Tag Archives: EdFestivals

+3 Interview: I’ll Take You to Mrs Cole!

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

“It will be a nostalgic trip for adults and be a funny, scary and anarchic show for children.”

WHO: Complicité: Creators

WHAT: “The 1980s! Ska music pulses and young Ashley creates havoc by getting lost in a wild, imaginative world. When Jedi battles and forest adventures go too far, will their hard-working mum resort to the scariest threat of all? Accompanied by an original ska soundtrack and stunning video animation. A Complicité and Polka Theatre Co-Production. Directed by Complicité Associate Catherine Alexander. Based on the book by Nigel Gray and Michael Foreman. ‘A new Complicité show… is a ticket to another world’ (Time Out). ‘Arguably the country’s best theatre company’ (Times).”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Beyond (Venue 33) 

WHEN: 13:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Complicité was last in Edinburgh with The Encounter, directed and performed by Simon McBurney, at the International Festival in 2015. We won the Herald Angel award that year. In 1985 we took More Bigger Snacks Now to the Fringe and won what was then called the Perrier Award for comedy. We were the first theatre production to win the award. We can’t wait to see what happens this year!

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

We’ve been touring the globe with different shows playing at the likes of Sydney Festival, Dutch National Opera and the Barbican. But, the biggest thing we’ve done in terms of scale in the last 9 months was creating a dance piece with 200 self-identifying women in London and Hong Kong. ‘Everything that rises must dance’ was created by choreographer Sasha Milavic Davies and composer Lucy Railton. The piece is a celebration of female movement and the way women have moved throughout history.

Tell us about your show.

Complicité is an international theatre company based in London led by Artistic Director Simon McBurney. We create work that strengthens human interconnection, using the complicity between performer and audience that is at the heart of the theatrical experience. Complicité works across art forms, believing theatre, opera, film, installation and community art can all be sites for the collective act of imagination. I’ll Take You to Mrs Cole! is a co-production between Complicité and Polka Theatre (the UK’s leading children’s theatre) adapted and directed by long-term Complicité collaborator, Catherine Alexander. It will have its world premiere at Pleasance this summer.

I’ll Take You to Mrs Cole! by Nigel Gray and Michael Foreman is about a hard-working single mother from Barbados and her child (Ashley), who live in a flat in a grey British city. When the child’s imaginative play gets a bit too wild and their tidy home is trashed, Mum playfully threatens to take her child to Mrs Cole, a chaotic neighbour with a dirty house and lots of kids. Adapter and director Catherine Alexander says “In 2016 Complicité asked me if I had any projects brewing and I suggested creating a show for families with young children. As a happy single mum and a child of divorced parents, I wanted to make a show that celebrated solo parenting. This is a story about cultural difference and fear within communities and the transcendent power of children’s ability to imagine and play. I am setting the show in Coventry at the height of two-tone music: this was the soundtrack to my early teens and gave my generation a sense of hope that racism could be challenged. I especially loved The Specials, The Beat and Ian Dury and the Blockheads and eventually, I saw them all play live.

The actors, sound designer Ben Grant and I are writing songs for the piece that are influenced by these artists. This show will have the energy of a gig combined with visual storytelling and exquisite original animation by Amber Cooper Davies. It will be a nostalgic trip for adults and be a funny, scary and anarchic show for children.” The show will tour the UK in 2020 and 2021. Watch this space.

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

At Edinburgh International Festival we are also presenting a work-in-progress of The Happy Tragedy (15-17 Aug) of Being Woke by Clint Dyer, directed by Clint Dyer and Simon McBurney. It’ll be a rare opportunity to see our work in the development phase. It’s a killer theatre programme at the Pleasance this year. Alongside I’ll Take You to Mrs Cole! they have our co-production with The Wardrobe Ensemble The Last of the Pelican Daughters.

They also have Bryony Kimmings’ I’m a Phoenix Bitch, Rhum and Rhum and Clay’s The War of the Worlds and This Egg return with dressed. All brilliant shows! Elsewhere, we’re looking forward to Tim Crouch’s new play Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation and Forced Entertainment’s To Move in Time.

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+3 Interview: Children’s Shows (music, children’s)

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“We are always surprised when children leave their parents to come near the stage and jump to the beat of the music! They sing with us, it’s great!”

WHO: Floriane Palumbo: Tour Manager

WHAT: “It’s never too soon to break out the Clash, never too late to submerge in the Beatles. And in between, float on Air, glide with Hardy and strut the Strokes! Covers and compositions blend into a true rock music awakening, a live show for curious kids and nostalgic parents sure to have you all singing, dancing, even screaming… from ages five and up! Comète is a group of pop rock musicians used to the biggest stages, here to share with your youngsters their personal rock galaxy!”

WHERE: Assembly Checkpoint – Assembly Checkpoint (Venue 322) 

WHEN: 10:30 (50 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It is our first time with the company at Edinburgh, it’s so much fun for us to come and play a whole month in the same town and being part of this crazy festival, taking time to discover all that charming places, the special atmosphere of the town and the people from Edinburgh.

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

It’s our first Fringe Festival and we are very excited about it!

We are always surprised when children leave their parents to come near the stage and jump to the beat of the music! They sing with us, it’s great!

When schools come and classes returned to their schools, the children sing «La musique Automatique», «Da da da», etc. The teachers then testified to the pleasure they had in finding and singing some of the songs in class, the pleasure they had in sharing them together. It’s so grateful for us to discover that we gave them a taste for music.

Tell us about your show.

Our show allows children to live a «real concert», so that they discover and experience pop rock music through experimentation rather than evocation. To show (by putting the children in visual contact with the different instruments that characterize rock music: the drums, the bass, the electric guitar, the keyboards), to hear, to feel the power of music.

So we thought up, developed and created a real «rock concert». Sharing with children the pleasure of rock songs that we listened to at their age, the ones that pushed us to become musicians and write our own compositions. The diversity of our musical tastes ends with a profusion of rock movements from the last 30 years, which children can discover without filters or boxes: pop music, electronics, hip hop, … Similarly, we have chosen different languages (French, English, German) to show how different instrumental and vocal sonorities are at the heart of rock. As for the musicians, they all sing (even the drummer), to let people know that anyone can become a musician, if they want it and work towards it. In addition, forming of a rock band is based on a sense of the collectivity.

From the first performances, in schools and anywhere public, children, parents and teachers have taken part in the concert by singing, clapping hands or jumping to the beat of the music. Or have listened intently during quieter songs. When classes returned to their schools, the children would sing «La musique Automatique», «Da da da», etc. The teachers then testified to the pleasure they had in finding and singing some of the songs in class, the pleasure they had in sharing them together. Mission Accomplished for us: we gave them a taste for music.

In addition, we have paid particular attention to fully respecting auditory and visual safety stan- dards. We have specifically employed a sound engineer who accompanies us and ensures com- pliance with the new standard of 85 decibels.

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

Our Belgian’s friends are taking place at Summerhall with FrontX: dance/theatre show about how atypical individuals transcend their difficulties through their artistic practice.

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+3 Interview: Daliso Chaponda: Blah Blah Blacklist

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“Last year, I did a tour show at the ‘Queen’s Hall’ but while one stage I accidentally called it the ‘King’s Hall’ which made the audience jeer in unison “Queen! Queen!””

WHO: Daliso Chaponda, Performer

WHAT: “Daliso shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent and has gone on to amass over 100 million YouTube views, write and star in his critically acclaimed Radio 4 show Citizen of Nowhere, and appear on The Apprentice: You’re Fired, News Quiz and The Now Show. In his hilarious, daring new show, Daliso looks at disgraced, blacklisted celebrities and historical figures we’re ashamed we once admired. There’s also the small matter of family member arrests, exploding buildings in his home country and the enterprising Malawian who tried to blackmail him.”

WHERE: Gilded Balloon Teviot – Wine Bar (Venue 14) 

WHEN: 18:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I have performed in comedy clubs in Edinburgh over the years. I’ve done multiple festivals. I kissed someone backstage in a tent once. Also, last year, I did a tour show at the ‘Queen’s Hall’ but while one stage I accidentally called it the ‘King’s Hall’ which made the audience jeer in unison “Queen! Queen!”

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

While I was in Malawi, my home country, in the same day I had

1) a group of people interrupt my dinner to ask for an autograph and selfies
2) some people who hated me throw stones at a car I was in

I often am confused as to whether the people of Malawi love me or hate me.

Tell us about your show.

The show is called Blah Blah Blacklist. It is a show about the public figures who have been disgraced because of dumb tweets or criminality. It’s also about why those people were throwing stones at my car. I wrote it. I also rewrote it and will have rewritten it two more times before this Q&A goes to print.

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

After seeing me, my audience should buy another ticket and watch me again. Then, and only after watching my show twice, they should watch Maisie Adam, Adam Rowe, and Richard Herring.

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+3 Interview: Tom Houghton: That’s What I Go to School For

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“…performing in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Bahamas. Am I sounding smug yet?”

WHO: Tom Houghton: Performer 

WHAT: “Tom was sent to all-boys boarding school at age six. A world where ‘day kids’ are shunned and girls? None existent. But when, in his second last year the school decided to go co-ed, everything was to change. The total Fringe sell-out, star of Comedy Central’s Roast Battle and ultra-privileged Tower of London resident, Tom Houghton lifts the controversial lid on the incubators responsible for producing many of our country’s leaders. With a little help from 00s pop sensation Busted. ***** (The New European), ***** (One4Review), **** (Daily Telegraph), **** (Chortle).”

WHERE: Pleasance Dome – JackDome (Venue 23) 

WHEN: 20:10 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Oh no. I’m an old mule now. I did 9 with The Noise Next Door and now this is my 3rdsolo one. I slip back into this month like it’s my favourite pair of slippers.

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

I’ve had a few big ones. Comedy central roast battle against my best matey Lauren Pattinson was super fun. But then so has performing in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Bahamas. Am I sounding smug yet?

Tell us about your show.

Its written, directed and performed by me. It’s about the public school system, how it effects the kids who go to them and how they then go on to dominate the power jobs of our counties. I believe the public schools are the beginning of the split in our society. If we are aiming for equality then there needs to be a discussion as to what role they have in our future.

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

As much variety as possible. I have friends I could suggest. Gareth Waugh, Ryan Cullen, Elliot Steel. But go and see a play, some dance, street performers. Then go home and have a long look in the mirror and question your own reality.

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+3 Interview: Helen Bauer: Little Miss Baby Angel Face

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“I discovered Disney Vloggers, it’s the best thing! People who go the Disney World every day in full costume and go around the parks. It is amazing and has totally made my year.”

WHO: Helen Bauer, Performer 

WHAT: “Helen enjoys a drama. She’s her mother’s daughter, taking a small situation, blowing it up, then getting upset that it’s out of her control. Just like all the best reality TV. At the same time, she dreams of being a sweet angel handling any drama with grace. Who doesn’t overthink everything and plan for how she will have all eyes on her at the right moment. Highly anticipated debut hour from the 2018 BBC New Comedy Award Finalist. As seen and heard on BBC Three, Comedy Central and Radio 4.”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker One (Venue 33) 

WHEN: 18:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It is not my first time at all, 10 years ago I was with Pleasance for the first time working as crew. That was my first time at the Edinburgh festival. Since then I have gone up as an audience member and eventually a performer. Last year I was part of the Pleasance Reverse and I am so excited to return with my first ever show. MY FIRST SHOW. AHHHHH.

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

I discovered Disney Vloggers, it’s the best thing! People who go the Disney World every day in full costume and go around the parks. It is amazing and has totally made my year. I guess I also started a Podcast with dreamboat comedian Rosie Jones, Daddy Look at Me. It’s the Disney Vlogs that really stand out.

Tell us about your show.

‘Little Miss Baby Angel Face’ is an exploration of my love for tragic situations and the relationship with my Mum.

My mum and I are two sides of the same coin. My mum currently has ghosts in her house and thinks in a past life she was on the ‘Titanic’, where I wrote and performed a monologue about being sexually abused and performed it at school (TOTAL LIE & also VERY creepy)! In reality, her Mum ran a ‘drama school’ from their house (from when she was small) and clearly, the drama continued outside of her work!

Sincerity is what the show tackles and my completely inability to be sincere when it is most required.

The show is directed by the brilliant Phoebe Bourke and it’s been such a pleasure and dream to work with her. I have previewed in around the UK festivals and hoping after Edinburgh to perform it all over.

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

So many. Heidi Regan and Micky Overman never fail to make me laugh. Sunil Patel and Jordan Brookes are comedy gods and of course I cannot forget the sweet comedy angel Rosie Jones.

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+3 Interview: Njambi McGrath: Accidental Coconut

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“It’s an exploration of someone whose identity was irrevocably changed by the impact of colonialism and how the two worlds have collided with the same result of an identity crisis.”

WHO: Njambi McGrath, Performer 

WHAT: “Brexit seems inescapable as the British stand at the crossroads of self-identity and nostalgia of a bygone era of an empire. This show is a juxtaposition of loss of a people from opposing sides. Those mourning from loss of former glory and those mourning how that former glory impacted on their lives ripping apart their innocence. In the era when the British people are re-examining who they are as a people, and in relation to the rest of the world. Njambi scrutinises her own story; from the other side of the empire.”

WHERE: Just the Tonic at Marlin’s Wynd – Just the Wyndy Room (Venue 296) 

WHEN: 16:05 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is going to my 7th time in Edinburgh, although I went several times just to enjoy the fringe and catch some shows.

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

It has been a very busy time with me finished writing my book and finding a publisher. My book was also shortlisted for the Twenty In Twenty project announced in the Guardian. I also won the prestigious Hackney empire NATY’s Award. I also started working on a sitcom as well as digging my heels into writing fiction.

Tell us about your show.

I wrote the show Accidental Coconut. This is an exploration of identity on a personal level and in juxtaposition with British people who are at a place of questioning their identity. It’s an exploration of someone whose identity was irrevocably changed by the impact of colonialism and how the two worlds have collided with the same result of an identity crisis. I should hope to tour my show if at all possible.

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

They should try and see other African comics at the Fringe. Everyone complains about the lack of diversity and this year we have at least three Africans, Loyiso Gola, Daliso Chaponda and myself.

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+3 Interview: Twonkey’s Ten Year Twitch

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“I’ve been doing this for ten years which is giving me the shakes, baby.”

WHO: Paul Vickers: Performer 

WHAT: “Twonkey’s 10th show is about grotesque cake decorating shop in the Dordogne that has been secretly making fake weather since 1982. Mr Twonkey says, ‘Last week I knocked on the door licking my lips in anticipation. The shopkeeper opened the door, a tiny woman who was all baggy eyes with a hard miserable face and fast little legs. I had made a horrible mistake?’ ‘He creates wonderlands of weird’ **** (Scotsman). ‘Mind-bending fables’ **** (Times). ‘An operatic imagination’ **** (BeyondTheJoke.co.uk). ‘A one-man cornucopia of the bizarre’ **** (FringeGuru.co.uk). Winner: Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality.”

WHERE: Just the Tonic at The Caves – Just the Wee One (Venue 88) 

WHEN: 16:10 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

No I’m ten years in, the new show is called Twonkey’s Ten Year Twitch meaning I’ve been doing this for ten years which is giving me the shakes, baby.

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

I won the Malcolm Hardee award for Comic Originality in 2016, which was nice. I was also nominated for the Time Out and Soho Theatre award TO&ST in 2013, which helped a lot at the time. However I’m waiting for next big wind the willows to blast onto new horizons. The thing I have enjoyed the most down the years was performing as part of the cast of my own play in 2016 Jennifer’s Robot Arm. The play was a matchbox melodrama about a girl whose delusions, while consorting with a demonic friend and a circular saw cost her an arm. It was a lot more fun then it sounds. It felt great been part of a gang making a really amazing piece of work it was a lot less lonely then working on a solo show, I do need to do it again but it costs an arm and leg to do.

Tell us about your show.

I write the show myself but various musicians help me out with the songs. My latest show follows on from early discoveries such as finding the right framework to hang my balls off. What I find works best for me is to start fast and silly with lots of short power punch’s then I cut to seaside whirlpool inner core meaning as if by magic I pop up somewhere else as someone else and then tell the main story. Sadly explaining it only makes sense to me but its fun trying. So far it’s been to Brighton, Buxton, London, Prague and Leicester and next outer space.

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

Johannes Dullin Plays the Devil looks fun to me, He was amazing last year. It’s on at 19:20 Heroes at Dragonfly. He’s a German/Swiss character-sincere-existentialist stand up comic….what’s not to like?

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+3 Interview: pool (no water)

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“I love that you can start seeing shows at 10am and not end up getting home until 6am the following day.”

WHO: Abbye Eva, Director

WHAT: “‘The line of the machine. The purple of the bruise. It appeals. It tempts.’ A group of bohemian artists. They have a friend who was plucked from obscurity and is now renowned, respected and rich. She has a pool in LA now – did you hear? It’s fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. Until one booze-fuelled skinny-dip leads to a terrible accident. Mark Ravenhill’s dark, witty comedy explores how jealousy can tear apart relationships and cause old friends to do the unthinkable.”

WHERE: The Royal Scots Club – The Hepburn Suite (Venue 241) 

WHEN: 21:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I’ve lived in Edinburgh for nearly five years now, so I’ve experienced the Fringe both as a tourist and as a resident. I love that you can start seeing shows at 10am and not end up getting home until 6am the following day. I love all the creative new ways people come up with to try and get you to take their flyer. I love getting all the recommendations and the general buzz around the city. I love living off of wine and chicken nuggets for a month. It’s magic!

This is my first time directing at the Fringe, so I’m excited to be sharing a little part of me with the festival.

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

I finally got a chance to see Sleep No More in New York – it was scary, beautiful, exhausting and just amazing! You turn up at what appears to be an abandoned hotel, you’re given a mask and you have three hours to see as much of Punchdrunk’s MacBeth-y masterpiece as possible. You can wonder up and down floors, explore pitch black rooms and even have exclusive interactive experiences with actors.

Tell us about your show.

pool (no water) is written by Mark Ravenhill. When you pick up the script there are no character descriptions, no stage directions and lines aren’t split up or assigned. Essentially we build the characters from the text, which is pretty exciting. It’s about a group of artists who struggle to get by while their one successful friend lives it up in L.A. They go out and visit her but there’s a hideous skinny-dipping accident and they end up doing some morally questionable things. It’s very human, sad and weirdly funny.

The Grads have been bringing shows to the Fringe for years. The company was founded by a group of Edinburgh University alumni in 1954 who were former members of the Drama Society. Since then, they’ve provided a great base for people to come together, create shows and have a blast doing it. I’ve been working with them for a couple of years now.

The show will just be on for the first week of the Fringe – so catch it while you can!

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

Ooooh, first up – Are we not drawn onward to new erA by Ontroerend Goed. I saw their show LIES a couple of years ago and it was truly wonderful – I got super into it. I’m really excited to see their latest work.

Another show I’d recommend is Bull by Arbery Productions. It’s a fab play and they are a really innovative company.

Finally, for something truly different and a little scary, Coma by Darkfield. I saw both Seance and Flight and both were amazing immersive experiences.

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+3 Interview: Backbone

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“I love the city and the atmosphere and can’t wait to be back.”

WHO: Lachlan Binns: Acrobat

WHAT: “A high-octane spree of physical virtuosity, Backbone tests the limits of strength: physical, emotional, individual and collective. Staged with a deceptively DIY aesthetic and dispensing of trickery and distraction, this is circus that goes straight for the jugular and leaves no viewer unmoved. Backbone is the culmination of all that’s gone before: a celebration of human connectedness and the meaning of strength, its athletic appeal is run through with a conceptual brilliance that elevates it to a new level. Sexy, sincere, raw yet disciplined, Backbone is proof you can’t do the impossible without spending a little sweat.”

WHERE: Underbelly, Bristo Square – McEwan Hall (Venue 302) 

WHEN: 17:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is the first time Backbone will be performed at Edinburgh but I have performed in our last show A Simple Space in Edinburgh 3 times before. Audiences have loved our past performances and we have been waiting for a few years to bring our new show BACKBONE to the festival. It is such a great way for so many people to see our work and it is always one of the highlights of our year. My experience with the city and festival have always been incredibly fun. I love the city and the atmosphere and can’t wait to be back.

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

Our company Gravity & Other Myths has created yet another show! We now have a huge group of acrobats and musicians that we work with. This means training with new artists, creating bigger and better skills and performing in even more places around the world.

Tell us about your show.

Backbone is produced by Gravity & Other Myths (GOM), it was directed by Darcy grant and devised by the whole ensemble of acrobats and musicians. In GOM one person doesn’t really write the show. We create the whole thing together with everyone contributing in different ways, through overall direction, composing and performing music or choreographing physical scenes. This means that the show is a reflection of every creative involved. It is a collection of images and stories that we have woven together to make the whole work.

Backbone is about strength. It is about the strength of an Individual or the strength of a group. It is about vulnerability and caring for each other. It is about carrying weight or supporting each other. It is about the strength of responsibility and trust. There is no narrative but a collection of powerful images and scenes that audiences can respond and relate to in their own way. It is spectacular acrobatics mixed with humour and joy.

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

There is so much amazing Australian Circus at this year’s festival. We may be biased but we really believe there is something special happening in the companies back home. For something small and sweet see You & I by Casus. If you want something bigger Humans by Circa is great. Bromance by BMT opened in 2013 at the first Fringe festival I attended, their show is clever, and they are incredible acrobats. Come along to Backbone and say hi after the show. We will be happy to chat and tell you all our favourites. The best thing to do is listen to the word on the street and make sure you see as much as possible. Time flies in this crazy month.

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+3 Interview: Said and Done

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“We also love coming up to Edinburgh as punters because we blooming love theatre!”

WHO: Lily London: Co-director & performer

WHAT: “Two women sit at a wedding. The Prosecco is free-flowing, emotions are running high and everything is dangerously overspilling in this sharply observed comedy about love, hate and all that lies in between. Throughout the night the women explore friendship, family relations, maternal ties, sibling rivalries and ex-boyfriends. Opening up old wounds and creating new scars in this ode to a quarter-life crisis! Both hilarious and harrowing, featuring original music, funky dance moves and just the right amount of cheesy pop Said and Done is a snapshot into the lives of two women who are too close.”

WHERE: Sweet Novotel – Novotel 1 (Venue 188) 

WHEN: 20:45 (55 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

No, we’ve all been up to Edinburgh Fringe Festival before but with other companies. I came up with This Is Soap by Closer Each Day in 2017. Alice was here in 2016 with Spill: A Verbatim Show About Sex with Propolis Theatre. And our producer, Emma, came up with The Hours Before We Wake by Tremolo Theatre. This year we are very excited to be bringing up our very first show with our very own company, Sugarscratch Theatre. We also love coming up to Edinburgh as punters because we blooming love theatre!

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

We both went to a lot of weddings and drank a lot of prosecco, believe it or not. All for research, obviously!

Tell us about your show.

Said And Done is set at a wedding party. Two twenty-something women are watching and commenting on all the rituals and conventions of a wedding. They people the stage using role play and game playing, so that we gradually learn all about the other guests, their dysfunctional families and their friends. They comment on everyone and everything with refreshing honesty and cutting humour, all the while dancing to cheesy pop and drinking copious amounts of prosecco. There is confetti too.

Alice and I went to drama school in London and when we got back to the thriving theatre scene in Bristol we both decided we’d like to set up our own company. Alice had started writing some dialogue (she had a vision of a woman dancing alone to Cher) then she showed it to me and we gathered together some other theatre makers together and devised the show over a period of time. It was a very collaborative process, that’s why no one gets the writing credit.

The producer at the moment is Emma (Tremolo Theatre) but before then we were supported by a Tobacco Factory producer called Vic Hole.

The show was previewed at The Wardrobe Theatre and then we took it to The BikeShed in Exeter (now closed) and Old Joint Stock in Birmingham.

After the festival we are hoping to do a Spring 2020 tour culminating in taking it to London. The ideal venue is Soho Theatre, so watch this space!

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

Definitely go and see Sh!t Theatre Drink Rum With Expats at Summerhall. Their theatre company is also two powerful women making amazing theatre and we love their work. We will be supporting our fellow Bristolians, The Wardrobe Ensemble, who are bringing their new show, The Last Of The Pelican Daughters, to The Pleasance Beyond. They are our friends and contemporaries who also started out with us at The Bristol Old Vic Young Company. And finally, go and see The Guilty Feminist at The Pleasance Courtyard. I was very excited to meet Deborah Frances-White at a party and she was very encouraging about our show. She was the one to suggest we take SAID AND DONE to Sweet Venues as she thought it would fit in well there.

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