Author Archives: Dan Lentell

EdFringe Talk: A Bit Too Much Hair

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2023 by

“Normally I’m a book tickets in advance, send calendar invites, spreadsheet sorta gay, so it’s fun to be wildly spontaneous for a change.”

WHO: Jess Ducey

WHAT: “This gender euphoric cabaret is a musical paradise for thems, mens, femmes, and everyone in between. ‘It’s a big, silly party where transness is centred and everyone is welcome’ (Theatreview.org.nz) by artists from NZ and NYC! ‘It feels like hanging out with your friends at a house party. With a band. And rainbow glitter. Everyone’s wearing sequins. You’re inside but you can pretty much guarantee unicorns and bunnies are frolicking around in the garden.’ (Regional News). Nominated for Excellence Awards for Theatre for Social Change and Best Ensemble, Wellington Theatre Awards 2022.”

WHERE: theSpace @ Surgeons Hall – Stephenson Theatre (Venue 53) 

WHEN: 17:00 (45min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I was a postgrad student at St Andrews [redacted] years ago, and spent a couple of days as a Fringe punter when I first arrived. Then I was here last year flyering for and supporting my partner Ania (the co-creator of both our shows this year) doing a short run of their solo clown show Transhumance – I made matching sandwich boards for their dad and I to wear while flyering.

But this is my first time properly here as a producer for the whole festival! We’ve got two queer musical shows running in rep with a company of seven on the ground (plus Milo Robinson and Sarah Bell, our two designers back in NYC and New Zealand), and it’s such a massive shift to have a big team.

The all-consuming nature of Fringe is incredible. So many artists in one place! I love the serendipitous meetings of other artists, randomly going to a show because someone made you laugh while flyering and discovering something you might never have found otherwise. Normally I’m a book tickets in advance, send calendar invites, spreadsheet sorta gay, so it’s fun to be wildly spontaneous for a change. When I’m not producing, I’m also working on my own practice as a writer, and so I love getting to see the sheer variety of work out there. It’s a great inspiration to actually make something of the ideas note in my phone!

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

Last year I was surprised and delighted by how much fun I had flyering, and how effective it was. There’s such a rush when you see someone you chatted to on the street turn up at the show!

Most of the company this year is here for the first time, and I’ve really loved watching them see the magic of Fringe. Seeing everyone discover and hone their personal flyering strategies (look out for Andy and Felix improv-ing musical sonnets with a banjolele!) fills my cold gay producer heart with joy.

As for lessons I haven’t quite learned – Fringe is about having fun, meeting cool artists, seeing amazing work, developing your own practice. It’s not about money or awards! I’m still working towards my goal of checking box office reports less than three times a day. It’s a journey.

Tell us about your show.

We describe A Bit Too Much Hair as ‘gender euphoric musical chaos.’ It’s a bunch of songs and stories about gender euphoria – that feeling when you’re perfectly at home in your gender identity and presentation. Our other show, Antonio! is a queer punk musical that reimagines all of Shakespeare’s characters named Antonio as one real life pirate (who was also Shakespeare’s lover). It’s fun and joyous and full of nerdy Shakespeare jokes.

Butch Mermaid Productions in its current form came together in Aotearoa New Zealand. It all started when Ania Upstill, William Duignan, and Andy Manning performed in a production of Once at the Court Theatre in Christchurch. A month or two later, Ania directed me, Georgia Kellett, and Felix Crossley-Pritchard in a queer comic ballet called Sapphic Lake in Wellington. Then Will and Ania made Too Much Hair, with Felix as part of that cast and me producing. Jthan Morgan, the fourth original cast member, couldn’t make the Edinburgh trip, but then the universe gifted us with the incredible Evan Michael Smith, who we met in NYC earlier this year and who has slotted right into our queer chaos.

Ania and Will co-wrote A Bit Too Much Hair, and they’re joined by Andy (now based in Glasgow) on the writing team for Antonio! The first season was at BATS Theatre in Wellington in June 2022, just before Ania and I moved to New York. Last year, Ania had the idea that all Shakespeare’s Antonios were the same guy, and now, after a lot of google docs and wrangling time zones on three continents, here we are! The whole crew came to NYC in mid-July to rehearse, and we premiered Antonio! at The Tank in New York just before we left for Scotland.

As for what’s next – who knows! Definitely recording an album. Personally, I’m dreaming of a longer version of Antonio! (maybe even one day on Broadway) so we can spend more time really delving into Antonio’s love stories and add some truly extravagant choreography! For A Bit Too Much Hair, I think we’d love to tour the show to intimate venues all over and build community with new trans, nonbinary, and gender diverse friends.

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

Obviously, we have to shoutout our Kiwi mates. Laser Kiwi makes brilliant circus and Double Goer looks like some incredible dance. Hysterical is an award-winning feminist poetry show (that, in classic New Zealand form, was on at BATS at the same time as Too Much Hair last year, so of course we’d have to travel all the way to Scotland to see it). A Mulled Wine’s The Shit Kid comes highly recommended and James Nokise is a great Kiwi comic. I want to see A Shark Ate My Penis based solely on the brilliant title and Tutu for the great

Beyond New Zealand, Niall Moorjani is just the loveliest human as well as a brilliant storyteller (Mohan last year was a highlight of my Fringe) and I can’t wait to see all three of their shows this year. T1J’s Reclaim is mind-blowing circus and acrobatics that also involves cellists and opera singers (‽‽). I saw Cirque Kalabanté in NYC earlier this year and would see them again here just to watch that incredible contortionist again.

I kept running into the team from And Then The Rodeo Burned Down while flyering last year and they were just delightful, so I’m glad they’re back this year and I’ll finally get to see their show too.

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EdFringe Talk: Shortlist

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2023 by

“The festival has been a terrific place to stage our work, with the added bonus of some of the shows finding new productions or being published because of their reception here.”

WHO: Brian Parks

WHAT: “Two enemy novelists duel for the ultimate prize in a fast-paced, war-of-the-words comedy. Multiple Fringe First-winning playwright Brian Parks plunges into the writing world with a Withnail-esque joust between literature’s two sharpest pens. Year after year, Higgins and Houghton find themselves pitched against each other on the shortlist for literature’s number-one title, never winning. But this year is different, each primed to strike and finally grab it. All that stands in their way is each other. A world premiere directed by Fringe First winner Margarett Perry, starring Matthew Boston and Daniel Llewelyn-Williams. ‘A refreshingly mischievous, inventive author’ (Times).”

WHERE: Assembly George Square – The Crate (Venue 8) 

WHEN: 13:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

“Shortlist” is my ninth show at the Fringe. It’s a fast-paced, war-of-the-words comedy about two enemy novelists dueling for the ultimate book prize. The audiences so far have really been digging it, and we just got a 5-star review from a reviewing site (one4review.co.uk). My first play here was in 2000, my dark comedy “Americana Absurdum,” which we brought over from New York. We had a great time with it and also won a Fringe First — a terrific way to make an Edinburgh debut. Among my other past Edinburgh productions, “Enterprise” — a business comedy — also won a Fringe First. The festival has been a terrific place to stage our work, with the added bonus of some of the shows finding new productions or being published because of their reception here. It’s an expensive way to do a play, especially coming from abroad, but it has always been worth it.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

Last year’s Fringe was the first full one since Covid, and overall Fringe ticket sales were down about 28% since the previous full festival in 2019. So this year, not knowing how full the overall rebound will be, we’ve made some extra efforts with marketing, flyer-ing, and other promotion.

Tell us about your show.

The Edinburgh production of “Shortlist” is the play’s world premiere. We did some workshop previews of it in New York last month, in the great “East to Edinburgh” program they have at 59E59 Theaters there. Our production here is being staged at Assembly’s George Square venue the Crate, which is an ideal stage for the piece. The show is an international co-production between New York-based Twilight Theatre Company and the UK company Flying Bridge Theatre, which is based in Newport, South Wales. It’s performed by the Welsh actor Daniel Llewelyn-Williams and the American actor Matthew Boston, directed by Twilight Theatre’s Margarett Perry. The US and the UK sides met last year at the Fringe, when we were in back-to-back shows at Assembly’s Studio 2. We all got on great, and now here we are teamed up on the same show. As for after the Fringe – we shall see!

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

“The Rosenberg/Strange Fruit Project” is another Twilight Theatre project, so we offer a big recommendation there. I’m also very eager to see Scott Organ’s play “17 Minutes” at Gilded Balloon Teviot – it’s another show in from New York. Others on my list include Edwin Flay’s “The Quality of Mercy” at the Space/Surgeons Hall and Tim Marriott’s “Watson,” among many others. But eager to get out and see more shows — it’s a fest rich with possibilities.

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EdFringe Talk: Donna and Kebab are Martha and Eve – A Celebration!

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2023 by

“We’re so excited to be back after all this time!”

WHO: Martha D Lewis and Eve Polycarpou

WHAT: “Martha D Lewis and Eve Polycarpou made their first television appearance in 1987. After three decades of national and international accolades, these trailblazing British-born Cypriot legends, described as ‘witty, wicked, Mediterranean madams’ (Evening Standard ) – also award winners within their individual music and acting careers – join forces once again to celebrate their distinguished careers in this brand-new show. They are buzzed up to be back together in bonnie Scotland’s Acropolis of the North. Expect ‘soaring vocals, exhilarating rhythms and a satisfying stew of melody and mirth’ (Guardian).”

WHERE: Gilded Balloon Teviot – Wine Bar (Venue 117) 

WHEN: 20:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This will be our seventh time performing at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Our first show here was in 1987 and the last time we were here was over 20 years ago! We love performing at The Gilded Balloon, which is the venue that hosted our last three shows here.

Our first Donna and Kebab show was spotted by the TV show ‘0-1 for London’, which was really the catalyst that launched our careers. Edinburgh Fringe feels really special to us for that reason – and that’s why we’re so excited to be back after all this time! There’s really nowhere like it – the Fringe has so much variety and so much upcoming talent. It’s a really inspiring place to be as an artist, whatever stage you’re at in your career. We loved it in the 80s, and we love it just as much now.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

Eve: I’ve learnt that you have to take each day as it comes, especially with so many people around us who have been ill and also the risk of getting Covid myself. You just have to go with the flow and have a good time as much as you possibly can – things like exploring lovely walks which I’ve been able to do and taking time with myself.

Martha: I think what I’ve learnt is how fragile life is. From one day to another, life can change completely. The reality of going into that Covid lockdown was quite shocking. I don’t think any of us could’ve imagined that something like that could happen.

Tell us about your show.

Our show is a combination of music and comedy that looks at the British-born Greek-Cypriot (BBCs) community today and talks about current issues and topics through the eyes of our mums, grandmothers and ourselves. We use our voices as female performers with a unique bi-cultural experience and part of the LGBTQI+ community. Sharing this unique insight as BBCs is really important to us.

We wrote and produced the show with the help of our wonderful co-writer/co-director Joanna Foster. Our joint view of the world and shared sense of humour is really how we first came together – we met at Eve’s Uncles’ Greek nightclub, where we both had performance residencies. We bonded over the music of our parent culture and also had very similar experiences growing up, particularly struggling with the cultural expectations and pressures we felt from our community – how we were just expected to transition from good Greek girls to good Greek women, and then good Greek wives.

We finally created Donna and Kebab after a friend suggested we put our stories into a show – these gradually evolved into comedy sketches – that was 35 years ago! Since our first Edinburgh Fringe, we’ve performed internationally and played at some incredible places. Some of our favourites include Glastonbury and playing in Syria in the 1990’s, plus festivals all over Europe.

Our Edinburgh show is part of a much bigger story involving a UK tour next year. Music is a primary factor of our creative partnership and we’ve released a number of albums of self-penned songs, plus Martha and Eve versions of some of our favourite covers in Greek, English and even Spanish and French. This show is kicking off our campaign and getting us used to working together again. After the Fringe, we’re going to be fully focused on our national tour, but we’re also working with an award-winning filmmaker called Athena Mandis who is making a documentary about our journey as Donna and Kebab and beyond – that’s something we’re really looking forward to as well.

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

There are so many shows we’re excited to see – we have tickets to see Bridget Christie, who we love. We also like the look of ‘Liz Guterbock: Geriatric Millennial’ and ‘George Zacharopoulos: Wonderland’ and we’re fans of Steve Richards who is at the Fringe with his ‘Rock N Roll Politics’ podcast. We always try and cram as much in as possible whenever we’re here!

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EdFringe Talk: A Working Title

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2023 by

“The transition from a university societal production, to a fringe show was a hurdle that we were not expecting to be quite so high!”

WHO: Michael Bryceson

WHAT: “A creeping deadline, combined with creative block and family tensions makes a wacky, hybrid piece. Merging the styles of theatre and film, a writer’s fractured mind explores what can and cannot be made into film, and why we write/perform. Week 2 – theSpace at Niddry Street (Studio Theatre) 15:15 –16:05; Week 3 – theSpace on the Mile (Space 2) 19:15 – 20:05.”

WHERE: theSpace @ Niddry St – Studio (Venue 9) 

WHEN: 14:10 (50 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Basically, yes! This is the first time to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for six members of our seven member team. Collision Theatre tried to take a production of 4.48 Psychosis in 2021 but unfortunately Covid-19 put a stop to our efforts.

We are so excited to go up to the biggest arts festival in the world! While we are not sure what to expect we are looking forward to being surrounded by music, comedy, theatre, art and all the different works that are coming! We also cannot wait to see and hopefully meet as many of the other talented performers coming to the festival as possible! At Collision Theatre we think a great festival has energy, diversity, connection opportunities, amazing performers and even better audiences! The opportunities that the festival have are unparalleled – it consistently offers an incredibly wide range of performances with different backgrounds, outlooks and messages to share.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

Going to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe takes an extraordinary amount of organisation, planning and dedication. We hope we have learnt the importance of each of them – we also hope that our time at the festival will be a testament to this!

The transition from a university societal production, to a fringe show was a hurdle that we were not expecting to be quite so high! The massive increase in work, from rewrites of the script to better suit Edinburgh, cast/crew changes and everything in-between, alongside endless emails and marketing, was a challenge that we took head on.

Tell us about your show.

A Working Title, written by Michael Bryceson, was first written in 2020-2021 for a play writing competition. After coming up short in that contest, he endeavoured to improve the piece and was selected as one of the shows for the University of Manchester Drama Society’s winter programme (the MIFTA season). It debuted on March 15th 2023, with a three night run, gaining praise from the audiences. While there are no current plans to take the play onwards past the Edinburgh Festival, we hope that this will not be the end for A Working Title and would love to continue exploring our journey both with this piece and outside of Liam’s world.

While A Working Title was started in late 2020 and only debuted in 2023, Collision Theatre as our company was founded pre-pandemic. February 6th-7th 2020, Michael Bryceson directed his first show at St Paul’s School, London, with a moving production of Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis. To be blunt, the audiences loved it and pushed for a trip to the Edinburgh Festival that year. However the pandemic hit and what was going to be an expedition run, acted, designed, composed, directed and produced by a small group of five seventeen year olds, was delayed a year. Unfortunately, the same happened the year after, with that being the final attempt that we made to keep that production alive, with some cast members moving to different countries for University. Since then, our founder (Michael Bryceson) has persevered with the dream of the company’s first Edinburgh Festival Fringe performance and, with a devoted team that is now entirely based at the University of Manchester, we are making that dream a reality.

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

Coming from the University of Manchester and having had the luxury of seeing some of the other amazing productions going to the festival this summer in previous productions, they are the only answer! They are all so talented and deserve all of the attention they can get!

Frenchie’s Theatre Company is putting on an incredible production “The Spark Project”, about growing up as women.

HIVEmcr is presenting two shows – “Sofar”, a play about all the beginnings we sometimes forget to notice and appreciating all the time we really had, and “If You Were To Die Tomorrow”, a play centred around the meaning of life and existential chaos – If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, how would you live today?

Fruit Bowl Theatre Company’s show “Losing The Plot” which is a new Queer Jukebox Musical comedy featuring pop hits from the 70s and 80s.

By The Moon Theatre Company brings “Be Home Soon” which three young characters grappling with who they are, seeking purpose and a deeper understanding of both themselves and one another.
Fridge Magnet Theatre is presenting “Skies in the Cloud”, that is a queer, existentialist play that investigates what it means to be human, playfully incorporating elements of dance, humour and music.

Off Script Productions has created an online and in person viewing of “Bishops” – a brand new sketch comedy show written and performed by Chris Curran and Noah Matthews!
Pigeon Cat Theatre is bringing “Yellow Corners” – a one-woman show but not because she doesn’t have any friends (they were just really busy).
The Manchester Revue is also bringing up a show! The “Lonely Hearts Sketch Club” is a show about the youth, gender, society, society in turmoil, pop culture, heaven, hell and everything in between.

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‘Last Stand on Honey Hill’ (Venue 8, until AUG 27th)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2023, Rated: Nae Bad by

“For a one-woman show, there’s a lively crowd on stage.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

We live at the low point of human stupidity. Our ancestors may have lived lives nasty brutish and short – but they didn’t own any plastic Harry Potter wands. No seriously. Think about it. What is a wand? It’s a stick. Where do sticks come from? Trees. Sticks literally grow on trees. Trees are everywhere. But we are so stupid that we part with our hard-earned cash (or as likely dip deeper into debt) in order to purchase plastic likenesses of sticks possessing none of the magical properties that transform a stick into a wand. All that expenditure. All that economic effort. All that tapping of petroleum-based science, and for what? It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

In this context, the city of Cambridge is growing. We pretend that Cambridge is growing because of the booming biomedical science sector. But, in truth, a city that makes its living selling little pieces of paper certifying that the bearer is not stupid, cannot help but grow in times such as these. This exponential growth creates a problem. Cambridge has an international reputation as a rather nice place. Not quite Venice, but certainly not Houston. Stupidity will obviously spoil Cambridge. And, once spoiled by flagrant stupidity, it is unlikely that those locally-sourced little pieces of “I’m certifiably not stupid” paper will retain their global prestige and value. If you are reading this 50 or 100 years hence, chances are that the Cambridge bubble has long since burst and been forgotten. Cambridge, it will be recorded, was monumentally, uninspiringly slow to adapt, post-pandemic, to new and better economic models that regarded overconsumption as a failure not the purpose.

‘Last Stand on Honey Hill’ is one woman’s effort to narrate in real time the sound and feel of a changing landscape. Through songs, storytelling, and audio/visual accompaniment Liz Cotton walks us through proposals to relocate Cambridge’s main sewage treatment plant further downstream and into her backyard. As can be imagined, folks in the affected villages and lovers of the greenbelt are far from delighted at a prospect which seems to be one more aspect in the multifaceted, yet strangely faceless, overdevelopment of Cambridge.

According to the local paper, “The new facility is proposed to replace the existing plant in the north of Cambridge, in order to free up the land for the North East Cambridge development, which could see over 8,000 new homes and around 15,000 jobs created.” Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?

‘Last Stand on Honey Hill’ is also the story of an empty nest, a neglected mother, a marriage drifting into the sunset. It’s a conversation about life, the universe, and everything even as the Vogons Destructor Fleet looms over the horizon. Liz’s rapport with the audience is spontaneous while her playing is well-rehearsed and faultless. Her timing and delivery are perfect. Her staging is flamboyantly intentional yet stylishly minimal. Along the way, we are introduced to the many colourful local characters organising to resist. For a one-woman show, there’s a lively crowd on stage.

In the bar afterwards, I suggest that a better, more descriptive name for the show would be ‘Sweary Menopausal Woman Sings Songs’. There are shows at EdFringe which are timeless. This isn’t one of them. This is a show very much of a particular moment in the human story, a chronicle of the faulty transition into a bright future mostly undertaken by dim people with questionable motives. Come for the auld fashioned guitar-based protest singing. Stay for a lively and engaging protest singer. Get your green wellies, green hats, and green coats on and go see this.

FULL DISCLOSURE: The author, Dan Lentell, is an independent, opposition District Councillor at South Cambridgeshire.

 

EdFringe Talk: The Birth of Frankenstein

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2023 by

“I couldn’t believe the democracy and accessiblity of the Fringe.”

WHO: Nick Hennegan

WHAT: “The award-winning Maverick Theatre Company presents The Birth of Frankenstein by Robert Lloyd George. Adapted and Directed by Nick Hennegan. Original Music by Robb Williams. Teenager Mary Godwin and her new lover Percy Shelley travel to Geneva to spend the summer with the poet Lord Byron, Byron proposes that they ‘each write a ghost story’. Unable to think of a story, young Mary became anxious: but the events of evenings in Geneva lead to a nightmare that becomes – Frankenstein. Maverick’s committed to access.”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – The Cellar (Venue 33) 

WHEN: 12:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

No. My first time to the Fringe was in 1992…and it changed my life. I’d written an adaptation of a Shakespeare classic. (I left school at 15 without any qualifications, so the bard held no fear for me! I’d never studied Shakespeare) It was called ‘Henry V – Lion of England’. We performed it for one night at the mac – the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham. At the end, I thought everyone was running for the bar, but it turned out to be a standing ovation! In the bar afterwards I was approached by a man. “That was great,” he said. “We’d like to take you to the Edinburgh Fringe.”

“Whats the Edinburgh Fringe?” I replied. A few months later I found out! The man was John Starkey from Starward – a management company that had Jasper Carrott as a client. I couldn’t believe the democracy and accessiblity of the Fringe. ‘Lion of England’ won – then lost – a Fringe First and ended up travelling the world. I also couldn’t believe my beloved home city – and England’s Second City after London – hadn’t got a SINGLE Fringe or pub theatre venue, apart from the mac. So began my campaign to present theatre and art for people who haven’t thought of giving it a go! And Edinburgh is now an annual glorious agony. I fear for the future of the Fringe with its rocketing costs. But the dichotomy of Edinburgh is that the reason we can afford to be here is due to the supporters we have met by being here!

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

The Birth of Frankenstein has had a difficult birth as a production – mainly me securing finance – and because it was confirmed so late, we are now NOT in the Fringe Brochure and not even in the Pleasance brochure. Ten years ago I think this would have been the kiss of death, but so far we have reasonable sales. Ask me again at the end of the month!

I’ve ordered fewer flyers in an attempt to be kinder to the planet. Again, sales by the end of the month will judge me!

Tell us about your show.

The idea for the show and the original script is by Robert Lloyd George who I worked with last year on ‘Winston and David’, about how Robert’s Great Great Grandad mentored a young Winston Churchill and which we produced at Underbelly. I’ve changed the focus a little bit, but, as with Winston and David, the main protagonist is a young woman – in this case, Mary Shelley, who at the age of 15 eloped with the older, married poet, Percy Shelley, then at the age of 18 wrote Frankenstein. Her life is fascinating with many modern parallels. The show is being produced by the Maverick Theatre Company, which I established in Birmingham in 1994 to facilitate new audiences for theatre. We auditioned for actors and had over a thousand applications and I am delighted with the three actors we have, Teryn Gray, Callum Pardoe and Jamie Patterson. They are producing a masterclass in acting and I attend almost every show just to watch them.

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

Because I’ve been so involved in getting The Birth of Frankenstein into shape, I’ve not seen anything much yet, although The BoyBand Musical – a mix of A Christmas Carol and NSYNC, is great fun and HoneyBEE is a former hit show by and starring the talented Elle Dillon-Reams, who a few years ago did a brilliant job in my ‘Henry V – Lion of England.’ But see as much as you can. We all REALLY need your support… and love!

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EdFringe Talk: King of More: Veza

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2023 by

“For someone not traditionally trained and starting to dabble in arts only in my late 20s and early 30s, it was a big deal and I admitted my dream of being actually in the Fringe one day.”

WHO: King of More

WHAT: “There is secret connection among all of us. What is it? Where is it? What colour is it? From the creator of the last year’s sold-out show, A Divination, comes a premiere show about connections. Humans are connected by invisible links, which might emit love, joy, solidarity, closeness. But these connections could also turn into unhealthy links, co-dependency and lack of freedom. Exploring our invisible threads, we can recognize that we are in it together across time and space. Find out what is Veza through Bosnian music, interactions, quasi-workshop, yarn, laughter, tears and quantum physics.”

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

WHEN: 18:40 (50 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It is not my first time at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. My first official experience was several years back when I had a role in a super fun immersive show called Swell Mob with Flabbergast Theatre. And last year I had my first short-run solo shows, one in Paradise Green and one in Blunda Gardens. But I still feel pretty new and green in it all, even though I have done it a couple of times. It started for me in Scotland when I was studying in Glasgow and decided to try out dance classes. And then 11 years ago, as one of my first symbolic moves towards doing performance as something a bit more than a hobby, I did a short piece in what I called ‘the fringe of the Fringe’. It was a random event in a café in the Meadows that was just happening during the Fringe and was in no way a formal part of the festival. Just a bunch of friends deciding to put a show together. I decided to do a little act called ‘The Abstract’ where I called myself publicly ‘a dancer’ for the first time.

For someone not traditionally trained and starting to dabble in arts only in my late 20s and early 30s, it was a big deal and I admitted my dream of being actually in the Fringe one day. So, calling it ‘The Abstract’ back then was both pretentious and foreshadowing. The piece ended with me walking off from the café’s terrace and into the park in full-on rain! I still remember the increasingly distant sound of the confused audience clapping tentatively while they wondered if I would ever come back to take a bow as I walked off. I never did and just wandered off into the park, wet from the rain, full of joy and feeling that something magical was happening. I was becoming a performer. So…here I am back again, more than a decade later, still wet, now some kind of a jester and in the official programme of the Fringe.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

What I learned from last year is to really start early with your Fringe marketing. Have I absorbed this lesson though? Absolutely not. Here I am writing this interview mere hours from the Fringe start. And emailing media and reviewers only now when they are all completely booked out and overwhelmed. So if you can learn something from my mistakes it is not to email media contacts at the last minute with your ‘come see me in a basement of a church or a yurt’ emails while they are all having panic attacks before the Fringe even starts.

On the other hand, I learned that it does not all make sense. Last year I had one show where I did posters, flyers and contacted the media (late of course, as per the previous point) and struggled with ticket sales. But then I had another show for which I did 0 promos, no flyers, no posters, emailed no one, just showed up and it was completely sold out.

Also, I learned that anything is possible in the Fringe. One day last year, standing wet in the rain (a running theme I guess) desperately flyering 5 minutes before the show I was just about to cancel it as I sold no tickets. Just before I called it off with the venue’s ticket office, two women showed up to buy tickets. I guess they took pity on me. So, I changed my mind and quickly ran backstage to slap some rushed makeup on and do the show for these two people. By the time I was back on stage literally a couple of minutes later, there were 11 people in the audience?! How these people appeared across time and space in a blink of an eye, I had no idea. But it remains one of my most fun and touching shows.

So whichever approach you take (rational, strategic and timely planning OR ‘there is only chaos’), make sure that you have fun. Whether you are a punter, a performer, a tired reviewer or that lady that sells haggis from a truck, feel and use the palpable energy and magic of the Edinburgh Fringe for joy.

Tell us about your show.

Actually, I have two shows in this Fringe. My King of More: Veza in Paradise in the Vault and the return of King of More: #FOMO Clinic in Blunda Gardens. But since the form cannot deal with the complexity of two shows and since Veza is my premier, I will focus on that one here (but do check out my #FOMO Clinic as well through arcane and mysterious means of just googling it). I created and developed the show myself and I am the solo performer. The idea for this show came last year in a long all-night journey by bus throughout the whole of Bosnia under a full moon during which an old song ‘Tajna veza’ (meaning secret connection) kept playing in my mind.

I was also at the time doing an act as a grandma teaching yarn yoga for arthritic fingers. So those two things married and had a child in my mind – my show Veza. I had two work-in-progress sharings of Veza in the Burning Nest festival and PLU – People Like Us Summer Camp, with great audience response. The Fringe is the first full show premiere. Veza explores human, quantum and divine aspects of the invisible threads that connect us while entangling the willing audience in yarn. It is a bit difficult to really describe it as it has many features. That is why I decided to put it in the Cabaret and Variety category primarily as it is fun and gives you variety. It is a comedy but also emotional. It is stupid but also wise. We might sing, we might dance. It is immersive if you want it to be. It tackles a range of topics from ghosting, co-dependency, war and free love. So, come and be a part of it.

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

Definitely check out things at the @lucyhopkins and @bobslayer Blunda Gardens. It is a vortex of Fringe magic and I suggest hanging at the bar and seeing where it leads you. I could mention some of their fabulous performers:

@revoltingrosy (on Instagram) is fabulous while reading her grandpa’s sexy letters and encouraging you to rediscover the lost erotic art in Smutty Letters. You will laugh, feel hot and creative. @arkem_mark_walton (on Instagram) is equally amazing in Fractal Bumhole! If the title does not sell it for you, Arkem’s talent across multiple characters will. Although he is scheduled at the same time as my #FOMO Clinic (him in the Bus, me in the Yurt), don’t have FOMO and just come several times to Blunda Gardens and see us both. Another BlundaBaby is the hilarious @ViggoVenn. I first watched him years back in a small LA dive bar and cried laughing at the idiotic yet brilliant infinite costume reveals and discussing the water content of a cucumber. Now he won Britain’s Got Talent with those same legendary endless hi-vis vests.

Another show you should check out is Importance of Being…Earnest? by @SayItAgainSorry. I actually never managed to see the full show yet and will make sure to do so this year. But I saw loads of clips, I love the idea and auditioned for it once (even if unsuccessfully). The premise and cast are brilliant as the audience gets to fill in for a missing actor!

What all of these shows have in common is blurring the line between performers and the audience. This is something I am passionate about and I love the unrepeatable power of each immersive and interactive show, different in their unique way based on what the audience members bring and how the performers respond. This is something I explore in my shows – the audience’s agency and ability to have a say in what happens. We know we are stars, but in these types of shows you get to realize that you as audience members are stars as well.

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EdFringe Talk: Atalanta

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2023 by

“One ordinary night in February, it all goes upside-down.”

WHO: Mira-Rose Kingsbury Lee

WHAT: “New York, 1969. Sarina Lemonde is an editor at the struggling Atalanta Post, with no plans to shake up her quiet, respectable life anytime soon. But one night, it all goes upside down: her wealthy estranged mother sweeps back into her life, her closeted husband begins an ill-advised affair with her boss, and Sarina is unexpectedly installed as the first female president of the Atalanta Post. Harvard’s Fringe debut, Atalanta combines jazz, hip-hop, and rock in a smash hit which earned a standing ovation every night of its sold-out Boston run. ‘Hats off… a touching story that sticks’ (Independent).”

WHERE: theSpace @ Surgeons Hall – Fleming Theatre (Venue 53) 

WHEN: 11:10 (90 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes! This is Atalanta’s debut at the Fringe – and, not only that, it’s Harvard’s first-ever show at the Fringe, written, produced, and performed by current Harvard students.

Although our cast & crew are all Fringe newcomers, I’ve been to the Fringe twice, both times as an audience member. What’s really special about Edfringe in particular is the energy on the street – the massive crowds on the Mile, of course, but also all the coloured flyers papering the city, the street performers, the unforgettable experience of being the 1 person in an audience, and of course the feeling that at any moment you could turn and go inside any one of those theatres and find an absolute pearl.

That’s a big reason for why I’m putting up Atalanta at the Fringe – to introduce my cast & crew of 11 newcomers to the magic of Edfringe.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

Our first production at the American Repertory Theater was in April 2023, so as far as we’re concerned, you’ll have to ask us again next year…

Tell us about your show.

I wrote the book, lyrics, and music for Atalanta. The music was arranged & orchestrated by a fantastic & multitalented team of musicians, all Harvard students: Wills Goldsmith, Henry Wu, Ben Dreier, and Keagan Yap. For our smaller run at the Fringe, Henry Wu (also music director and piano accompaniment for the production!) re-arranged the music for piano instead of a full band.

Atalanta is set in New York, 1969, and follows Sarina, a young female news editor at the struggling Atalanta Post. Sarina lives a quiet, respectable life, and has no plans to change that anytime soon. But one ordinary night in February, it all goes upside-down: her estranged mother sweeps back into her life, her closeted husband begins an ill-advised affair, and Sarina is unexpectedly installed as the first female president of the Atalanta Post. The music combines jazz, hip-hop, rock, and the music of golden-age Broadway into an “eclectic mix of catchy tunes.”

We premiered at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts in April 2023, to a sold-out audience who gave us a standing ovation every night of the run. We also had an excellent review from The Harvard Independent, which encouraged us to bring the show across the pond: https://harvardindependent.com/review-atalanta/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=review-atalanta

After the Fringe, we’re planning on bringing Atalanta to NYC, and then back to Boston.

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

We’ve been looking at a bunch of other student-run productions and trying to connect with them. They all look absolutely terrific: the musical parody of Ed Sheeran (Cambridge), the Oxford Belles (a cappella), Palindrome: The Musical (Cambridge), and the Importance of Being Nihilists (Oxford). With a show at 11:10 am, our cast and crew have plenty of time to check out other shows! Reach us on Twitter/Instagram at @atalantaharvard with your recommendations!

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EdFringe Talk: The Last of the Soviets

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2023 by

“Some time ago I went through a surgery and learned how simply great and fantastic is to have a healthy body.”

WHO: Roman Zotov-Mikshin

WHAT: “Two Russian artists in exile reveal the cruelty of Soviet life with a good dose of dark humour. The award-winning Spitfire return to Edinburgh with a project influenced by the books of Nobel Prize laureate Svetlana Alexievich. Chilling jokes, the absurdity of the situation, and efforts at trivialisation are the key features of a production built on the testimonies of witnesses of wars, the Chernobyl disaster and the collapse of the USSR. Live cinema employing puppet animation and starring food, inspired by works of Jan Švankmajer, provides fitting stylisation.”

WHERE: ZOO Playground – Playground 1 (Venue 186) 

WHEN: 17:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Me as a performer here for the 1st time – 1st time ever in Scotland, but it is a 4th time for the Spitfire Company though. The company’s very first show at the Fringe, One Step Before the Fall, picked up a Herald Angel Award in 2013. The multi-genre project explored the motifs of struggle, exhaustion, signs of Parkinson’s and collapse. Two years later Spitfire earned a Total Theatre Award nomination for Antiwords, inspired by the works of Václav Havel. The company received the same nomination in 2017 for The Narrator, a delicate piece centred on the subject of the loss of a child. For their most recent Fringe appearance in 2019, Spitfire brought the rap musical Miss America, about a woman who falls in love with a city where she is an alien, namely the Scottish capital.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

How fragile the human body is. In this case my body. Some time ago I went through a surgery and learned how simply great and fantastic is to have a healthy body. I really felt that I can’t take it for granted. As well as anything else which is considered “casual”. I have always realised it, but only now I truly feel it with my whole body.

Tell us about your show.

The piece is produced by us, Spitfire Company.

Petr Bohac (an artistic director of the company) came with an idea to put the text of Svetlana Alexievich (Nobel price winner for literature) into specific setting – the kitchen. The place, where people meet and share the food, ideas, thoughts which are pitifully not often heard by many. In the Svankmajer’s poetic.

The piece was premiered in Prague 2019.

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

Shows in ZOO venues and Summerhall definitely. Their poetics and interpretation is very close to what we like and doing in The Last of the Soviets. Namely: Funeral by Ontroerend Goed, Fool’s Gold by Saskia Solomons or Elvis Died of Burgers by Blink Dance Theatre.

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EdFringe Talk: 52 Monologues for Young Transsexuals

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2023 by

“Laurie has learned to glue down a nail, and we think this is a life skill.”

WHO: Bronagh Leneghan

WHAT: “‘What’s the worst thing that’s ever made you feel like a woman?’ Nothing More to Say’s award-nominated debut is an ‘experimental’ and ‘audacious’ **** (BroadwayWorld.com) hour of verbatim and cabaret theatre. We sat down with other trans women to get sleepover-honest about bodies, sex, and love. Now, armed with killer dance moves and lots of baby oil, we’re leading you through a fever dream of hilarious and gut-wrenching confession. We’re going from pleasure to pagan ritual, from Barbara Streisand to BDSM. And no – there are no actual monologues…”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – The Attic (Venue 33) 

WHEN: 15:20 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

The two of us first came up to Edinburgh – unwittingly – as a duo. It wasn’t until we met and started devising together four years later that we were like – oh, you saw that show too? It turned out we basically had the exact same reference points for what we wanted 52 Monologues to be. It was kind of creepy, actually! We’ve all taken up different shows to Edinburgh before, but this is our first time coming up as a whole company to the Fringe.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

Charli has learned to dance! Laurie is a really sickening dancer, and since we premiered the show last year Charli has been desperately trying to catch up. One year on, and Charli is finally learning to truly pop her pussy out, too. Laurie has learned to glue down a nail, and we think this is a life skill. We’ve also learned the power of like – self love? And like – feminism, maybe?

Tell us about your show.

Usually when people hear the title 52 Monologues for Young Transsexuals they usually go – oh, like The Vagina Monologues? And we have to be like – well, not quite. It actually isn’t a piece of monologue theatre at all. We took the name from those tedious monologue books you read when you’re applying to drama school, which are always titled like ’52 Monologues for Young Men’ and ’52 Monologues for Young Women’. We both had this memory of reading them at age sixteen and being like – f*ck, I can’t do either!

We do this whole bit in the show about how we met on this awful double date. Both of us were writing failing one-woman shows and finally were like – well, why don’t we just do a two-woman show? Somehow, it actually worked.

At the time, we were both trying to exorcise a certain grief. So we did this the only way we knew how – through a bubblegum pink extravaganza. We conducted interviews with trans women in the London and Cambridge area, and that formed the foundation of the show. 52 Monologues is still dedicated to them.

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

We’re sharing the Pleasance Attic with the delightful Trash Salad – who we are gagging to see. Trash Salad (@trash_salad_) was at VAULT Festival with us this year, but we didn’t get time to see them because we were performing! It is basically a campy queer cabaret, and we just love that. There is lettuce everywhere. We gag for like – an abundance of food items and a pink colour scheme.

Liv Ello (of SWARM) is also doing a show with Frankie Thompson (of Catz) (@liv_ello, @FrankieThomp1). They’re both so epic. Liv Ello does a really hot kind of queer anarchist theatre – SWARM was this incredibly scathing satire of conservative Britain as a swarm of flies. Catz – well we didn’t get to see Catz, but we heard it was crazy. We gag for crazy. To see them team up and do a show together just sounds inimitably exciting.

On the queer theme – Cowboys and Lesbians (@cowboysplay) are at Pleasance with us too, and we’re excited to see them. It’s a show about Sapphic angst – so, honestly, what’s new? But we love a little angst.
We are also desperate and shameless fans of Lucy McCormick (@lucy_muck). We saw her do a work in progress of her upcoming Mystery Plays, where she did the story of Salomé and John the Baptist. When it came to the Salomé dance – the like, world-famous historical dance of inimitable beauty – we all did this absolutely brilliantly passé dance number to Britney Spears’ ‘Gimme More’.

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