Tag Archives: Assembly Hall

+3 Interview: Seven Crazy Bitches

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

“I did that horrific ‘lying on the floor like you’re a dead body to hand out flyers’ thing. Won’t be doing that this year!”

WHO: Holly Morgan, Diva

WHAT: “Join the Diva on a budget as she guides you through the Seven Ages of Woman. Pit stops include seduction via Kate Bush, an interview with the woman who lived in Prince’s head, and finding out how many two pence pieces a man can insert up his foreskin. This is standing up cabaret on a budget as you’ve never seen it before. Because the Diva’s pretty sure she just invented it… ”

WHERE: Assembly Hall (Venue 35) ​

WHEN: 19:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my first year with my own show! I was in Bat Boy! the Musical when I was a student and I did that horrific ‘lying on the floor like you’re a dead body to hand out flyers’ thing. Won’t be doing that this year!

Tell us about your show.

So I’ve written it and I’ve been very lucky to have some very talented people to draw on to help out with it; my boyfriend Tom is in it and gets roundly abused by me and has to sit in a cardboard box for an hour, my mate Lisa is a fabulous director and crazy bitch herself and Esh is best described as the show’s Guru! Roshan Conn is a wizard. Or she’s really organised, great at Q lab and always has my back…that or a wizard.

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

Cat Loud’s phenomenal one woman show, Wayward.

My beautiful venue-mate Lucy Farrett has brought her hilarious show, Ladyface to Assembly. She’s on just before us and she’s awesome.

A Hundred Different Words for Love is a beautiful hour of storytelling by James Rowland – a must see.

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+3 Interview: How Is Uncle John?

Posted in EdFestivals 2016, Written Interviews by

2016howisun_y9

“There’s so much to see and especially great theatre made by women, which is so refreshing.”

WHO: Sally Lewis, Writer

WHAT: “When Hope was young, her mother did everything she could to ensure her daughter was safe. As she grew more independent, Hope began to slip from her mother’s fingers. Years later, Hope has fallen in love. When she goes on holiday with her new partner, a few days turn into months. At home, sick with worry, Hope’s mother receives a telephone call. The remarkable story of a daughter trafficked into the sex market and her mother’s journey to bring her home, this one-woman play is an unflinching descent into darkness.”

WHERE: Assembly Hall (Venue 35)

WHEN: 15:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Both Ben (Director) and I have been before but this is our first full dramatic show together- very exciting. Holly Joyce (Mother) has performed several times before but it’s a first for Taha Haq (Hope). We are all very excited to be here and especially at The Assembly.

Tell us about your show.

I wrote it. It’s a new play about a mother’s journey to realise and rescue her adult daughter has been trafficked abroad into the sex trade and she is the only person who can rescue her. It’s about love, intuition, strength, courage and the bond between a mother and a child, no matter how old that child may be. It’s being produced by Creative Garage, a collective Ben runs.

Ben and I had worked on a few other pieces of my work so it seemed only right we would work on this play together when I discussed it with him one night in the pub. Finding Holly Joyce and Taha Haq has been challenging, but also very exciting and has really helped the play develop. We are previewing on July 29th at The Nuffield Theatre in Southampton for one night only as we are focusing on our Edinburgh run. We would love to tour in the New Year, fingers crossed.

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

The sunshine!

There’s so much to see and especially great theatre made by women, which is so refreshing. I’d definitely signpost them to Mr Incredible by Camilla Whitehill and directed by the wonderful Sarah Myott-Meadows at the Underbelly, Cowgate.

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The Turn of the Screw (Assembly Hall, Aug 6 – Aug 30 : 21:40 : 1hr)

Posted in 2*, EdFestivals 2015, Other, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

https://files.list.co.uk/images/festivals/2015/fringe/2015TURNOFT-Y9-300.jpg

“Ambitious, but unmistakeably flawed”

Editorial Rating:  2 Stars Nae Bad

The Turn of the Screw, in the words of it’s author, is a tale wherein “the strange and sinister” is embroidered on the normal for dread rather than horror – bold for the time, and even bolder as a minimalistic, two-person stage play. However, what resulted on stage was much like the mind of the story’s governess: ambitious, but unmistakeably flawed.

Rik Grayson proved a strong and surprisingly diverse actor, playing not only the male narrator but also providing powerful and eerie performances as the housekeeper Mrs Grose and Miles, one of the troubled children. His mannerisms were specific, sustained and on point – he turned what was at first a strangely humorous old woman into a figure of suspicion and palpable dread.

The same, however, cannot be said of his stage mate Suzy Whitefield. Whilst at certain points in the production she showed genuine emotional depth (a tense, genuinely unnerving darkness scene stands out), her performance felt oddly flat throughout the rest of the piece – which unfortunately, due to both the small cast size and the show’s dependence upon her character, took much of the essential fear and trepidation out of the drama. Although at times her fear was completely believable, the sense of a desperate, slowly crumbling human being behind it was not. Whitefield shows promise, but unfortunately certain aspects of her character portrayal hold her back.

This was helped, however, by simple yet brilliantly effective lighting design from the tech team, whose use of light and darkness during night and evening scenes carved the atmosphere so deep into the stage that it was nearly inescapable.

All in all, this was the very epitome of a curate’s egg: both actors had scenes which made my hair stand on end, but at the same time, parts of the show were utterly devoid of the tense, sinister fear that makes The Turn of the Screw such an enduring tale of horror. I sincerely wish I had been able to like it more. With an extra sheen of polish and a few tweaks to the pacing and delivery, this is a production which could be much more powerful.

 

nae bad_blue

Star (blue)Star (blue)

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Reviewer: Jacob Close (Seen 8 August)

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THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED