“The beanbags in our show are farcically big.”
WHO: William Johnston
WHAT: “What happens six months after your five minutes of fame? Cyrus and Ben are the first gay winners of TV’s biggest reality show. They’re 22, have thousands of followers, but now spend most of their days making sponsored content about dog food, and fronting campaigns about adult incontinence. When they’re offered an influencing deal in Dubai, the couple must decide how far they’ll go to cling to celebrity… and at what cost. A smash-hit satire by multi award-winning comedy writers for Netflix and BBC Television. ‘Fantastic play… had me howling with laughter’ (BroadwayWorld.com), from BAFTA-winning Unusual Productions.”
WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – Baby Grand (Venue 33)
WHEN: 12:45 (60 min)
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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
This is my first time at Edinburgh Fringe. From what I’ve heard it’s pretty straight forward? You just go up there with a show, it has a sold-out run, you make a tidy profit while simultaneously receiving glistening reviews, you make friends for life, form core, joyous memories, and maybe even meet the life partner of your dreams, then soon after comes the storm of industry buzz around your show, usually resulting in a major television network commissioning you two full series, that when they air, quickly become the perfect balance of cult classic and commercial success. I think that’s how it goes. I mean, we’d settle with the one series.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
We were incredibly fortunate to have our play (Love’s a Beach, Pleasance Baby Grand, @ 12:45pm, shameless promotion, sorry) performed at Soho Theatre as part of their “Rising” programme. It was an incredible experience and a dream for us all. And we learned so much from it too, namely, the beanbags in our show are farcically big and a plague to carry on the Northen line at rush hour. A lesson which maybe didn’t sink in quite as we hoped, as we will be on the 8am Lumo train to Edinburgh in two weeks time, with said oversized beanbags on our laps for five hours.
Tell us about your show.
Katie Sayer and myself co-wrote the play, after seeing an article about an ex Love Island contestant cutting the ribbon on a kebab shop in Coventry. It screamed two things to us: 1) an opportunity to write a satirical play about our influencer culture, and 2) we should go on a night out in Coventry and try the kebab. We are thrilled to be being produced by the incredible Unusual Productions. And for future performances post-Fringe, as long as we can get the beanbags there, we’ll put on a show for you.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
First, you should go and see SORRY (I BROKE YOUR ARMS AND LEGS), at Bunker Three, the character comedy show by James Akka, one of the co-leads of Love’s a Beach. The play is about a school boy and his merciless climb up the school ranks, to the coveted position of Head Boy. We went to see a workshop of the play earlier this year and cannot wait to see the full hour.
A viewing of that should swiftly be followed by a trip to DANISH Ed Fringe, our roomies for the month of Fringe! They have four incredible shows going up, but I’m most excited by Mass Effect. It’s a show of movement and passion, and something different to sink the teeth into at Fringe.
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