“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we intend to relish and enjoy every single moment.”
WHO: Deborah Edgington
WHAT: “At 69, Alice wonders: if she hadn’t been expelled from convent school and had sex with Keith from the sausage rolls section, what might her life have been? Will Alice shake off the shackles of the patriarchy and live out the rest of her days with outrageous abandon? Find out in this rip-roaring feminist comedy, created by three women over 60.”
WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker One (Venue 33)
WHEN: 14:15 (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
It’s going to be a very different experience. For a start I am older! I never ever expected to be making my Edinburgh debut at my time of my life! None of The Lady Gardeners did. We are a theatre company of three women all over 60 making our Edinburgh Fringe debut with our feminist comedy ‘In the Lady Garden’. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we intend to relish and enjoy every single moment. We are tremendously excited about welcoming audiences to our show, seeing lots of other shows and catching up with old friends and making new ones.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
The biggest thing I have learned is that it is okay to change your mind. Until the end of last year, I assumed the time to take a show to Edinburgh had long passed me by. I wasn’t sure I’d have the energy for starters. As a punter, I have seen thousands of artists vying for a spot on the Royal Mile using every outlandish marketing stunt possible (nothing was off limits), pounding the streets and popping into every bar giving out flyers in the hope of getting an audience. It’s exhausting just thinking about it, notwithstanding all the hilly streets you have to climb in Edinburgh. But all these initial concerns disappeared when our show, to our surprise, was selected as one of the seven Edinburgh National Partnership shows. Knowing we have the support of the Pleasance and Theatre Royal Plymouth has renewed my energy and vigour. The Lady Gardeners are ready to take on the madness and excitement of everything the Fringe encapsulates – even the hilly streets! We can’t wait.
Tell us about your show.
‘In the Lady Garden’ is presented by The Lady Gardeners – writer Babs Horton, director me, Deborah Edgington, and performer Julia Faulkner. The play centres on Alice, who at the age of 69, wonders what her life might have been if she hadn’t been expelled from convent schools and had sex with Keith from the sausage rolls section. Will Alice shake off the shackles of the patriarchy and live out the rest of her life with outrageous abandon? Come and find out! We will be performing at Bunker One at the Pleasance Courtyard between 31 July and 26 August.
We first discussed bringing the play to the stage in 2021. Eighteen months later it had a short run in The Lab at Theatre Royal Plymouth, which sold out immediately and received great feedback. We are therefore extremely thrilled to have the support again from the Theatre Royal Plymouth, and on this occasion, the Pleasance too, as we make our Edinburgh debut. The script has been tweaked a bit since our original production and now, two years later, we are raring to put it in front of new audiences in the Scottish capital. We would love to tour the show afterwards and have already had a few enquiries from programmers, so we’ll see what happens next.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
There are so many interesting and fabulous sounding shows coming to Edinburgh, it is really hard to choose. But if audiences enjoy ‘In the Lady Garden’ then they will probably enjoy Miriam Margolyes’ show and vice versa. Babs’ daughter, Laura, also has a show on at Summerhall called Lynn Faces, which sounds great and a friend of mine is directing The Cambridge Impronauts at the Gilded Balloon and another friend is directing Macbeth and Treasure Island, both on at The Space. The Lady Gardeners are really looking forward to seeing lots of different shows of all genres during our stay in Edinburgh and soaking up the atmosphere.
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