“I’ve learned to keep banging on the door of opportunity until someone says yes!”
WHO: Kate Coulson
WHAT: “Just a game? An Amazon All or Nothing documentary – but without the sponsorship money. Or men. Goalkeeper Marnie juggles a second job, Twitter trolls and a Premier League striker boyfriend over the course of a WSL Championship season. Navigating periods, penalties and pressure, and with her team battling relegation, can the newly-appointed captain save them – and her career – from the drop? A one-woman comedy drama exploring confidence, fan culture and the footballing gender pay gap. Think Dear England meets Derry Girls – with hefty sprinkles of North London grit, heart and attitude.”
WHERE: Clover Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court (Venue 16)
WHEN: 12:40 (45 min)
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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
As a company, yes! But we have all been up separately. My director, Madison Cole & producer Zoe Mavrides were up last year working on a different show. I was last here as a performer ten years ago, as a baby-faced seventeen-year-old who couldn’t believe the magic of watching absolutely anything – from improvised Shakespeare at 10 am to a show where you got free biscuits! We were lucky enough to perform our sixth form play in the last week of the festival – a sixties version of Romeo & Juliet. I’ve swapped red lipstick and hairspray for football shirts and shin pads, but the starry-eyed excitement is still very much there. There really is nowhere else like it; I can’t wait to be back.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2024 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
A huge lesson for me is that asking for help is an essential part of the creative process. Sounds obvious, but writing can be a pretty solo activity – just me, my laptop and endless mugs of coffee – especially when you’re then the only cast member. We performed a short WIP run last December, with the audience filling out feedback forms detailing what they thought worked and what they didn’t. These genuine reactions became the building blocks of our next draft, which has been fundamental in shaping the show from then to now. In general, people always want to help and support if they can – whether it’s answering questions, reading drafts or buying tickets to see the final product – so don’t be scared to ask. I’ve learned to keep banging on the door of opportunity until someone says yes!
Tell us about your show.
Lioness is a comedy drama exploring confidence, fan culture and the gender pay gap in football. It is the second show produced by Made You Look Productions, a company I co-founded three years ago with the goal of telling untold and unconventional women’s stories. Our debut show was burlesque comedy two-hander All That Glitters at Camden Fringe 2023. Wildly different setting, but same core values of female new writing.
Our producer, Zoe, has been part of the project since the start. We met back in 2019, working at a Father Christmas grotto – nothing bonds you together more than twelve-hour shifts dressed as elves! Also, producing for her own company was a no-brainer. Madison came on board in 2023 when we both applied to a new writing scratch night with missing team members. The organisers matched us up as a director and writer/performer, and it went from there – a creative’s Tinder! These ten-minute scratch showings were the foundation for the show’s structure, themes and voice. The night in the bar at Theatre Royal Stratford East stands out back in November 2023, as it was the first time we thought “we might actually have a show here!”
Fast forward a year, and we were performing our WIP run. Six months on from there, we are now full steam ahead for the Fringe. After that – who knows? We’d love to tour or perform a run in a London venue. We want to get football fans into the theatre – wherever they are!
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
My fabulous friend Alexis is performing their solo show A Stan Is Born at Gilded Balloon. It’s a queer musical with original songs inspired by the iconic divas – Mariah, Whitney, Beyonce and so many more. I’ve seen it a couple of times in previous runs and cackled every night! Another solo show I’m excited to see is Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x). Jasmine Fisher-Ryner makes tackling the myth of meritocracy while executing the perfect bouncy blow-dry look easy – and she rocks a football shirt! There are so many brilliant female-led plays at the fringe this year, especially at Greenside. Hedge Maze Theatre’s Disco 2000 explores how a childhood friendship evolves in a sparky two-hander – and it’s at Riddles Court in the slot before Lioness, so perfect timing!
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