing produced by SO Comedy, the comedy arm of SO TV, very exciting, Malcolm McKee has written it and he wrote the Shakespeare revue with Director Chris Luscombe for the RSC many years ago …there is additional material from myself and Mr Martin, and comedian Robin Morgan.

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

Once folks have seen my show they should take a look at ‘Dead Ringers’ because that is one of my favourites from the radio, and they should be daring and go see something they have never heard of take a punt ….then, of course, come back and see my show AGAIN …Boom Boom …

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+3 Interview: After You

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

“Last year I couldn’t be in Edinburgh for the whole festival and I missed it so much – I had to come back this year.”

WHO: Hannah Norris: Performer/Writer/Producer

WHAT: “In 1961, Hannah’s mum, Angela, was in the Australian premiere production of The Sound of Music. The expectations of her generation, including motherhood, stopped her following that career. Now Angela’s retired, Hannah’s decided they’re doing a show together. By looking into Angela’s past, Hannah is weighing up her own life, choices and what the future holds for them both. Hopeful, optimistic and full of love, After You will leave you believing forgotten and hidden dreams can come true. After You premiered at the 2019 Adelaide Fringe. ‘Rare and profoundly powerful experience ***** (TheBarefootReview.com.au). ***** (Scenestr.com.au). ***** (Advertiser, Adelaide).”

WHERE: Assembly Rooms – Front Room (Venue 20) 

WHEN: 13:10 (60 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It’s not my first time to Edinburgh but it is my first time to Edinburgh with my mum (Angela)!
I grew up in London before moving to Australia at age 12 and while we lived in the UK, I’d never been to Scotland so it was always a place I wanted to go.

Once I started performing and getting involved with the Adelaide Fringe in 2000, the Edinburgh Fringe sounded like the best place on earth. I finally got there in 2009 as a punter (I couldn’t believe how amazing Edinburgh Castle was looming over the streets below like that). In 2013 I worked with Hannah Gadsby as her support/flyerer/assistant/mate and finally, in 2015, I won the Underbelly Edinburgh Award for the dark and disturbing one-woman show ‘CUT’ that I performed in Adelaide and Underbelly brought over and produced two years in a row. I performed CUT nearly 100 times in Edinburgh across those two years.

Last year I couldn’t be in Edinburgh for the whole festival and I missed it so much – I had to come back this year. Also, once I visited Edinburgh in December and it was so strange to be there with quieter streets, much less sunlight and no colourful posters on every spare inch of wall surface!

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

Finally writing my first ever full show – and then performing it – and getting amazing, beautiful responses to it. I’ve been working as an actor for nearly 20 years and have wanted to write for almost as long but been too scared. I’ve had a really busy year with lots of travel and incredible experiences, but for me that is truly the biggest thing.

Tell us about your show.

The moment I had the idea to do a show with my mum last August, I knew that if I didn’t do it, I would have regretted it forever. So we just started talking about her life, I asked lots of questions (with secret dramaturgical agendas and secret recording devices) and began stitching together a script and journey for the work. Throughout the process, I consulted with lots of theatre friends on all elements of the production but the content, style, heart and power of the show really did all come from me and my mum. I also taught mum more about acting throughout the months we were developing the work and she is so good! She fools me all the time – natural, consistent and an amazing performer. She’ll make you cry. And laugh. Don’t worry about that.

We premiered at the Adelaide Fringe this year to the most wonderful response from our audiences. And this led us to a short season at Melbourne’s gorgeous Butterfly Club – which was also brilliant. We can’t wait to bring it to Edinburgh!

There are no official plans for future dates but I have some witchcraft to do under the next New Moon and we’ll see if we can manifest some more world touring. I’d love to take the show to Canada because my mum lived there from when she was a few months old until the age of 6 and has never been back… yet. (let the witchcraft commence!)

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

We are on at 1.10pm – so I suggest you have a nice coffee (from Brew Lab or Kilimanjaro – I’m devastated to hear that Filament has closed – their ginger/lemon shots were a lifesaver) and start the day with us before heading off to a day packed full of shows. My list is huge already and I love that once the festival starts there’ll be shows I’ve never heard of that I’ll be telling everyone about – but you’ll have to hold out for those ones.

I can’t wait to see the new shows from Lou Sanders, Richard Gadd, Carl Donnelly (my husband), Scottee and Rosie Jones. You obviously have to go and see “Bryony Kimmings: I’m a Phoenix, Bitch” and Abandoman, Massaoke and Marcel Lucont will never disappoint. I’m super excited about Diane Chorley’s late night show, and feel like I’ll spend many an evening there. Comedian Tim Vine is doing a one-off Elvis show which I am not going to miss. Tara Rankine got an Adelaide Fringe award for her cabaret show “Love is a Work in Progress” and Brittany Plummer is doing her first ever solo show “Chameleon” – a clowning work – that I missed in Adelaide, but won’t miss here.

Also, need to see The Long Pigs and Shit – both involving amazing Australian theatre people. I’ve seen comedians Rhys Nicholson, Daniel Connell, Liza Treyger and Fern Brady – so good, so funny – and you need to if you haven’t yet. I could keep going – check my twitter – think I need to get busy recommending on there!!! Aaaaaarrrghgghhhhhh so much to see!!!!!!!!!

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+3 Interview: Joz Norris Is Dead. Long Live Mr Fruit Salad.

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

“I went to Morocco with my friend and trekked into the Atlas Mountains and climbed the third-tallest mountain in Africa and it made me burst into tears. Gotta remember to actually live your life, y’know?”

WHO: Joz Norris, Writer/Performer

WHAT: “Joz Norris has retired or possibly died, who cares? All that matters is Mr Fruit Salad, a fictional chimaera he created as a form of self-care, has developed autonomy and is putting on a solo show. Absurdist meditation on anxiety and grief performed by an idiot from Pontefract who doesn’t exist. Sell-out show at VAULT Festival and Leicester Comedy Festival 2019. As seen/heard on BBC3, Channel 4, ITV2, Dave and BBC Radio 4. ‘An absolute idiot… Simple, silly and screamingly funny’ (Fest). ‘A comedy legend’ (ToDoList.org.uk).”

WHERE: Heroes @ The Hive – The Bunka (Venue 313) 

WHEN: 16:40 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This will be my 8th consecutive Fringe, and my 6th full solo show. I went up in 2012 with a short character show just to try and find my feet within the context of the Fringe and get my bearings with what it is, and I immediately found it infinitely more rewarding than the comedy experience I’d had up until that point. I loved having a space where you were in total control of the context and the tone of what you were doing and so on, it felt far more creatively exciting than trying to express yourself in 10-minute chunks on circuit gigs.

I did a couple of shows where I was very much in the process of figuring out what I wanted to do in 2013 and 2014, then in 2015 I started working with Heroes of Fringe and that, along with a few other changes in my life, shifted my perspective massively. Since then I’ve felt much more satisfied with the shows I’ve made, most of which have tended to be built around a single absurd image (me “growing” out of a box, me tangled up inside a giant web) and then explored whatever big, amorphous ideas I’ve been thinking about that year via some jumbled-up nonsense. Last year I took a year off from making a solo show and played the title role in a play at Assembly instead, but am returning to making my own show this year because I’ve got two years’ worth of unexplored thoughts to sift through and make something of.

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

Career-wise, it’s probably a sort of sitcom-pilot/comedy taster thing that I shot with my good friend and frequent collaborator Ed Aczel at the end of last year. For me, the ultimate goal from getting involved in comedy was that I one day wanted to make my own TV series, because I grew up in absolute awe of shows like Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Peep Show, The Mighty Boosh, Marion & Geoff, and so on. So alongside all the live comedy stuff and the festival shows and the gigs, I spend a lot of time developing ideas and scripts for potential TV projects, all of which involves a lot of meetings and a lot of waiting and, ultimately, a lot of luck as to whether you just happen to have the right idea at the right time.

In November Tiger Aspect sponsored a shoot for me and Ed to film a sort-of pilot script we’d written together, about two idiot criminals trying to steal a vending machine, and now we’re trying to pitch it to telly people and see if anyone will bite. Outside of work, I think the most uniquely exciting thing I’ve done this year is go on a proper holiday. I went to Morocco with my friend and trekked into the Atlas Mountains and climbed the third-tallest mountain in Africa and it made me burst into tears. Gotta remember to actually live your life, y’know?

Tell us about your show.

I started writing this show last year, because even though I wasn’t making a full solo show in 2018, writing a live show is still my main creative outlet every year and I wanted a place to put all the ideas I was coming up with so I could revisit them this year and see if I could turn them into something more complete. I’d created an imaginary alter-ego for myself called Mr Fruit Salad, which was just me in a fake beard and sunglasses and a hat pretending I didn’t exist, and would occasionally do gigs as him instead of me because I went through a period of not enjoying performing, and I felt I needed to hide my face in order to remind myself of how to enjoy it.

Eventually, I found something really interesting in that – the idea of having to hide yourself and in some way distance yourself in order to actually be present with people, the idea of having to sort of split your personality somehow in order to feel confident enough to get out of your head and build connections, it all seemed to be exploring some quite basic human ideas, but all via this very visually stupid, cartoon-like gimmick, and I felt like there was a show in that. I did a couple of work-in-progress performances at the Fringe last year, then in 2019 teamed up with my amazing director, Alex Hardy, and with my incredible co-star Ben Target, both of whom have brought such insight and heart and depth to the show. So far this year it’s played sell-out performances at VAULT Festival, Leicester Comedy Festival and Bath Comedy Festival, and seems on track to be the show I’ll look back on and be proudest of. Can’t wait to show it to Edinburgh.

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

Oh, far too many. If you go on my Twitter I’ve been recommending a show a day for the last 70 days or something, so there’s loads of amazing things there. But I suppose some of the shows I’m most excited about are shows from John Kearns, Lucy Pearman, Paul Currie and Roisin & Chiara. John is my favourite comedian in the world and makes shows that remind me how deeply comedy can make you feel, and how much it can open up things inside you that you didn’t know were there. Lucy’s ideas are so big and bold and stupid, and she makes me laugh more than anybody else I know, I think. Paul’s show last year was my absolute favourite – he’s incredible at big, dumb, anarchic nonsense and then had an ending that was so earnest and kind and beautiful that it made me sob. And Roisin & Chiara are my favourite act I’ve discovered in the last year, they’re unbelievably inventive and talented and silly and channel something really magical, I think.

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+3 Interview: The Grandmothers Grimm

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

“I first came to Edinburgh and the Fringe in 2011 as a performer and ended up falling in love with the city and moving here the next year.”

WHO: Emily Ingram, Director/Playwright

WHAT: “Cannibalism, werewolf trials, deceit, and murder: Marie Hassenpflug and the Brothers Grimm are trying to edit the darkness out of old stories. But as they do so, the voices of the women who created these tales are lost… What will be saved and what will be forgotten? The Grandmothers Grimm explores women’s role in the creation of the Brothers Grimm’s famous anthology. Discover a night of folk and fairy tales as you’ve never heard them before. Following performances in Buxton and London, Some Kind of Theatre are proud to bring The Grandmothers Grimm home to the Edinburgh.”

WHERE: Paradise in The Vault – The Vault (Venue 29) 

WHEN: 21:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

We’re actually here all year: Some Kind of Theatre have been making shows in Edinburgh since 2015 and this is our fourth Fringe.

I first came to Edinburgh and the Fringe in 2011 as a performer and ended up falling in love with the city and moving here the next year. Since then, I’ve taken part in every Fringe either as a performer, stage manager, director, producer, or hander-out-of-flyers for friends’ shows.

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

I adapted and staged the world premiere of a book that had been lost for 90 years!

In the 1920s, Vita Sackville-West wrote a brand new, miniature book called ‘A Note Of Explanation’ for the Queen Anne Dolls House and it got put on a tiny shelf in the dolls house without anyone realising “oh, this is a brand new story by a rather famous author!” and no one discovered it until the dolls house was renovated in 2017.

‘A Note Of Explanation’ – which is about the adventures of a cheeky sprite who’s been involved in all of the events in fairy tale history – was officially published and I read it and went “oh, this is SO perfect for Some Kind of Theatre – we have to stage it”, so got in touch with the Royal Collection Trust and Vita Sackville-West’s estate, got their blessing to adapt it, and away we went. It was one of our most ambitious shows so far (and our first children’s show!): we were using giant puppets, huge pantomime costumes, and shadow puppets and there was a wonderful, magical atmosphere that our three brilliant performers -Justin Skelton, Imogen Reiter, and Gillian Goupillot – managed to create. We’ve had a brilliant response to the show and have plans to take it on tour in December this year.

Tell us about your show.

Continuing slightly with the fairy tale theme, our Fringe 2019 show is ‘The Grandmothers Grimm’: an exploration of the dark origins of the Brothers Grimms fairy tales and the women who created them.

The show in set on a winter’s evening in the Brothers Grimm’s study, where they and a house guest – Marie Hassenpflug – are poring over transcripts of old folk tales told to the Brothers by women that they know. The Brothers and Marie start trying to remove the horror from these stories and re-tell them to make them more suitable for children, but Marie notices that the Brothers are erasing the female characters and the original authors. The show looks at why these women and female characters have been forgotten and tries to champion women who have been left out of history.

‘The Grandmothers Grimm’ started life as a short play at the Edinburgh Horror Festival in 2017. I’d been approached about putting a play on at the festival and decided to do something about the scary, early versions of classic fairy tales. While I was researching the play, I found out a lot about how the Brothers Grimm’s famous fairy tale collection was put together and how so many women have gone unacknowledged for their contributions to it, and I got pretty angry about that and the play morphed accordingly! I reworked it after the Horror Festival and it went from a fairly easy-going piece telling gory versions of fairy tales to this tirade against the way women and their artistic and literary work have been treated by history.

‘The Grandmothers Grimm’ is being performed throughout the Fringe: we’re spending the 3rd-17th (not 11th) at Paradise Green, where we performed ‘Twelfth Night’ last Fringe. Then, we’re taking the show on tour to living rooms, offices, care homes, and schools as part of our Theatre On The Sofa project. Theatre On The Sofa (and its sister project Shakespeare On The Sofa) started as an accessible theatre scheme, bringing shows into the homes of folk who can’t access theatre easily in traditional venues. But we’ve had a lot of demand from other theatre-goers and now absolutely anyone based between EH1-EH20 can book the show, and we’ll bring it right to you in your living room. It’s sort of like Netflix and on-demand TV, but a bit more immediate!

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

I really recommend ‘The Green Knight’ by Debbie Cannon. It’s a beautiful show, and I love the simple but creative way Debbie uses props in her performance. Go see it, folks!

I’m also really excited to see Keane & Doyle’s two-person production of ‘2Elfth Night’ at Paradise Green. Having produced on Some Kind of Theatre’s take of ‘Twelfth Night’ in 2018 and watched the show develop, I’m exciting to see another company’s adaptation of the play.

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+3 Interview: Ali and Alpo

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

“We’ve been visiting South Korea and Hungary for the first time this year.”

WHO: Sari Lakso, Producer

WHAT: “A beautiful wordless dialogue between Iraqi traditional music and Finnish contemporary dance. The original aim of the work by oud lute virtuoso Ali Alawad and choreographer Alpo Aaltokoski was to contemplate the similarities and differences between two mutually alien cultures. But the rejection of Alawad’s asylum application dramatically affected the final form of the work. To avoid forced repatriation, Alawad fled Finland two weeks before the premiere. Nevertheless, Alawad still took part in the performance via video projection. The piece touchingly brings out the human experience and the consequences of increasingly restrictive asylum policies.”

WHERE: Summerhall – Old Lab (Venue 26) 

WHEN: 13:05 (40 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes, for the company this is the first time. We are very much excited!

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

Well, we’ve been visiting South Korea and Hungary for the first time this year. But like I said, this is the first time for us in Edinburgh.

Tell us about your show.

The story behind the show is quite peculiar; a planned duet turned into a solo work, sort of. It all started 2016 when Alpo and Ali met the first time. It was Alpo’s 30th anniversary as an artist where Ali was playing. He had arrived in Finland in 2015 as an asylum seeker. They started to collaborate and investigate the differences between two different cultures. Two weeks before the planned premiere, the rejection of Alawad’s asylum application dramatically affected the genesis of the work, and its final form. In order to avoid forced repatriation he fled Finland in March 2017 – two weeks before the premiere. Nevertheless, show was staged according to Alawad’s wishes, since he still took part in the performance via a video projection. Production is produced by Alpo Aaltokoski Company which was founded in 1995 as part of Nomadi collective. Ali and Alpo has been performed around Finland after its premiere, in Hungary and Russia (2019) and pitched in Dusseldorf Tanzmesse (2018).

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

We highly recommend the other projects part of the From Start to Finnish programme, and other Finnish productions as part of EdFringe. Un Poyo Rojo is must see and very curious to see Jo Strömgren’s Hospital.

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+3 Interview: Polly: A Drag Rebellion

Posted in *Written Interviews, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“Though I’ve done drag and performed live music many times before on separate occasions, I’ve never combined the two and doing so has proven an audience favourite…”

WHO: Joe Strickland, Writer and performer

WHAT: “Meet Polly, she doesn’t care what you think! All she wants is to be equal, for everyone to be equal. In a whirlwind evening of live music, spoken word and drag tomfoolery, Polly will put across her manifesto for ending all the world’s problems. Using drag and gig theatre, multi award-winning performer Joe Strickland will incite a rebellion against everything that holds us back in life, exploring the barriers that others put in front of us and the masks that we put in front of ourselves in the process.”

WHERE: Greenside @ Nicolson Square – Fern Studio (Venue 209) 

WHEN: 21:00 (50 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is our 4th year up at the festival and we’re so excited to be able to bring this show this year. This is, however, my first year performing in this way at the festival. Though I’ve done drag and performed live music many times before on separate occasions, I’ve never combined the two and doing so has proven an audience favourite when we’ve been previewing the show so I’m very excited for festival goers up in Edinburgh to be able to see it.

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

Since the last Edinburgh Festival Fringe the director of this show and I have formed a new production company in Nottingham and we’ll be putting on 12 shows in 12 months from September 2019. Planning that has been a really exciting new experience and having this show to work on alongside that has been a really good strategy to give us something separate to work on so we don’t go crazy. Polly: A Drag Rebellion is going to be the last thing we do before starting the new company and we’re going into Edinburgh all guns blazing to make our mark before our new company begins.

Tell us about your show.

I wrote the show in response to how I was thinking about the world. I wanted some clarity of what and how to think and worry about everything that’s been happening and realised that this is not only something that a lot of other people must be thinking but something that the wrong person could easily abuse and manipulate people with. What would happen if this progressive figurehead emerged and slowly turned out to not be who everyone thought they were became the story of Polly. The show has been previewed in Nottingham to a wonderful audience at the Nottingham New Theatre’s StuFF festival and will go on to be performed after the festival. We’re also going to release an album of Polly’s music for people to enjoy once the show has finished its EdFringe run.

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

Directly after our show, in the same performance space, is a truly wonderful improv show, Hard Truths. They start by having deeply personal interviews with the performers and use those real life stories to build a narratively strong long-form show which has comedy and emotion in equal measure. Hard Truths deserves a lot of love this year at the festival. Also, we’re taking up another show, Apollo: Take 111, which is a farce about the faking of the Moon landings that incorporates a lot of cinema and American 60s popular culture.

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