Category Archives: *Written Interviews

From time to time we encounter an artist or producer toiling away at something pretty special. Here’s what they have to say, in their own words, about their work.

+3 Interview: 10:31, MCR

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

“I have graduated and landed my dream job in a regional theatre down south, but all this can never compare to the thrill of coming out of university and learning how to adult properly. I burn my toast 3 days out of 5.”

WHO: Fabiana Sforza: Writer and Director

WHAT: “‘I am going to write a book about this. The goings on of tonight. The events.’ More than two years on from the Manchester Arena terror attack, 10:31, MCR reflects on the impact the tragedy has had on the younger generations, and presents a new verbatim play that mixes voices and stories from different age groups, different backgrounds, different beliefs, and different times.”

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

WHEN: 14:10 (45 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes – it is so exciting and terrifying at the same time! My company and I have only been here one day, and we are already in love with the city and its festival buzz. We got to meet lots of different performers and theatre companies from all over the country, and it has already been incredibly eye-opening. We cannot wait to not only perform on the Edinburgh stage for the first time, but also to check out the amazing range of talent that this year’s Festival promises to have. The programme looks incredible, and we are sure this is going to be an experience we will not forget (especially the 9 hour overnight Megabus journey – that we will NEVER forget).

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

I remember wanting to apply for last year’s Festival but being too scared and just letting it go. I also remember sitting on my sofa catching up with friends who were at the Fringe and feeling like I had missed out on something really really exciting. So the biggest thing to have happened to me is probably gaining the courage to just do it and bring a show up! I have also graduated and landed my dream job in a regional theatre down south, but all this can never compare to the thrill of coming out of university and learning how to adult properly. I burn my toast 3 days out of 5.

Tell us about your show.

10:31, MCR is a project I have been working on for the past two years as part of my Masters by Dissertation. I was inspired by Carly Wijs’ play Us/Them, which talks about the Beslan school siege of 2004 from the point of view of two children survivors. Wijs was herself inspired by the astounding resilience of the young survivors, and their willingness to move past the incident and grow stronger from it. When the Manchester attack happened in 2017, I remember seeing headlines day after day becoming more and more hateful towards certain religious groups and ethnic minorities, using photos of the victims to instigate racist and islamophobic propagandas. This was when I decided I wanted to write a play that aimed to give a voice back to the young people who were involved in the accident. This is why I worked with a group of local young people discussing the attack and the mediatic response it had received. The RnD process also included getting in touch with Liv’s Trust, a charity funded in honour and memory of Olivia Campbell-Hardy, a victim of the Manchester attack. Liv’s mum and dad were very supportive and encouraged us to share rehearsal pictures with them. I also collected interviews and vlogs from the internet, and pieced them together to portray a different view of the attack altogether, one which shifted away from the divisive agendas the media had been pushing on viewers/readers.

Our company is made up by a few university friends; we have worked on different productions together so we knew we could easily do it again! My production manager, Esther Malkinson, has been to the Fringe for four years now, and is a real connoisseur of all things festival. She is in charge of our budget, our admin, she makes sure we don’t get lost in the city whilst scouting for shows, she ensures we eat properly and also operates the show – she’s a powerhouse! Ciaran Forde, Rio Topley and Megan Sharman act in the play, but also make sure we do at least a rendition a day of Maxwell’s “This Woman’s Work”‘s harmonies. This can happen at any time and in any place (if you were on the Mile at about 630pm today, we are so sorry).

We premiered the show in London in early August at the Drayton Arms theatre, and were absolutely overwhelmed with support and positive feedback from lots of people, which made us even more excited to go to Edinburgh! Looking forward, we would love to make sure the play travels the country and hopefully introduce workshops for young people around the theme treated.

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

After you watched 10:31, MCR, you must get yourself down the road (theSpace on North Bridge) to see Tally Ho, Secret Several! by Aireborne theatre. This comedic twist of a classic story will have you in stitches!
Also, make sure to catch #HonestAmy at the Pleasance Dome – I have been following Amy on Twitter for a while and she is absolutely hilarious. If you’re looking for a feel-good show, this is the one!

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+3 Interview: Votes for Women!

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

“I finally qualified for a free bus pass.”

WHO: Jan van der Black: Writer/Performer

WHAT: “The story of Emmeline and Richard Pankhurst and the suffragette movement. This couple were the architects of two of the greatest steps forward in the fight for women’s rights in Britain. In Votes for Women!, Polymorph Theatre examine what brought these two remarkable people together and the effect they would have on the cause of women’s rights. Richard Pankhurst was the champion of women’s property rights, while Emmeline Pankhurst drove the fight for women’s suffrage to new heights and new notoriety. Tragically separated by Richard’s untimely death, the campaign continued. Votes For Women!”

WHERE: theSpaceTriplex – Studio (Venue 38) 

WHEN: 13:55 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Very much not our first time! As a performer, I first came here about 30 years ago, but Polymorph Theatre started 4 years ago and we have returned again and again to our venue, Space Triplex.

We sold out a two week run of 10 Rillington Place in 2017, a one-person show, and last year sold out a week with a two-hander, Dulce et Decorum Est: The Unknown Soldiers.

This year we are back with another two-hander in Votes for Women.

Edinburgh Fringe is my guaranteed stage outing for the year, most of my regular work being for screen.

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

Probably the biggest name thing I’ve been in professionally is Black Mirror, the Netflix TV series which I was in last year.

Personally, the most significant thing is that last year I finally qualified for a free bus pass.

Tell us about your show.

The show is called Votes for Women. I wrote and produced it.

Polymorph Theatre is the name I’ve used for the production of all my own work for many years, but four years ago it effectively became a creative partnership between myself and Penny Gkritzapi, who designs and directs the shows. We met doing our respective postgraduate degrees (me in Acting, Penny in Directing) at the University of East London.

We’re joined this year by another former classmate, Emilie Maybank, who is playing Emmeline Pankhurst in the show, and who this year has the responsibility of the lead character.

The show was written specifically for Edinburgh, so it’s brand new and premiering at the Fringe.

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

I am a big fan of two things – improv and magic. So I’m going to recommend “Whose Line is it Anyway?” which I’m sure everyone will have heard of. I’m also going to recommend Colin Cloud, a mentalist (mind reader) who is stunningly entertaining.

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+3 Interview: Man vs Balloon: The Family Magic Show

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

“I saw some potential in mixing balloons with magic and now have a full show that uses both!”

WHO: Gareth White: performer, writer, producer

WHAT: “Witness a magical extravaganza where you will marvel at The Biggest Balloon in the World and risk your dryness at the ultimate game of Water Pistol Roulette! All live on stage in front of your very eyes! Man vs Balloon is the ultimate family show featuring magic tricks galore, comedy shenanigans and, of course, The Biggest Balloon in the World, all from Scotland’s very own Magic Gareth who will blow your minds – and his balloons – with a magical spectacular of epic and unimaginable proportions!”

WHERE: PBH’s Free Fringe @ CC Blooms – CC Blooms (Venue 171) 

WHEN: 11:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I am an Edinburgh local. Normally I am on the other side of the stage getting to watch the world’s entertainment. This is an exciting venture for me! I already have a small following in the City as this is my full-time job now. I would love to expand my following to visitors around the world!

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

This year I turned full-time professional magician. I left behind my coffee sales job and took the plunge and haven’t looked back!

Tell us about your show.

This is a culmination of my past 10 months being a full-time entertainer. I saw some potential in mixing balloons with magic and now have a full show that uses both!

I wrote the show, I produce the show and I perform the show.

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

You should stick around at my venue – CC Blooms! There is a lot of magic for all ages, all day! Dan Bastanelli – Trixated – in particular.

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+3 Interview: Martha McBrier: Happiness Bully

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

“I love the Edinburgh Fringe with an ardency that has not diminished. Even completing this interview makes my vital organs tingle with excitement.”

WHO: Martha McBrier

WHAT: “Don’t be bullied into cheering up or thinking positive. Don’t let anyone tell you how or when to be happy. Stand up to happiness bullies. Frown, it’s already happened. Come and celebrate misery and country music, but don’t jump off the Tallahatchie Bridge. ‘Pure, dead, brilliant’ ***** (Scotsman). Let’s have a drink, put on some Johnny or Dolly and ride that lonesome train together. And remember, your life will never be as bad as Tammy Wynette’s… ‘A knack for funny storytelling’ **** (BroadwayBaby.com). ‘A naturally charismatic story teller’ **** (Fest).”

WHERE: Laughing Horse @ The Counting House – The Loft (Venue 170) 

WHEN: 19:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This will be my 13th show (including 2 children’s shows) so not my first rodeo. I do not believe the number 13 to be a harbinger of misfortune, although I will get back to you on this after the Fringe…

I love the Edinburgh Fringe with an ardency that has not diminished. Even completing this interview makes my vital organs tingle with excitement.

Personal triumphs-wise, I once stood beside Christian Slater at the Comedy Awards. He had the most perfect complexion I have ever seen.

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

Professional biggies – I wrote a screenplay and a novel. I learned how to laminate. I am still afraid of laminators though, I find heat and plastic a very troubling combination. Also, I discovered I can make a darn good ramen.
Personal biggies – I am a sucker for lifestyle ads that pop up on social media. I have just purchased Acupressure slippers. This seemed to be a most well-being -y thing to do, and I fantasised about walking around as my important pressure points were attended to. Oh, the multi-tasking! Tragically, the reality is not so pretty. You know the abject torture of standing on a piece of Lego in bare feet? Imagine that sensation all over your feet, every step you walk.

Tell us about your show.

Easy Peasy. Yours Truly wrote the show. ‘Twas directed by my nephew the handsome and talented actor/director Matt McBrier. I have a massive team of 2. The company came together largely out of biology, as many families do. It is premier -ing (is that a word) at the Fringe so it’s just as new to me as it is to anybody else.

A happiness bully is someone who tries to pressure people into feeling ‘positive’ usually at a moment when the person is in the depths of despair. The show discusses this behaviour and also country music and suicide – comedy perennials, n’est-ce pas? It would be good to get more people talking about suicide. Let’s get it out there- chew it around. It will then become a less scary topic and we can maybe prevent our young men dying from it.

Post Edinburgh, who can say? It’s in the lap of the goddesses. Of course, the dream is to present my own Country Music Radio show. The ongoing theme would be to deconstruct Bobbie Gentrie’s masterpiece ‘Ode to Billy Joe’ (which features in my show). I should totally pitch that…

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

My personal Fringe recommendations are Sarah Kendall, Basil Brush, (obvs), Matt price, Janey Godley, Jojo Sutherland, Dave Chawner, and White Collar Comedy, and also go and see a play – any play – as theatre is dying at the Fringe, and we can’t have that.

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+3 Interview: Langston Kerman: The Loose Cannon

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

“I’ve performed it quite a bit in the states over the past few months and mostly audiences have booed me and called me a whore. That has nothing to do with the material though, they just don’t care for me as a person.”

WHO: Langston Kerman, Performer

WHAT: “Langston Kerman discusses the unexpected revelations coming from living with a convicted sex offender, questioning how these discoveries might prepare him to be a better man in the world, a better lover in the vagina and a better husband in his pending marriage. Best known as Jared from HBO’s Insecure, Langston has also starred in High Maintenance, Seth Rogan’s Singularity and Adam Devine’s House Party, and has written for the Oscars. His show Lightskinned Feelings was one of Vulture’s Top 10 Comedy Albums 2018. ‘You’ll want to hear what the man has to say’ (Paste).”

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

WHEN: 19:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes, this is my first time in Edinburgh. And over the past three months, I’ve been hit with an unending wave of terror struck warnings as people prepare for the hardships I’m about to face. Half-empty rooms, unflinching reviewers, discarded flyers exploded across the ground like the corpses of Mel Gibson’s painted friends in Braveheart. Mostly, I’m just excited to tell jokes, listen to some shit I’ve never heard, and maybe find a black barbershop. I really believe in my hour, and hopefully, a chance to run it every day for a month is going to make it so that other people really believe in it too.

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

I got engaged almost a year ago to this day, which is probably the biggest thing to ever happen to me, and may explain why my writing has mostly been about that. I’ve to get these jokes out now before our bank accounts are fully joined and she finds out that personal debt isn’t just a silly “bit”.

This will also be my third international comedy festival in the past year. I’ve gotten to drink Guinness in Dublin and pet koalas in Melbourne and now I get to stare at old castles in Edinburgh and whisper Harry Potter spells under my breath.

Oh, also this year I found out that prunes are just dried out plums. That honestly was a huge game-changer for me.

Tell us about your show.

My show is called The Loose Cannon. It’s at the Underbelly every night at 7:45pm. I wrote the whole thing by myself, which is why so many of the words are misspelt. It’s about falling in love and sex offenders and somehow trying to find the happy medium in-between those two things. I’ve performed it quite a bit in the states over the past few months and mostly audiences have booed me and called me a whore. That has nothing to do with the material though, they just don’t care for me as a person. In all seriousness though, I’m really excited to follow this Edinburgh run with a run of as many clubs and rooms back home. This feels like a perfect way to sharpen what has already turned into a pretty cool sword.

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

I’m excited to check out so many awesome comics while I’m there: Liza Treyger, Dan Soder, Catherine Bohart, Emmy Blotnick, Sarah Keyworth, Sean Patton, Dr. Phil, Mr. Clean, The Muppets if they’re performing. I don’t know, there are a shit ton of shows and I just want to get high after my sets and watch them all.

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+3 Interview: Endless Second

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

“I’ve pretty much grown up on fringe theatre.”

WHO: Madelaine Gray

WHAT: “A new play about consent within a relationship. A young couple at university have fallen in love. They listen to each other. They respect each other. But everything changes after a drunken evening with their friends. On this night, when he takes off her underwear and his boxers, she says, ‘No’. But he doesn’t stop. She struggles to assimilate the rape for what it was, because how could it be rape? He loves her. He couldn’t have done that. Endless Second explores how two people deal with a trauma that fundamentally alters the nature of their relationship.”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Below (Venue 33) 

WHEN: 15:10 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I have family in Edinburgh so I’ve pretty much grown up on fringe theatre. Endless Second will be show eight for me, so by now I really should know my way around! I’m looking forward to long hours in dark, damp rooms with lukewarm pints and I’m ready to be rejected on the mile many, many times.

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

Biggest thing? Well, I’m quite an excitable person so even finding reduced red pepper hummus in my local corner shop was a massive deal for me. Oh, and I graduated from my MA and got to shake Grayson Perry’s hand.

Tell us about your show.

Endless Second is a two-hander about consent within a relationship, written by Theo Toksvig-Stewart and produced by Cut the Cord Theatre which is run by Camilla Gurtler. We premiered at Theatre503 back in January which gave us time to work on the text and bring it back tighter and better to 503 for our Edinburgh previews. The future? Who knows… We plan to take the play to schools and universities alongside our consent workshops for young people. We’d love for this show to have a long life either in London or around the country as we feel the theme and messages are relevant and timely to so many people.

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

You should definitely check out our sister show I Run, at Pleasance Below (13:55). It’s on directly before us… intense theatrical double bill anyone?

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+3 Interview: Frank Foucault: Desk

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

“I watched Love Island for the first time. I have no idea why I’d never seen it before. If you’re resisting it, just watch one episode. It’s blown me away. It’s like watching Breaking Bad or Twin Peaks for the first time. It simultaneously presents the absolute worst and absolute best aspects of humanity.”

WHO: Luke Smith: writer and performer

WHAT: “Thump. James Corden hears a thump underneath his chat-show desk. Thump. It’s the evening before the start of his American talk-show career. Thump. This is not a stand-up show. Thump. But it’s written and created by my stand-up comedy persona. Thump. I understand that’s confusing. Thump. I hope you enjoy it. Thump. Thump. Love. Thump. Thump. Ego. Thump. Thump. Death. Thump. Thump. Sex. Thump. Thump. The Desk. ‘Baffling and daring’ **** (BroadwayBaby.com). ‘A tiny work of comic genius’ (Scotsman). ‘His real name is Luke Smith’ (Steve Bennett, Chortle.co.uk).”

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

WHEN: 21:55 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I’ve been coming up to the fringe in some sort of performing capacity since 2014. Each year I feel like I’m stepping right back into an anxiety dream, exactly where it had stopped the year before. It’s great though. Doing the fringe is like fighting a boxer that will sometimes punch you in the face and sometimes give you a bouquet of flowers.

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

I watched Love Island for the first time. I have no idea why I’d never seen it before. If you’re resisting it, just watch one episode. It’s blown me away. It’s like watching Breaking Bad or Twin Peaks for the first time. It simultaneously presents the absolute worst and absolute best aspects of humanity. Just amazing television. Oh yeah, I went on a teaching course, moved to London, wrote a show and had a complete career change.. but it’s mainly the Love Island thing to be honest.

Tell us about your show.

We’ve been previewing it since Feb, but the idea had been knocking around the old noggin for about a year before then. I wrote it and persuaded the great Rosie Harris to direct it. Neither of us had done anything like this before. It’s a hybrid between stand-up and theatre and we couldn’t really predict what shape it would take until we started previewing it at comedy festivals. We would love to take it somewhere after this month, but a show like this really feels at home at the Edinburgh Fringe.

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

The Death Hilarious: Razor. Incredibly funny, dark virtuoso performance from one of the most hard working people in comedy. Grotesque, beautiful, hilarious.

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+3 Interview: Hyper-Nice

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

“I had just started chemotherapy during last year’s fringe – I thought at the time I looked great. Having reviewed the photographic records turned out I looked like a duck egg wearing spectacles.”

WHO: David Watson: Solo Performer

WHAT: “Aspiring to be more vacuous? Thanking strangers for no reason? Hyper-Nice is a new, original, one person stand-up show in which David Watson mostly apologises for breathing and tries to be “nice”. It seems sorry is not the hardest word. Incisive social comedy.”

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

WHEN: 17:20 (50 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I’ve been to the festival 5 or 6 times, as a punter and as a writer and director, but I’ve Never performed before. I’m doing a 1 man show, having done a bit of stand up in the past, mostly at home in Liverpool. What am I expecting? The ticket sales for my week look ok, but I’m all over the 2 audience members on a wet Tuesday situation and expecting it again. Doesn’t bother me one bit (he says now). I remember late-night drinking and possibly the best funk disco I ever attended in my life with cans of red stripe being distributed from dustbins – different times. I remember the faces of the poor residents marching past curiously dressed promotors with looks of disdain.

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

This answer was going to be straightforward until I read the stipulation “try and make the reader smile”. I had just started chemotherapy during last year’s fringe – I thought at the time I looked great. Having reviewed the photographic records turned out I looked like a duck egg wearing spectacles … and the weight loss was nowhere near sufficient for my purposes either. Anyway, much better now and I guess this 45-minute show (WHICH CONTAINS NO MENTION OF CANCER) is a reaction to that, I may as well just as well be jumping out of a plane or seeking to ride a bull…

Tell us about your show.

It’s a one-man stand-up show written and performed by me, and it contains, I would say, moments of genius, and, it will probably transpire some filler. It’s about being gauche and English and apologising too much, and getting off on the gratitude of others.

I did a free Liverpool show two weeks ago to about 90 mates and mates of mates. It was fun and chaotic, and I’ve toned down the swearing. No plans for after the fringe yet Burt probably a London show at some stage … and a lot of radio work (that was a joke).

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

Jonny Pelham: Off Limits – amazing subject matter, which doesn’t sound like it should ever be the subject of comedy, which is why it should.

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+3 Interview: Cathy: A Retelling of Wuthering Heights

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“I also was on a popular Channel 4 reality tv show, although since it hasn’t aired yet, I’m unsure if I’m allowed to say which one!”

WHO: Michael Bascom: Composer

WHAT: “This new musical by Michael Bascom retells the story of Heathcliff and Cathy, two soul-bound lovers thwarted by family, society and God. The sun shines over the moors, but a storm of vengeance is brewing in this story of a passionate romance which transcends life – and death – itself. Described as ‘a highly moving production, brilliantly depicting the tragedy and passion of Bronte’s novel’ (TCS), the show sees its Fringe debut after premiering last November to a critically acclaimed, sold-out run at the University of Cambridge.”

WHERE: theSpace @ Niddry St – Upper Theatre (Thrust) (Venue 9) 

WHEN: 22:20 (75 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I visited Edinburgh briefly last autumn, but this is my first time to the Fringe festival! I was warned that it was ‘a lot’ and I have to say that it’s taken a little while to adjust to the perpetual exhaustion of putting on a show, flyering for a show, and then actually seeing shows, and so on. I arrived with high hopes, having had a surprise mention on Elaine Paige’s show on BBC Radio 2 the Sunday before the festival, although I’ve realised more fully since being here what a slog the Fringe is meant to be. I love a challenge, however, and I’m starting to find myself in my element amidst the madness of it all!

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

The biggest thing to have happened to me since last year’s festival was probably graduating, finally! I started my undergraduate degree a tad later than usual, at 24, and it was something I’ve always known I wanted to do before starting my career. So it’s a bit weird adjusting to ‘real-life’ after feeling a bit on hold for the past 10 years! I studied music at Cambridge, but being a mature undergrad I got to study at St Edmund’s college with other ‘mature’ (aka over 21) students, where I met some truly incredible people. I also was on a popular Channel 4 reality tv show, although since it hasn’t aired yet, I’m unsure if I’m allowed to say which one!

Tell us about your show.

The show is a ‘retelling’ of Wuthering Heights; I wrote the music/lyrics and adapted the original novel into a script (who am I to change Emily Brontë’s own words?). It closely follows much of the original story, but I’ve altered the second half somewhat significantly to make it a bit more Shakespearean in its gesture, with the real-time events of the tragedy occurring all within a 24-hour period rather than over the course of 30-40 years. I first conceived the musical about 10 years ago when I was 17, being a young, closeted Mormon gay boy, and totally inspired by Heathcliff and Cathy’s tumultuous, passionate romance – putting each other above their own family, society, and even God – I knew I had to set it to music.

I also knew I had neither the talent nor means to pull off a musical at that time, so whenever a song would come to me (usually in its entirety, almost like a ‘download’, on random afternoons) I would just archive it until the time felt right. Finally (having since ‘come out’ and leaving Mormonism), last year seemed to be that time and so I put on ‘Cathy’ at one of the university theatres in Cambridge. It had phenomenal success, so I decided to take it to Edinburgh, although really I still consider it a bit of a showcase for a bigger, full-length musical (and I’m looking for a scriptwriter!). Hopefully, I’ll take it to London after, depending on what happens here in Edinburgh!

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

A friend of mine has written a show based on Northanger Abbey (called – surprise – Northanger Abbey), which will be on at the French Institute on the 12-13 and 16-24. She’s incredibly talented and the whole team are great – it also received a 5-star review in Cambridge last year! So I would 100% recommend catching that while you can, and it will probably help lift the spirits slightly after Wuthering Heights!

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+3 Interview: F. Off

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

“The company came together after our membership auditioned via mobile phone self-tapes telling us what they thought about social media and then we spent a month workshopping and scratched the show for one night only at The Criterion Theatre in the West End, when Ian McKellen said it was the best NYT show he’s seen his years.”

WHO: Paul Roseby: Director

WHAT: “F. Off. As the extremes of social media kick up an unsettling and unsavoury stink, Evening Standard ‘One to Watch’ writer Tatty Hennessy, National Youth Theatre Artistic Director Paul Roseby and Britain’s best young talent are kicking off in response in true interrogatory style to put Mark Zuckerberg and his social network colleagues on trial. The question is who really is to blame, and who is following who? So we ask you, the audience, to be the jury and the NYT company will be the disrupters. Served with a heavy helping of humour, some knitting and hardcore experts.”

WHERE: Underbelly, Cowgate – Belly Button (Venue 61) 

WHEN: 12:50 (75 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

My first ever Edinburgh was right next door to our venue this year on Cowgate actually, at the Grey Friar’s Kirkhouse. I was in a play called Respectable Wedding by Bertolt Brecht and we had to eat three courses of food each day whilst the furniture around us deliberately collapsed. There were some interesting actors in there as part of the Hoxton Players, at the time when Hoxton was somewhere you would very rarely go during the day, let alone at night. It was a mixed company [ages and abilities] with some fairly old actors at the time whose first jobs probably weren’t acting and quite possibly never their real jobs. Mixed with us first-timers, not least a wickedly cheeky actor called Neil Stuke who you’ll now recognise on many a TV series playing detectives and wearing raincoats. It was hard work but I loved it and it sold out. I also remember we played the track, ‘Perfect’ by Fairground Attraction every morning when we were getting ready in our bedsits. I don’t think it ever was [perfect] but we certainly tried to make it so. I’m looking forward to audiences getting up on stage and involved in our show, especially the magic trick. Oh, and I went on Christopher Biggins’ show this week, does that count as a namedrop?

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

Long story, that starts with getting an OBE and ends with my husband of 10 years dumping me. In between, I’ve protested outside a Government ministers office in Lisbon to prevent our dream home being destroyed. The use of oversized beach balls featured heavily. Witnessed my Mum of 94 years die, and my Dad of 97 years not. Lose over a stone in weight and reconnect with my 30-inch waist. Sadly no one else has yet to reconnect with it. Crashed a hire car in Suffolk but learnt to meditate in a shed. All in all seems appropriate then to be directing a show entitled F.Off!

Tell us about your show.

It’s written by the brilliant Tatty Hennessy, dubbed ‘One to watch’ this year by the Evening Standard and as sharp and witty as they come. It’s produced by the National Youth Theatre, the world’s first and best. The company came together after our membership auditioned via mobile phone self-tapes telling us what they thought about social media and then we spent a month workshopping and scratched the show for one night only at The Criterion Theatre in the West End, when Ian McKellen said it was the best NYT show he’s seen his years. Where next, who knows, Broadway!?!

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

There’s some amazing young National Youth Theatre talent at the festival in other shows this year, here are just a few:

Katie Greenall fresh from working with us on Spoken World at Latitude is her with her hilarious show #FATTYFATFAT at The Pleasance AND she was on the Guilty Feminist Podcast this week too!

Alice Vilanculo is another one-to-watch from our 2019 REP company and is in E8 at The Pleasance directed by our talented Associate Artist Ria Parry. Our company show the show this week and loved it.

There was never a day without shrieks of laughter in the NYT office when the brilliant Ben Salmon was the assistant on our flagship social inclusion course Playing Up. Catch him in Miller and Salmon at Just the Tonic at The Charteris Centre at 16.40.

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