Tag Archives: Greenside @ Infirmary Street (Venue 236)

+3 Interview: Cursed

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

“The festival is buzzing with energy and I can’t wait to meet some of you in the street while flyering, come say hello if you see me!”

WHO: Mila G. Lawlor, Stage Manager

WHAT: “Divine punishment. Guilt. Bloodshed. The story of the House of Atreus is the most haunting of Greek mythology. Meet a family descended from the Gods, where the borders between cruelty and desire, loyalty and betrayal are painfully blurred. In this newly written and bold adaptation, their story is revived. It is now your turn to take action. From Agamemnon to Orestes, the family’s fate is in your hands. Coming fresh from London and making their Fringe debut, The Samurai! Company promises you a disquieting journey through the depths of human nature.”

WHERE:  Greenside @ Infirmary Street (Venue 236)

WHEN: 20:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes, it is my first time! And the first time of the company as well! Most of us have dreamt of coming to the Fringe for a while and we’re really excited about being here together and performing! The festival is buzzing with energy and I can’t wait to meet some of you in the street while flyering, come say hello if you see me!

Tell us about your show.

‘Cursed’ is a modern adaptation of Aeschylus’s Oresteia -a greek family tragedy- re-written by our director and other friends. It is immersive and the storyline changes depending on the audience’s decision. To me the play is especially relevant in terms of how subjective justice is and how people make different choices depending on a large number of factors: mood, ethic, education, etc.

We are producing the show with The Samurai! Company. Once the director had her idea, she invited all those who wanted to come join her to create the show. Meaning: no audition process, a large group of enthusiastic people, coming from all walks of life, and from very international backgrounds! With the director’s hardwork and patience, we created an amazing show out of this challenging experiment, and she made all the actors improve incredibly in no time!

The production premiered in May at Goldsmiths University and received a warm welcome from our audience! With exciting and unexpected reactions as well!
As for whether we’re taking it further, we’re hoping to the moon and back! No, seriously, we won’t take this show further but we hope to take another one to the Fringe again next year!

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

Oh well, a comedy for a change! You might need it!

And, definitely come and see our fellow Greensiders! Otherwise, maybe go and see another more modern family drama to see how relevant our play is!…… Or, just come see the show again, perhaps to check out an alternative ending!

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+3 Interview: Over the Garden Fence

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

“We love to perform in both theatrical and non-theatrical settings and hope to continue to do so, the Edinburgh Fringe is amazing platform for us to reach new audiences.”

WHO: Hayley Riley, Co-writer/perfomer

WHAT: “Over the Garden Fence follows the story of Annabelle and her gran Dolly. Annabelle and the audience are taken on a nostalgic journey through Gran’s life, sharing memories of happiness, sorrow and joy. It is a fast-paced, uplifting and comical exploration into family, life and relationships. The stories within the play are based on personal experiences. The play engages audiences in the discussion of not only dementia, but family life as well: including the ups and downs, the highs and lows and everything in-between.”

WHERE: Greenside @ Infirmary Street (Venue 236)

WHEN: 19:45 (55 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes we are Edinburgh Fringe Festival novices, this is our very first time and we still have so much to do, hand out fliers, plan our route, and master setting up and down in under five minutes, not an easy feat when you have two fences, a suitcase, a rug, a china tea set, 14 books, numerous photographs, Christmas crackers, a turkey tray, various hats and scarfs, three pairs of glasses and a banana!

Tell us about your show.

A runaway turkey, gossiping neighbours, uncovered memories. A fast-paced, uplifting and emotional roller-coaster ride on the topic of dementia. The play follows Annabelle and her Grandmother Dolly on a beautiful nostalgic journey through Grans past, her treasured memories re-discovered and shared. ‘Over the Garden Fence’ co-written and performed by Hayley and Louise of Haylo Theatre is about life, family and love. Join these two women who will have you laughing one minute and crying the next.

It’s January 2013. Louise picks Hayley up from the station; a routine played out daily. It’s raining. A girl walks past them. Her green coat and the squeaky window wipers spark a conversation; a conversation about days gone by and a memory we thought we had forgotten; a memory insignificant to the girl in the green coat and the other wet commuters passing by, but in that car in that moment, that memory opened up a new chapter of our lives. We were going to find a way to share our memories and create stories not easily forgotten. Enter Haylo Theatre.

We wanted to create theatre that others would watch and see something they recognise of themselves or their own lives. Our characters and their stories in ‘Over the Garden Fence’ are an amalgamation of our own grandparents and some of their stories. With ‘Over the Garden Fence’ we wanted to help combat the stigma some people still feel by giving dementia a human face.

– Where have we been and where are we going?

We have been touring Over the Garden Fence for around three years. We have performed for various organisations, including:

Age UK, The Christie, Alzheimer’s Society, Dementia Action Alliance, E.D.U.C.A.T.E., Francis House, St Augustinian Care and Hospice UK, Dementia Congress, Worcestershire Palliative Care Conference, Hospice Enabled Dementia Care conference and the International Alzheimer’s Conference, Budapest.

We love to perform in both theatrical and non-theatrical settings and hope to continue to do so, the Edinburgh Fringe is amazing platform for us to reach new audiences.

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

Go and see Skimstone Arts The Ties that Bind a combination of performance, original sound and potent visuals. It was commissioned by Edinburgh University and based on their latest research along with stories collected from people living with dementia. This show challenges our perceptions of dementia, which is something we hugely support and are passionate about!

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+3 Interview: Cold Fronts and Hot Flushes: The Short Stories of Kevin Spacey

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

“Both of our cast members are completely new to Edinburgh as well, which will hopefully be a fantastic experience for them.”

WHO: Qasim Salam, Producer

WHAT: “A ghostwriter and his best friend work tirelessly to create the greatest book ever written. A book of short stories about love, religion, friendship and spiders. Except, they didn’t write a single word. Kevin Spacey wrote it. Kevin Spacey wrote everything.”

WHERE:  Greenside @ Infirmary Street (Venue 236)

WHEN: Varies (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is Buttered Toast’s Fringe debut which is ridiculously exciting (and totally unexpected) considering we didn’t even exist this time last year. Both of our cast members are completely new to Edinburgh as well, which will hopefully be a fantastic experience for them.

Our directors are members of the Durham Revue sketch troupe so have a couple Fringes under their belt, whilst I’ve been hooked on Fringe since I first went in 2013 and haven’t missed one since doing a bunch of different things! It is my first time producing a Fringe show though, so that’s been a completely different build up to the Festival. I’ll actually be relieved to get there!

Tell us about your show.

Cold Fronts and Hot Flushes is the brainchild of Durham Revue regular and resident comedic powerhouse Andrew Shires. The storytelling comedy premiered at the Durham Drama Festival, where it took home 4 awards after a sell-out run. The play follows a ghostwriter as he takes on his greatest challenge yet: to write a book of short stories commissioned by Kevin Spacey. However, once his flatmate finds out, they both get sidetracked by the fantastical tales, and the play goes from quirky to utterly bizarre as they embark on a journey through the creative mind of Mr. Spacey, featuring the second coming of Jesus, friendly spiders and a porn-obsessed rural women’s association.

Buttered Toast produce the show, and were formed last November to provide a practice platform for aspiring young writers in the North East. We hold regular showcases in a speakeasy bar and arts space in Durham, which feature short new plays and extracts from longer pieces, as well as a mixture of stand up, sketch, music and spoken word.

We like to work with writers over a longer period of time, giving them the time, space and facilities to hone and practice their work. We also have a very relaxed atmosphere, and keeping a touch of silliness and fun with everything we do is important to us – which is why Cold Fronts and Hot Flushes is such a great debut show for us!

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

Ooooh there are oh so many! As a clown, I would definitely head straight over to the big guns Sam Simmons and Trygve Wakenshaw if you haven’t seen them already. Zach and Viggo are a brilliant clown duo who also both have their own one man shows, Tom Walker is fab too, and I am particularly excited about Laid by Natalie Palamides which is directed by the legendary Doctor Brown.

Our pals the Pretend Men do some great silly stuff, and now they are set IN SPACE. For sketch I’d say look no further than Aunty Donna, the Australian madmen, or Gein’s Family Giftshop. Sorry that’s quite a few, I could keep going but I’ll stop there for everyone’s sanity!

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