Category Archives: Plus 3 2017 – Features

All our features from the 2017 festivals.

+3 Interview: No Miracles Here

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2017, Plus 3 2017 - Features by

“You spend the whole month working really hard, and soaking it all up, and only realise you need to sleep the month of September by the time its too late.”

WHO: Stanley Hodgson, Performer/ Deviser

WHAT: “Tighten your laces, look to the band, don’t let your knees hit the ground. The music has started, and they can’t leave the floor. There’s no rule book, but as far as they know, the aim is just keep going; that’s what everyone else seems to be doing. A tale of resilience, strength and the need to just stay on your feet, The Letter Room present a sweat-soaked marathon with a northern soul. Packed with live music and wall-to-wall dancing, No Miracles Here is an anthem to feeling alive and keeping the faith. Supported by the RSC.”

WHERE: Northern Stage at Summerhall (Venue 26)

WHEN: 11:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This will be our 3rd Fringe. We’ve performed at Summerhall with Five Feet in Front in 2015 and Bonenkai at Underbelly in 2014. We can’t quite believe we’re back. It’s exhausting and exhilarating in equal measure. You spend the whole month working really hard, and soaking it all up, and only realise you need to sleep the month of September by the time its too late.

Tell us about your show.

No Miracles Here is an original musical story devised and written by The Letter Room. It’s about a young man suffering with depression who enters a strange, other-worldly dance marathon. WSe were inspired in part by the dance marathons of the 1930’s where people would dance non -stop sometimes for 19 days at a time. So we’ve made a show that is full of music and wall-to-wall dancing.

We came together through theatre-making scheme at Northern Stage back in 2013, and were selected after 3 days of auditions. So we were complete strangers before we formed. We didn’t even know that we all played instruments, we only discovered that halfway through our residency. 4 and a bit years on, and we’re still around.

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

Our show is 11am, so you’ll have the whole day to see things. We love You, Me and Everything Else by Camisado Club at Zoo. They’re a Newcastle based company, and it’s such a lovely show about Carl Sagan and Music and Love.

We’re also really excited to see Mental by Kane Power Theatre at Assembly. No Miracles Here is looking at similar themes to Mental, and there’s a buzz around it.

And, yes, we’re biased but Northern Stage’s Summerhall programme is brilliant this year, we’re very lucky to be a part of it. We can’t wait to see Selina Thompson, Javaad Alipoor, Dan Bye, everyone really. If you’re interested in what sort of theatre is being made in the North of England, then this should absolutely be your first port of call.

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+3 Interview: Me And My Bee

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“…we’re kind of not sure what else you do in August…”

WHO: Josie Dale-Jones, Producer and Performer

WHAT: “Climate change is massive. Bees aren’t. Our fuzzy little friends need our help and so we’re launching a political party disguised as a party party disguised as a show. Multi award-winning theatre company, ThisEgg, invites you to save the world – one bee at a time. A new comedy for children and adults alike. Plant the seed for change, join the Bee Party. Before it’s too late…”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) ​

WHEN: 11:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is ThisEgg’s 6th year in a row at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe! We love it – the city, the shows, the people, the list goes on. And, we’re kind of not sure what else you do in August…

Tell us about your show.

A new family comedy, Me & My Bee, co-produced by Pleasance. This is a three hander – Joe, Greta & I. Greta and I went to uni together (UEA) and I met Joe in Edinburgh 6 years ago (we kept coming back separately, every year, with different show and we thought it was about time we made one we were both in together). The three of us have made Me & My Bee – and yes, it’s about bees. The dying bees.

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

As much as they possibly can!!
Returners you shouldn’t miss include:
EUROHOUSE, Two Man Show & Juan Vesuvius

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Meet Our +3 Team #EdFringe ’17 – Martin Veart

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2017, Plus 3 2017 - Features by

“I would love to be blown away by the performance of somebody completely new to the Fringe.”

Martin is a blogger, social media and current affairs addict with a sideline in politics. He first discovered art on a trip to St. Petersburg, music at Aldeburgh and comedy with Dave Allen and The Young Ones.

Having travelled extensively, Martin has lived in Edinburgh since 2008 and is attending Heriot-Watt university after a long career in oil exploration.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, and do you follow it?

“Two people come together in a relationship and bring different things.” But if they react the same way when faced with an external challenge, it is probably a good match. I did, for my part.

If space invaders came to burn down Edinburgh, but wanted to leave just one thing standing, what would you ask them to leave? (You can’t say the castle. Not even space invaders could capture Edinburgh castle.)

The New Town.  Just love the Georgian architecture.

What first brought you to Edinburgh? What keeps you here?

My wife got offered a job here. I made it happen. I stay here now because, literally for my money, it is the best place to live in the UK.

What’s the first live performance you can remember?

It may have been the school end-of-term shows organised the headmaster. The first shows I remember going to were the summer variety shows in Gt. Yarmouth and at Sparrow’s Nest in Lowestoft. I cannot say they inspired me to consider a life on the stage.

What’s the best live performance you’ve ever attended?

Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg.

What are you most excited about seeing at #Edfringe17?

I don’t come to this year’s Fringe with preconceptions.  I would love to be blown away by the performance of somebody completely new to the Fringe.  I want to be surprised and genuinely excited after the performance, not before.

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+3 Interview: Meeting at 33

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2017, Plus 3 2017 - Features by

“Inspired by my mum’s battle with alcoholism – she is now 9 and a half years sober!”

WHO: Hannah Samuels, Writer/Director/Performer

WHAT: “Alcoholics’ recovery meetings are happening all around us, all the time. While the people in those rooms never chose to be there, they are privy to some remarkable personal storytelling. Created through extensive anonymous interviews with addicts and retold verbatim, Meeting at 33 offers a unique opportunity to experience a recovery meeting. Unveiling a subject that is too frequently taboo through hope and humour, light and shade, we invite you to consider the universal addictive tendencies which live within all of us.”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

WHEN: Varies (45 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

As a company, this is our first time to Edinburgh! But many of the company have been involved in Edinburgh shows in the past – couple of first-timers though, they don’t know what they’re getting themselves in for…

Tell us about your show.

Second Circle Theatre are bringing: 16 true stories, 8 company members and 2 alcoholics’ recovery meetings to Edinburgh – which one will you attend?

Meeting at 33 consists of two verbatim plays which have been developed through extensive anonymous interviews with addicts. They were inspired by my mum’s battle with alcoholism – she is now 9 and a half years sober!

I wrote the plays to challenge the “popular image” of the alcoholic on the park bench, and instead to portray the truth of what is it to live with alcoholism.

We have developed an innovative, flexible structure allowing different combinations of stories to be told at each ‘meeting’. This has enabled us to communicate the many different experiences of what it is to be an alcoholic. With tea, biscuits and life-affirming verbatim storytelling, we invite you to consider the universal addictive tendencies which live within us all.

Meeting at 33 is premiering in Edinburgh, but we are hoping to tour afterwards as we strive to promote awareness of alcoholism!

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

Check out Unpolished Theatre’s Flesh and Bone, 14.00, Pleasance Dome (winners the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve this year!)

Also go and see our dear friend Nicholas Masters-Waage in Siren, 17.40, Pleasance Dome.

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+3 Interview: Kat Bond: Loo Roll

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2017, Plus 3 2017 - Features by

“It’s been incredibly fun to write, make and perform.”

WHO: Kat Bond, Writer

WHAT: “Award-winning character comic and critically acclaimed actress (BBC’s Call the Midwife, Sky’s The Greatest, Channel 4 Blaps, BBC Radio 4) Kat Bond has lost her family. They left her in a bin, outside Papa Johns in Luton. She has made a comedy show to find out who, what and where they are. Armed with only a loo roll as a prop, she combines stand-up, characters and clowning to bring her imagined family to life. A debut solo hour from one half of sublime duo That Pair.”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

WHEN: 17:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Not first time at the fringe but first solo show. I have been at the fringe in many guises. Flyerer, puppeteer, actor one half of duo and now just me ( and a massive bin and a twelve pack of Loo Rolls).

Tell us about your show.

My show in Edinburgh is a character comedy show about a woman called Pat who was left in a bin by her family. She spends the whole show pretending she’s various members of her long lost family whilst also telling the audience about the various benefits of Loo roll.

It’s been incredibly fun to write, make and perform. I have a brilliant director Matthew Crosby and Technical support from Jonathan Monkhouse. I started making the show when I had a cold and was using lots of Loo roll and thought about how funny it would be to base a show around the stuff.

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

Anything from Free Association they do lots of great improv. I’m in one of their teams and they are super.

Jon Pointing : Act Natural is brilliant he plays an acting coach Cayden Hunter who is ridiculous.

Lorna Shaw: Ava Rage has made a brilliant show that is about being average. Music , stand up and stories from her.

James Rowland : 100 Words for Love is the 2nd part of his trilogy of one man shows it’s super.

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+3 Interview: No Show

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“I trained as an aerialist at the National Centre for Circus Arts and I know first hand how painful it can be to perform in the circus”

WHO: Ellie Dubois, Director

WHAT: “New contemporary all-female circus from award-winning director Ellie Dubois. What do you expect when you go to the circus? The glitzy smiles, the glitter of sequins, the drum rolls as performers effortlessly perform death-defying acts? No Show joyously and heartbreakingly reveals what lies hidden beneath the showmanship. There will be desperate attempts and heroic failures, glorious achievements, bruised bodies and egos. No Show goes behind the flawless smiles and perfect execution to showcase the wobbles, the pain, and the real cost of aiming for perfection. A show for anyone who has tried, failed and failed better.”

WHERE: Summerhall (Venue 26) 

WHEN: 16:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

No. In 2015 I bought my circus show for one audience member at a time called Ringside to Summerhall. We had won the Autopsy award from The Arches and Summerhall to bring the show and it was brilliant to be able to show a piece of work that really couldn’t exist in the festival without their support.

We sold out, got great reviews and were nominated for a total theatre award for circus. Ringside has since been touring to amazing venues since we have been on the main stage at The Roundhouse, The Lowry in Manchester and York Theatre Royal which is amazing for a show made for one person at a time. We are now doing our first international touring going to France and Sweden after the fringe.

Tell us about your show.

No Show is contemporary circus and theatre hybrid featuring five astonishing and highly skilled female circus performers. Genuinely strong women. There will be breath-taking acrobatic feats, the rarely seen discipline of hair-hanging, brilliant Cyr Wheel, personal confessions, some sly humour and genuinely joyous moments. It’s a show suitable for family audiences as well as any one interested in contemporary theatre and looking to see British circus take a new direction.

I wanted to make a show that explores the expectations that we have both when we go to the circus and in particular our stereotypical view about female circus performers. The real strength of female circus performers that too often is behind the spangles. I trained as an aerialist at the National Centre for Circus Arts and I know first hand how painful it can be to perform in the circus. I was interested in looking at the pursuit of perfection and the inevitable failure that goes along side that. Normally when we go to the circus the performers are almost super human in their abilities so that they feel far away and untouchable to the audience. They are almost like gods and goddess. I wanted to make a show that allows the audience to gasp at the feats but also to see what it costs a circus performer to perform to such a high standard. The pain behind perfection. And the hidden bruises of the mind and body.

Created and directed by Ellie Dubois
Produced by Nicola Lawton
Performed by Francesca Hyde, Lisa Chudalla, Francesca Hyde, Michelle Ross and Alice Gilmartin

We were all bought together by Ellie who believed that they were the best team to make this show the best it can be.

We premiered at Platform in Glasgow in April 2017 and will be touring the UK in 2018.

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

I have an 18 month old son so will be excited to see some of the high quality children theatre on offer. I am very excited to see The Polar Bears go up as I have heard they are excellent and I have wanted to catch them for ages and my son is very keen on bears.

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+3 Interview: Goody

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2017, Plus 3 2017 - Features by

“In The Stooge we met Lawrence, the surviving member of a double act of clowns, whose partner died choking on a ping-pong ball during their signature juggling act. Now we meet Goody, the circus’s Chimpanzee.”

WHO: Jamie Firth, Director

WHAT: “Winner of Les Enfants Terribles Greenwich Partnership Award 2017. 1934, Dustbowl America. Backstage at the travelling circus, we discover the complex relationship between one man and his performing chimpanzee. Marooned in a world she does not comprehend, Goody finds comfort with her only companion: her trainer Frances. How do they communicate? How do they cohabit? Who is in control? Lucy Roslyn’s new play is a striking, darkly funny exploration of the extraordinary, heartbreaking world of performing apes and the humans who live with them, love them and break them.”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) ​

WHEN: 14:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

We’ve individually each done different shows over the years, and visited almost every year, but our first outing as “BoonDog Theatre” was in 2013 with The State vs John Hayes. Since then we’ve been plotting our return.

Tell us about your show.

We started talking about a drama set around a circus a few years ago: a series of plays that introduced different characters from the same universe with interwoven, but separate, stories. Thus the BoonDog (“Boon and Doggett”) Circus was born. In The Stooge we met Lawrence, the surviving member of a double act of clowns, whose partner died choking on a ping-pong ball during their signature juggling act. Now we meet Goody, the circus’s Chimpanzee.

The way we work generally is that Lucy Roslyn, our Creative Director, will write a piece and then we work together to mould it into a production with a long process of refining and re-writing. She’s very smart and writes really interesting, intricate things. Once we’ve built it, we’ll generally do a reading or a workshop once we’ve identified people to perform it – because the characters are mentioned in other plays in the series we imagine it sort of like the Marvel Universe where we can work with loads of different people in different roles. So someone who sees a lot of the series will recognise and be able to put a face to names mentioned in other shows! So essentially BoonDog is Luce and I, and then a galaxy of other talent brought in for whatever the next story is. In this case, Luce has worked with Jesse Rutherford, who plays Goody’s trainer, in another show and we both knew he was perfect for Frances. He has a wonderful timelessness: he seems simultaneously both old and grizzled at the same time as maintaining a sort of youthful naivety. He’s brilliant and a thoroughly lovely person to work with.

Goody is brand new for Edinburgh 2017 and then will be at the Greenwich Theatre in early September. We’ll then be doing a prequel to the series (which introduces the managers of the circus as young men) early next year, before hopefully the next in the series for Edinburgh 2018! That’s the plan.

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

There are more than 2000 other shows, and I would recommend seeing as many as possible. All if you can.

If your time is more limited I would definitely see brilliant comedy with Colin Hoult and Kat Bond and Bec Hill. I would go Cabaret with Cat Loud and Camille O’Sullivan. See some musical theatre like Buzz the Musical. Some drama like Cockamamy at the Summerhall. Track down Daniel Kitson in whatever form you can (obviously. Always).

BUT, above all things, go and marvel at Jayde Adams. Her show was the absolute highlight of last year, brilliantly funny and human and moving and everything: I’m booking hard and early for her show Jayded at the Pleasance Courtyard and you should do that too.

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+3 Interview: From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads

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“We’d love to go to New York eventually.”

WHO: Adrian Berry, Writer and director

WHAT: “The hugely acclaimed hit show tells the tale of a young David Bowie obsessive on a thrilling journey in the footsteps of his obsession, leading him to discover some long-hidden truths. What follows will change his life forever. Powerful and emotional, music and magic realism collide in this darkly funny and moving production featuring Alex Walton. The life of the pop fan is brilliantly dissected in this tale of unnatural teenage wildlife. ”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) 

WHEN: 13:55 (90 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

No. I brought a show about a bus driver who wants to be a porn star here, followed by a homage to 70s New York rock & Debbie Harry, then last year a 7 piece I wrote circus show about nostalgia and cheesy pop tunes. I’m a veteran.

Tell us about your show.

I wrote it. I produced it. I created it for an actor called Alex. It’s a love story to David Bowie and London. I met Alex when he was a fledgling 16 year old performer in Barnet. We didn’t speak for many years then a series of sad events brought us together again as friends. We’ve toured it around the UK – 75 performances so far. We’re touring again in the Spring to bigger spaces. We’d love to go to New York eventually.

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

Shit Theatre – Welcome to Dollywould

Jarvis Cocker and Chilly Gonzalez – Room 29

Fauna

BMT – Kin

Circus Abyssinia – Ethiopian Dreams

Some avant garde European shit

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+3 Interview: Ballistic

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“It’s a real masterclass in acting.”

WHO: Euan Borland, Producer

WHAT: “He tries his best with girls. He tries his best with mates. But for all his efforts, things just don’t seem to be going right. So he’s making a change. Something’s triggered him to stand up for himself. He’s got a new plan, and he’s going to reassert his worth. But does he have the balls to go through with it? Inspired by mass shooter Elliot Rodger’s manifesto, Ballistic is a one-man tour de force about the life of a loner.”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

WHEN: 14:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my third time producing a show at the Edinburgh Fringe. The first show I took up was called Body of Water by playwright Stuart Purcell back in 2011. I was fresh out of drama school and completely naive. The show had a cast of nine performers and our playing space was 4m x 2m. We could barely fit on stage! Despite the restrictions the show ended up being nominated for Best Ensemble in the Edinburgh Stage Awards. I was pretty hooked on the Fringe after that…

I returned in 2012 with One Hour Only, a beautiful play by Sabrina Mahfouz, about the hopes and sexual politics of young people in Britain. We were lucky enough to be supported by Old Vic New Voices, Ideastap and the Underbelly as part of their Edinburgh New Voices Season. That brought a whole new level of exposure to the show which was fantastic.

Now I’m up with my third show Ballistic and I can’t wait for an entirely new set of challenges an surprises.

Tell us about your show.

Based on real events, Ballistic follows the descent of one young man as he plans to commit an act of terrible violence. The play deals with themes of masculinity, violence and misogyny. What I love about the play is the way in which it plays with the audience. It’s been fascinating to see how far an audiences sympathies might stretch and at what point they turn against our character. I’ve been really surprised by the responses so far… they haven’t been what I predicted at all.

Ballistic is the debut play by writer Alex Packer who was inspired to write it after reading countless stories about young men committing lone-wolf violent acts. He wanted to understand why. Our performer Mark Conway is incredible at charting the characters journey from childhood, through his teenage years and into adulthood. It’s a real masterclass in acting. Our Designer Frances Roughton and Lighting Designer Peter Tomes have made it look beautiful. Finally our Director Anna Marsland has expertly tied everything together. I’m really proud of our team and what they have achieved.

We hope the show will provoke debate and leave the audience asking questions. Hopefully Ballistic will have a life beyond the Fringe.

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

There’s a lot of great work up this year! Don’t miss Brutal Cessation at Assembly, Testosterone by Rhum and Clay at Pleasance, Tumble Tuck at Underbelly, Curse of the Mummy at Just the Tonic and Odette! at Laughing Horse.

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+3 Interview: What Goes on in Front of Closed Doors

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“The culmination of eighteen months of research that I have undertaken at St Mungo’s, New Horizons and Cardboard Citizens.”

WHO: Emma Bentley, Performer & Co-Writer

WHAT: “Molly is unpacking the in/consequential moments of her life. The un/usual, in/significant, un/interesting moments. But these un/remarkable moments brought about an un/remarkable change in Molly’s life. At just nineteen years old, following the death of her mother, with deteriorating mental health, and no network of support, Molly finds herself homeless. From the team behind the 2015 Edinburgh success, To She or Not to She, joue le genre return to the Festival Fringe, working with Calum Finlay (National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Almeida Theatre).”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

WHEN: 12:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

The company is returning to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for the second time after taking To She or Not To She to Pleasance Courtyard in 2015.

Tell us about your show.

Our show is a one-woman play that addresses youth homelessness through the use of television screens, live cameras and recorded sound. It has been co-written by myself and Calum Finlay, as the culmination of eighteen months of research that I have undertaken at St Mungo’s, New Horizons and Cardboard Citizens. This is the premiere of the show, excluding a few previews in London before we traveled up to Edinburgh!

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

The Shape of the Pain at Summerhall- we cannot wait to see it!

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