Author Archives: Dan Lentell

+3 Interview: Propeller

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

“For the month of August, Edinburgh becomes the worlds creative epicentre, and if you work in the arts I don’t know why you would be anywhere else.”

WHO: Louise Oliver, Producer

WHAT: “So you want to change the world? Really? You? You Instagram checking, avo-smashing, coconut-flat-white sipping loser? Yeah, the world sucks sometimes – OK, a lot. But you can’t do anything about it. Can you? This show says yes, yes you can. Maybe. If you ever feel frustrated about the way things are but don’t know what to do about it, this is the show for you. A devised piece about power and the possibility of change, directed by double Fringe First winner Caitlin Skinner and co-created by The Network Ensemble.”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Above (Venue 33) 

WHEN: 13:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This will be my 13th year at the Edinburgh Fringe. My first experience of the Fringe was to bring my own show back in 2005. I wrote and directed a partially devised comedy that intended to condense 3000 years of theatre history into one hour. I was a recent Theatre Studies graduate and was convinced, in all my youthful naivete, that this was a highly original idea. Being one show in a programme of thousands taught me very quickly that it definitely wasn’t. Since then I have attended the festival every year in some capacity; performer, writer, director, producer, Festival Fringe Society employee and audience member. To me, it’s the most important date in the cultural calendar. For the month of August, Edinburgh becomes the worlds creative epicentre, and if you work in the arts I don’t know why you would be anywhere else. This year I am wearing my producer hat and am working with the Scottish Drama Training Network to produce our production of Propeller, and I am also the Associate Producer with Edinburgh based production house Civil Disobedience, and we will be presenting a diverse roster of around nine shows at this years Festival.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

So many amazing things in my life and career have happened to me as a direct result of being involved in the Festival. It’s hard to pick just one. I’ve been able to work abroad, make some intense friendships, some of which have ended up also being creative collaborators. The Fringe has given me the opportunity to do what I love for a living. I suppose one of the most life-changing results was in 2013. That year, whilst working at the Festival, I decided I wanted to re-train as an actor. I met and subsequently auditioned for the Head of Admissions for the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts while he was in Edinburgh as a talent scout. That meeting and audition resulted in an acceptance on a scholarship to their programme for actors and I ended up moving there for a couple of years to be the ultimate living cliché; a struggling actor in New York City. Unique and once in a life time opportunities like that happen all the time at the Fringe. It’s like no where else in terms of what’s possible.

Tell us about your show.

Propeller by the Network Ensemble and the Scottish Drama Training Network is one of my bigger projects for this year and I am really excited about it. Presented in partnership with Pleasance Futures, Propeller is a devised piece of new theatre about power and feeling powerless. It will be an irreverent, theatrical, call to action. It’s being directed by double-Fringe First winning Director Caitlin Skinner, produced by myself on behalf of the Scottish Drama Training Network, and created by the Network Ensemble. The company, known as The Network Ensemble, came together through the Scottish Drama Training Network.

The Network is a graduate production ensemble made up Acting, Performance and Technical Theatre graduates from Scotland’s Colleges and Higher Education Institutions. The Network Ensemble is about giving them that first professional opportunity as they make the transition from training to industry. As the show is being created by the cast, the 2018 Fringe will be the premier of the work. I believe the show is going to tap into a collective feeling of unchanneled frustration with the current political climate that the majority of people are feeling right now. We hope that it will serve as a fun yet practical guide to what we can all do as individuals on a grassroots level to effect change. Given the current landscape in America, particularly with regards to how young people are mobilising and engaging in politics, it would be incredible to take the show over there. Perhaps to college campuses and regions of America that are removed from the diverse urban hubs, where we could engage with local schools and community groups.

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

I think it’s good to challenge yourself when you are in Edinburgh. To go see something that puts you outside your comfort zone. It’s the kind of environment where anything goes so you are likely to see work that you aren’t going to find anywhere else in the world. You should take risks. Find out what everyone is talking about, because if there is a hot ticket, it’s likely to be a show that people continue talking about for years to come. You should seek those experiences out. If you normally only ever see stand-up, then go see some mental, immersive, site-specific theatre. You never know, it might just change your perspective and introduce you to something you never knew you loved. My personal recommendations for this year are One Life Stand, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, Bugle Boys, Jet of Blood, What Girls Are Made Of, Fringe Wives Club: Glittery Clittery, Hans: Like a German, Closed Doors, Handfast and Ulster American.

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+3 Interview: The Political History of Smack and Crack

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

“I wrote the play based on an experience I had when I was in jail for drugs offences many years ago.”

WHO: Ed Edwards, Writer

WHAT: “‘The history of England jumps off its axis. 2am, 8th July, 1981, 20 cities across England burn.’ The night of the Manchester uprising. That night should change everything. Drawing on his own personal experience, Ed Edwards’ script crackles with anger, humour and authenticity as he chronicles the fallout for communities crushed by the heroin epidemic at the height of Thatcherism. Shot through with home truths about the road to recovery this is an epic love song to a lost generation.”

WHERE: Roundabout @ Summerhall – Roundabout (Venue 26) 

WHEN: 17:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

We came to Edinburgh a couple of years ago with a show called Life by the Throat which got a bunch of five star reviews and was one of Claire Z from Fringebiscuit’s top three picks of the Fringe.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

In terms of work, probably Nick Hern agreeing to publish my play along with a political essay of the history of smack and crack that we couldn’t squeeze into the play itself. The play has to follow characters and it’s hard to get pure history into something like that, so the essay made me feel like I can get to the bottom of the whole thing, as well and entertain an audience. Not that there isn’t some history in the play itself, just we didn’t want to max out our credit card.

Tell us about your show.

I wrote the play based on an experience I had when I was in jail for drugs offences many years ago, when a lad who was in the Liverpool riot made a speech one night on the landing about how he and the rest of the Liverpool youth had taken Liverpool the night of the Toxteth riot, only to find themselves “jumping over the courter at the office toting an uzi” (sub-machine gun) trying to feed a drug habit. I’d always felt there was a connection between the 1981 riots and the heroin epidemic and thought it was a good subject to write about. Add in some fucked up love and that’s the play. It’s being led by Cressida Brown of Offstage who read the play when it was a finalised in the Theatre503 playwriting competition. I’d written it to direct myself, Cress said if I let her direct it, she’d do all the leg work production-wise. That was enough to persuade me! Since then, Annabel at W14 Productions and Ali from Ransack Theatre have got involved, then Soho came on board. No premiere, it will go on to Soho Theatre for three weeks in September.

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

Anything by Kieran Hurley.

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+3 Interview: Andrew White: Coming of Age

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“I had the best time meeting new people, seeing so many shows, and just soaking in the whole experience.”

WHO: Andrew White, Writer & performer

WHAT: “In 2017, Andrew White debuted his first solo show, It Was Funnier in My Head, unable to legally drink, have debt, or even get into some venues he was set to perform in! But this year, he’s back and ready to do it all again with a new-found sense of adulthood… Now 18, I embark on a brand-new show, exploring what it means to be an adult and the world I am “grown-up” in. Through stand-up, poetry, and even experimental mime, I’ll discuss every aspect of life for a teenager facing the “real world”…”

WHERE: PQA Venues @Riddle’s Court – PQA Three (Venue 277) 

WHEN: 18:00 (50 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It’s my third Fringe, and second as a performer.

I absolutely adore the festival, and very quickly fell in love on that first visit in 2016. In fact, it was during that trip that I said to myself that this is where I wanted to be every August.

And next August, I was there with my debut show! It was called ‘It Was Funnier In My Head’, and I couldn’t have asked for a better start to Fringe life. More importantly though, away from any of the shows success, I had the best time meeting new people, seeing so many shows, and just soaking in the whole experience.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I’ve performed a lot more at bigger gigs, and perhaps one of the best things to happen was the chance to perform at the Pavillion Theatre in Bournemouth in front of over 1000 people. A surreal night for my stand-up career, and one I shall treasure for a long time.

Tell us about your show.

Well the answer to all the ‘who’ questions is pretty much myself. It’s quite a lonely world in stand-up comedy, and no matter how many friends you make and people you gig with, at the end of the day, it’s just you on stage with a microphone.

It’s all about growing up and becoming adult, as I turned 18 earlier this year. The show covers all sorts of things, from broad concepts like bigotry and family to more specific experiences like learning to drive and going to parties.

I’ve done several performances already to hone the show, so Edinburgh isn’t exactly is a premier, but it is, in theory, and unveiling of the final polished product!

Whether it goes anywhere beyond the Fringe is up in the air, but I’d love to show it to as many people as possible.

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

All sorts. I’ll recommend some specific shows below, but just go and see everything and anything. Really awful student improv, a surprise smash hit musical, experimental magic. There’s loads at the Fringe, so try and experience as much variety as you can. Your August will be all the richer for it!

However, to be more specific…

  • Jess Robinson: No Filter (One of the most awe-inspiring impressionists out there, no-one’s quite like her).
  • Kit and McConnel (A timeless musical comedy duo, whose songs and parodies I always find myself singing in the car).
  • Olaf Falafel – There’s no I in Idiot (Madcap puns and clever jokes, an absolute joy).
  • Shady With a Chance of Sunburn (Dana Alexander is so funny, and whilst our shows clash, I hope many will go give her some love in my place).

and finally…

  • The Raymond and Mr Timpkins Revue: Ham (An indescribable act – hilarious and unforgettable.

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+3 Interview: Baby Face

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

“I reassessed how people treat me in relationships, and as I have childlike attributes to my body – I realised that I can often be infantilised without realising this is happening.”

WHO: Katy Dye, Creator/Performer 

WHAT: “Hey baby! Welcome to a world of knee socks, bunches, lollipops, bubblegum and models adopting the childlike expressions of six-year-old girls. A daring exploration into the paradox of living in a society that continues to infantilise women. Paedophilia is not OK yet fetishised images of women as prepubescent girls are. In this brave and outlandish performance a grown woman attempts to be your baby to discover if innocence really is as sexy as we’re told it is. Winner of the Autopsy Award 2018.”

WHERE: Summerhall – Demonstration Room (Venue 26) 

WHEN: 13:30 (50 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes this is my first time performing at the Edinburgh Fringe.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

Being awarded The Autopsy Award by Summerhall for 2018 has probably been the biggest thing to happen to me since festivals ’17. This has motivated me to take the steps to stage the production on a bigger scale than I have ever tried before. Another big achievement was being selected as one of Sir Tom Hunter’s 100 Disrupters ‘positively disrupting Scotland’ for staging Baby Face.

Tell us about your show.

Baby Face is written by myself, produced by Jack Stancliffe, with sound design from Glasgow based musician, Zac Scott, and lighting design by Michaella Fee Rossi. I have been friends with Jack and Zac for a number of years, after meeting and studying together on the Contemporary Performance Practice course at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. I came to know Michaella through watching various productions she had designed lighting for. So, generally, I met the team through the Glasgow arts scene.

There was a few different inspirations I had for making Baby Face. A couple of years ago, I read Blake Morrison’s, ‘As If’, which is a journalistic account of the James Bulger trial. In this book Morrison discusses the meaning of childhood innocence in our world today. I was thinking a lot about power dynamics and moral boundaries surrounding this area. At the same time as this I reassessed how people treat me in relationships, and as I have childlike attributes to my body – I realised that I can often be infantilised without realising this is happening. I started to think about the implications of this on a bigger scale, what is it that attracts us to innocence/the infantile, and what does this mean in terms of our moral codes in society?

The show has been performed in various versions since I created it in 2015. It has been performed in earlier stages at In Between Time in Bristol, Camden People’s Theatre in London and Buzzcut Festival in Glasgow. The show continues to change, as my relationship to the subject matter and form changes. Right now I am very interested in how to show complex psychological and emotional ideas through movement and sound. I am also interested in the pop culture references that infantilisation brings up, and the commercialised and consumable version of infantilisation that most people might be familiar/which on a deeper level could easily be seen as paedophilia. I am interested in exploring where we draw the moral boundaries between these things being acceptable or being reprehensible. I am interested in working with more UK contemporary performance festivals and venues, to find out what other contexts this work could exist in after the fringe.

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

I am really looking forward to seeing VOID at Summerhall by Mele Broomes. Mele is an incredible physical performer, and her take on J.G. Ballard’s Concrete Island looks to be visually and sonically mesmerising! I also think that European Citizen Pop Song at Summerhall looks to be very interesting too, and adding something new to the conversation on how Brexit is impacting culture. People should also go and see Live Art Bistros 12 hour marathon of performance art at Zoo, as it is rare to find appropriate contexts to perform durational/one on one/action based performance art at the fringe, and this might just be it!

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+3 Interview: Little Death Club

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

“I am super excited to be coming back to the festival this year with new hilariously filthy songs…”

WHO: Bernie Dieter, Mistress of Chaos (MC)

WHAT: “Winner: Pick of the Fringe, Adelaide Fringe Weekly Award 2017. The darkest, funniest and most debauched kabarett club this side of Berlin! A Weimar-punk jazz band soundtracks a night of dangerously funny kabarett, breathtaking circus and fire-breathing sideshow at its most inappropriate, provocative and hilarious best. Join multi-award-winning Bernie Dieter (star of La Clique, EastEnd Cabaret) for ‘a night of debauchery and devilry! Hilarious’ ***** (FourthWallMedia.Wordpress.com). ‘Magnificent, be amazed, be appalled, and be blown away’ ***** (WeekendNotes.com). ‘Absolutely outrageous! An unmissable experience’ ****1/2 (OUTInPerth, Australia). ‘Wickedly funny, the audience were in stitches’ ****1/2 (X-Press Magazine, Australia).”

WHERE: Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows – The Beauty (Venue 360) 

WHEN: 20:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

No darlings, I have been to Edinburgh many times before- I just can’t stay away! The last time I was there though was actually outside of festival time, as I was the MC (Mistress of Chaos as I like to call it) for the infamous variety show La Clique. I am super excited to be coming back to the festival this year with new hilariously filthy songs, a 3 piece Weimar punk jazz band, and some of the best acts in the business in the Little Death Club.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

We have toured Little Death Club around Australia with such an incredible response and had a fully SOLD OUT season in a beautiful Spiegeltent in Perth fringe world this year. I have also consumed a LOT of delicious gin since then…

Tell us about your show.

It is the darkest, funniest, most debauched kabarett show this side of Berlin. A travelling home for all the punks, freaks and weirdos of the world. I created the show with Tom Velvick from Dead Man label 2 years ago. It started as a late night lock in in a Spiegeltent and has grown into the ultimate Kabarett show with a hilarious original soundtrack, a 3 piece Weimar punk jazz band, and some of the best acts in the business- breathtaking circus, fire breathing side show, fierce drag and ridiculous characters who we are lucky enough to call our carnie family. We are super proud of this show and can not wait to bring it to the Underbelly Spiegeltent in the Circus Hub. The show is being produced by Dead Man Label in conjunction with Underbelly,, and the Edinburgh run will be it’s first time in the UK.

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

There are so many shows I’m looking forward to this year that I’m not sure how I’m going to fit them all in! Courtney Act who is on in the Underbelly Spiegeltent just before us, Velma Celli (absolutely gorgeous and has an incredible voice), Josh Glanc (who is also performing the Little Death Club this season) is an amazing character comedian, absolutely hilarious. Also Yana Alana ‘Between the Cracks’ as she is an incredible Aussie cabaret superstar,  and I never miss Le Gateau Chocolat…

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+3 Interview: 3 Years, 1 Week and a Lemon Drizzle

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

“I played Sylvia Pankhurst in a BBC One docudrama which was so much fun…”

WHO: Alexandra Donnachie, Performer

WHAT: “The show pieces together Alexandra and Kate Donnachie’s sometimes heartbreaking but often hilarious memories of growing up together and managing their close bond when older sister, Alexandra, developed a severe eating disorder. When Alexandra (finally) decided to ask Kate what that time was like for her, she began cooking up ideas for this autobiographical show – albeit before Kate agreed to be in it. This is a performance that recalls on touching memories, shares laugh-out-loud anecdotes and melts Mars bars to bring to stage a story about living with an eating disorder.”

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

WHEN: 14:25 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It’s my eighth time! I’ve been up to the festival every year since 2010 but in a number of different capacities. I worked at a venue on box office for a number of years and in 2013, I performed in a show whilst holding down the box office job. I would not recommend this to anybody. Other years, I’ve popped up to see stuff but I’m also half-Scottish so I get to go up a fair bit outside of the festival too!

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I was on the telly! I played Sylvia Pankhurst in a BBC One docudrama which was so much fun and such a great job to get to do with some amazing people.

Tell us about your show.

Our show is about the relationship between my sister and I when I was ill with an eating disorder as a teenager. My sister and I made the show together almost two years ago and we both perform in it which – so far – has been a really fun experience because we work so well together! Mind you, this will be the longest run of the show we’ve done so let’s hope we’re still saying that at the end of August.

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

Ooh lots of stuff! Definitely see Ladykiller which The Thelmas are bringing to The Pleasance Courtyard this year and Christina Murdock’s Dangerous Giant Animals at Underbelly, Cowgate looks fantastic. I also discovered Jess Robinson earlier this year and thought she was incredible. She has a show at the festival this year called Jess Robinson: No Filter which I think will make for an awesome evening!

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+3 Interview: Universoul Circus: Hip Hop Under the Big Top

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“You’re going to be riding the clouds after seeing our show.”

WHO: Cedric Walker, Founder, Creator, and Producer

WHAT: “After electrifying US audiences for 25 years, America’s ‘coolest show on earth’ (Newsweek) comes to the UK for the first time. It’s Hip-Hop Under the Big Top, combining edge-of-your-seat performances, stunning spectacle, hilarious audience participation and a soundtrack that will blow the roof off the tent. UniverSoul’s international cast includes high-wire artists, slapstick comedy, jaw-dropping contortionists, Caribbean limbo fire-dancers and global internet sensations Fresh The Clowns. Come see the show that has entertained over 20 million people in the USA.”

WHERE: Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows – The Lafayette (Venue 360) 

WHEN: 17:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes. We’re extremely excited to be coming to Edinburgh for the first time. Not only is this our first time in Edinburgh, this is our first time playing Europe! We are very excited about sharing the UniverSoooul experience with a new audience, on new stage.

Tell us about your show.

This has been an amazing journey that started 25 years ago when I wanted to create a multi-generational show that would bring people together of various backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities. Since its inception 25 years ago, we have produced more than 12,000 shows for an audience of more than 20 million people. Our team includes myself, the founder, creator, and producer, along with creative director and a show producer Deneise Howard. Production consultants include British creative film producer, John Watkins, Tom Marzullo, who has created amazing live shows for such greats as Justin Bieber, Kiss, and Prince, and famed set designer, David “Gurn” Kaninski. Following our Edinburgh engagement, we will head back to the States for the continuation of our 25th Anniversary Tour.

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

Well, the UniverSoul Circus is very thrilling and uplifting. You’re going to be riding the clouds after seeing our show. With all the excitement and audience interaction, we hope you will want to see other uplifting performances. There’s some other great circus shows happening as part of Underbelly’s Circus Hub programme – our Canadian cousins Cirque Alfonse are bringing their show Tabarnak which I am excited to see. Circa are always amazing and they have a family show this year called Wolfgang too, alongside our Colombian friends with the amazing Circolombia! Otherwise, I hear there’s some great music at the International Festival and Fringe – which I’m really excited to check out. I’m sure people will find a lot of fantastic shows just from wandering around the city at such an amazing time!

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+3 Interview: Reading the Streets: An Old Town Poetry Tour

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“I’ve been congratulated on my productivity, but in fact, both books were written very slowly over several years.”

WHO: Ken Cockburn, Producer/Writer/Performer

WHAT: “Weaving through courtyards, kirkyards and vennels, hear poems about Edinburgh past and present written by residents, tourists and those who visited only in imagination, including Robert Burns, Victor Hugo and the great Anon. The city has inspired tragic ballads and heartfelt love-songs, poems celebrating its dramatic beauty and poems attacking its grey narrow-mindedness. Ken Cockburn has led poetry walks on the Royal Mile since 2007. ‘An excellent tour for both the historian and the poetry lover: Ken is a brilliant guide… book yourself a tour – you won’t regret it!’ (ScotsGay.co.uk).”

WHERE: Scottish Poetry Library – Outside SPL (Venue 203) 

WHEN: 11:00 (90 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I first experienced the Fringe many years ago as a member of a student theatre company, and loved the buzz of activity. Since I moved to Edinburgh I’ve been every year as an audience member, then since 2016 I’ve been presenting poetry walks on the Fringe, and immersing myself in the festival city again.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I’ve had not one but two books published this year. Floating the Woods is a collection of poems, including some about Edinburgh; and Heroines from Abroad is a collection of translations from the German poet Christine Marendon. I’ve been congratulated on my productivity, but in fact, both books were written very slowly over several years.

Tell us about your show.

I’ve run poetry walks in Edinburgh since 2007, but more intensively over the past three years. I do pretty much everything myself, researching poems – most are extant, but I’ve written some new ones myself –connecting them to particular sites on and around the Royal Mile, and working out the overall route. Each year the Fringe walks start and end at the Scottish Poetry Library, but I vary the material and the reading locations. I’m just finalising this year’s script and itinerary at the moment. Edinburgh is a busy place at festival time, but there are quiet and attractive spaces off the Royal Mile still to be found. After the Fringe I’ve a couple of private tours booked… then I have a large folder full of poems that I want to turn into a book, so the aim is to work on that over the winter to have something ready for summer 2019.

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

I love Summerhall as a venue, especially the Anatomy Lecture Theatre, and the programme is always worth checking out. This year my eye has been caught by Darkfield’s Flight which, in total contrast to Reading the Streets, ’takes place in a shipping container in absolute darkness’! I’ll also look forward to ScotlandsFest 2018 run by Luath Press (who published Floating the Woods) at the Quaker Meeting House. In the Art Festival, I want to visit the new Collective Gallery on Calton Hill, and to see Shipla Gupta’s sound installations inspired by 100 Jailed Poets at the Art College and the Burns Monument on Regent Road.

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+3 Interview: Tobacco Road

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“The story is autobiographical and it does what it says on the tin. I have been telling these anecdotes in the pub for years.”

WHO: Hannah Wisher, Producer

WHAT: “Following their sell-out All Quiet On The Western Front, Greenwich Partnership Award-winners Incognito return with their explosive physical style to tell the story of five resourceful young men and women attempting to carve out a place in the murky underworld of 1920s London. In the wake of the Great War, can they find the fame and wealth they crave or will their desperate need to belong lead to disastrous consequences?”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – Upstairs (Venue 31) 

WHEN: 15:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

No this isn’t my first time! I first performed at the Fringe at the age of 15 with Young Pleasance. We did John Godber’s ‘Teechers’ which was the most amazing fun with all the 80’s music and hair. After that I performed with them for 3 more years before moving into production. The year before last I worked in the Pleasance Press Office before producing for Incognito. This will be my 8th year at the Fringe, I think it’s safe to say I definitely have the Fringe bug.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

Lots of great things have happened to us as a company since Edinburgh ’17! We were fortunate enough to win the Les Enfants Terribles Greenwich Partnership Award and have received some great support from Greenwich Theatre, we have welcomed two new cast members into the company and are making some more great work for the Fringe this year!

Tell us about your show.

The show is called Tobacco Road and it’s the story of 5 young gang members carving their place in the murky underworld of 1920’s London. We’re merging the fact with the fiction to bring you the trials and tribulations of post-war Britain and those who felt left behind. The company are devising the piece as a group with everyone contributing to the writing. As it’s set in a specific time and place we feel it’s really important to properly research the era and incorporate our unique style of physical theatre into the story. We did a little work-in-progress for it in December 2017 but are looking forward to getting back into the rehearsal room.

I’m the lucky one to be producing this show with my love associate and assistant producers Cindy and Lydia and we’ve had some great mentorship from James at Greenwich Theatre.

The company itself have been around for 5 years as part of the Pleasance Future initiative as XYP and this is their second year as a completely independent company. We’re hoping to tour the show in 2019 so watch this space!

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

I’ve had the highlighter out on my Fringe Festival guide already! I’m really looking forward to Camilla Whitehill’s ‘Freeman’ which will be at the Pleasance and Spies Like Us’ ‘Woyzeck’. Also, ‘The Insignificant Life and Death of Colin McKenzie’ at Greenside looks great and the Les Enfants show ‘Flies’!

More than anything I’m just looking forward to being up there and seeing anything and everything, I’m a sponge ready to absorb!

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+3 Interview: Chris Henry: Around the World in 80 Dates

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

“Up until this point, I’ve remained under the radar doing shows at the Laughing Horse Free Festival, which has been great for working on my craft and putting pennies in my pocket, but this year I have my sights set on bigger goals.”

WHO: Chris Henry, Performer/Comedian

WHAT: “Scottish Comedian of the Year finalist Chris Henry is back to take you on a whirlwind global gigglefest as he attempts to find The One. After sold-out, award-nominated performances around the world, this 40-year-old bachelor delivers the ultimate anti rom-com by hilariously dissecting our favourite cliches with razor-sharp stand-up, replacing them with 80 dates he hopes will take him from reformed playboy to the perfect husband. Prepare for a blind date like no other.”

WHERE: Underbelly, Bristo Square – Clover (Venue 139) 

WHEN: 20:10 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

The first time I did my own show in Edinburgh was 2009 and the first show happened the day after a particularly gruesome break up that features heavily in this years show. Up until this point, I’ve remained under the radar doing shows at the Laughing Horse Free Festival, which has been great for working on my craft and putting pennies in my pocket, but this year I have my sights set on bigger goals. I have a big show, and I want it to go to big places (all this use of “big” is starting to make me think I’m overcompensating too). I’m unbelievably excited to be working with the Underbelly.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

That’s a tough one, I’ve sold out shows in the UK, Australia, Singapore, The Philippines & Thailand. But the biggest thing that’s happened to me is either the realisation that brought me to the idea for the show, or the fact last week I decided to walk the West Highland Way for three different charities, ROHHAD Association, Epilepsy Scotland & MND Scotland, and raised nearly £2000 by walking 96 miles. Not quite the same as The Proclaimers song. I like to tell people it’s because my life is so much fun and I wanted to give back to something I believed in, but the truth of the matter is that I turn 40 at the end of July and I think it was a little bit of a mid-life crisis.

Tell us about your show.

The show is all about my disastrous love life and how the dating world has changed dramatically in the last decade. With a healthy dose of self reflection it also delves in to why I’ve been single for 9 years, and what I’m doing to change that. It’s honest, heartfelt and the funniest thing I’ve ever written.

It’s been produced by Natalie Allison who is the only person I’ve ever met who can make me even more excited about my own projects. She’s been invaluable in helping me take all my brain babies and helping nurture them in to mature funnies.

My aim is to take it to as many international fringe and comedy festivals I can find around the world. I have my heart set on a European tour in autumn/winter, then Australia in January till April, New Zealand then hopefully Canada, America, South Africa and anywhere else that wants to hear my tales.

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

Ray Bradshaw is bringing his show ‘Comedy Def Fam’ back for a limited run, if you missed it last year definitely check that out as it’s my favourite thing I’ve ever seen at a Fringe. Others you should definitely check out are Stephen Bailey, Ashley Storrie, Chris Forbes, Fannys @ Five, Janey Godley, The Master that is Stephen Buchanan, Jesus L’Oreal Nailed It – there is a massive list that I’d recommend. I always put a full list of recommendations up on my website or Facebook just before the Fringe starts.

Two top tips for choosing shows. Stop and speak to flyerers, ask them which shows they’d recommend other than the one they are selling, do that a few times and you’ll hear some names getting repeated which is always a good sign. Also, don’t go to any show that has more than one A at the start of the title, they’ve done this to get to the start of the brochure and if that’s as good as their imagination for the title gets, there isn’t much hope for the show.

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