“I’ve been reluctant to throw the company’s hat into the Fringe ring from a producing standpoint owing to the insane rising costs of everything associated with this event we love so much.”

WHO: Fin Ross Russell

WHAT: “Based in a Men’s Shed in East Lothian, The Collie’s Shed follows four retired miners as they discover how a review into the policing of the ’80s mining strikes and a potential Miners’ Pardon Bill by the Scottish Government suddenly affects them, their friendships and their relationships. Journey with us through time as we hear how one unforgettable and violent day of striking at Bilston Glen Colliery leaves our characters wrestling with what is right and wrong. Learn who our characters are, who they once were and where they stand on the picket line…”

WHERE: Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose – Other Yin (Venue 24) 

WHEN: 13:15 (60 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Island Life Productions is an Edinburgh-based community interest company working with emerging artists and members of the public to create high quality art. This means that although we know the creative landscape of Edinburgh well, this is our first time engaging with our hometown Fringe festival (which casually just happens to also be the biggest arts festival in the world).

August in Edinburgh is a marathon and having experienced it previously as a flyerer, performer and journalist, it’s a festival that is magical because of the sheer number of faces it has to all the amazing people that engage with it. Admittedly, I’ve been reluctant to throw the company’s hat into the Fringe ring from a producing standpoint owing to the insane rising costs of everything associated with this event we love so much. As a company committed to paying all the artists we work with, I knew we couldn’t commit to doing Fringe without making a risk-laden promise to our artists that they would be financially recognised for their talents. However, when I saw ‘The Collie’s Shed’ at last year’s festival, I immediately knew how much I believed in Shelley’s script, her incredible team and the brilliant potential of the play as a complete artistic package.

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

Fringe 2022 was an interesting one given that it was the first full fringe following the COVID-19 pandemic. In that time, the world changed so much in terms of discourse on a range of issues, our tastes as audiences and perhaps most importantly, our comfort in sitting in small rooms next to strangers for hours at a time in August. On top of that, the cost-of-living crisis and associated severe inflation meant that the expenses associated with the Fringe were front and centre in the minds of many artists. It’s unfortunate that this has led to a reduced theatre programme this year and many questions need to be asked about the responsibilities of both the Fringe Society and the venues in protecting this delicate ecosystem through such a complicated period. For all the difficulties though, last year still showcased some of the most innovative work I’ve ever seen at the festival from audio walk-based shows to plays in shipping containers to musicals about grief and theatrical adaptations of government leaflets.

This year is massive for the festival as we as artists and audiences question our roles in solving the major crises that face our world today both on and off stage. From our stand-point, we’re delighted to have made a show that engages with strike culture in the UK, a topic that has affected everybody across the country in some way or another. We’ll be forcing our audience to question their role in history repeating the mistakes of the 1980s whilst teaching a new generation about the events of the Miners’ Strikes. We won’t have all the answers and we won’t change the world overnight but I’m proud that our offering to this year’s festival is one which offers audiences a provocation to engage with an urgent issue in 2023. As the world evolves quickly, the Fringe evolves equally fast alongside it so although we’ve done our best to keep up with where the Fringe is at in 2023, we won’t know how accurate we are until we’re all in Edinburgh come August.

Tell us about your show.

Based in a Men’s Shed in East Lothian, ‘The Collie’s Shed’ follows four retired miners as they discover how a review into the policing of the ’80s mining strikes and a potential Miners’ Pardon Bill by the Scottish Government suddenly affects them, their friendships and their relationships. It’s a story that reflects on union culture in the UK, a subject made all the more urgent by headlines of constant strikes across the country over the last year and the upcoming 40th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike itself.

The play was written by Shelley Middler and produced by Island Life Productions. Shelley auditioned the company last year as part of their run at The Space during the second half of last year’s Edinburgh Fringe and we’re delighted that they’ve all remained on board for their second bite of the festival cherry. This is our first time as a company at the festival but we’re so excited to be supporting a cast and crew who not only have Fringe experience but also a tight-knit connection with each other and a buzz to bring their show to a larger, higher capacity stage in collaboration with a Fringe institution in Gilded Balloon.

The aim post-Fringe is to tour the show to audiences around the country, performing our play and starting community-wide conversations about the Miners’ Strikes and their effects on Scotland to this day. We’re equally excited about the possibility of bringing it to smaller local spaces as we are to bring it to larger, established venues.

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

In performing with Gilded Balloon in their Other Yin space, we are extremely lucky to have been programmed next to two other brilliant pieces of Scottish new writing by emerging artists which audiences can experience back-to-back-to-back. We recommend that if you’d like to see a smorgasbord of fresh stories about the Fringe Festival’s host nation that you start by coming at 11:15 to see Alba by Action Theatre Scotland, a music-laden comedy exploring teenagers’ relationship to the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum. You’ll then have 30 minutes to grab yourself a bite to eat before coming back to the same space to see us at 13:15. Afterwards, have a walk or grab a coffee and then return to the Other Yin again to watch Crash & Burns by Amy Yeo & Jennifer Leigh Productions, a comedy about six young adults reuniting for a Burns Night supper.

We are blessed in Scotland to be home to an incredible array of emerging talent and even luckier that because of the Fringe, you can see three plays in the same space right next to each other (although be aware that Alba is only running from August 2nd-13th so this itinerary is limited). Other brilliant Scotland-based emerging talent on offer this year includes The Beatles Were a Boyband by F-Bomb Theatre and Brief Candle by Brushing Caligula.

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