“My producer, Julia and I, met at a scratch night at the Pleasance in 2024, reconnected at the Fringe in 2024 over one too many cocktails, and vowed to work together on this show.”
WHO: Eleanor Shaw
WHAT: “Bennie really puts the ghost in ghostwriter. She writes suicide notes for a living. It’s soul-purging work, and her record of seeing people through to the bitter end is less than perfect. After a difficult meeting with HR (Death), she’s assigned a challenge to prove herself and keep her place in the Office. But she’s landed an impossible client: beloved chef and TV presenter Anthony Bourdain. Bennie is torn, but Chef has unlocked a secret to the universe and can’t live to keep it. And if Bennie doesn’t see this one out, she’s going Downstairs.”
WHERE: Playground 2 at ZOO Playground (Venue 186)
WHEN: On Demand (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
Hilariously, my first experience at the Fringe was as a green, wide-eyed student in 2013 where I was singing as part of an all-female a cappella choir (alto-bass, if you must know.) I was back up there as a punter in 2019 and 2024. In 2019, I was not myself a theatre-maker, a bit at sea, dipping into random shows that caught my fancy. In 2024, I was connected to a whole constellation of clowns and comics and certified freaks in small rooms, and felt confident to see what was good, what was weird, what was ground-breaking, what my friends were making.
It’s trite to say, but there’s nowhere else like it in the world. It’s like theatre camp on acid. You trauma bond, make friends for life in a courtyard, see strangers’ genitalia – it’s the most chaotic, beautiful ordeal of theatre and art in the world.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2024 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
I wrote it and am performing in medium dead. My producer, Julia and I, met at a scratch night at the Pleasance in 2024, reconnected at the Fringe in 2024 over one too many cocktails, and vowed to work together on this show. Ellie BW directed a show called ‘Goblin’ that I saw at a scratch night and became completely obsessed with. I followed its development at various WIPs – I feared creator Derek would take out a restraining order against me. Ellie and I met briefly at the Assembly bar (where else?), and I shot my shot in the DMs, and the rest is history.
With that in mind, Edinburgh is the piece’s debut, and I have learnt a lot. We’ve had a handful of previews but will unleash the full monster at the Fringe.
Tell us about your show.
Bennie really puts the ghost in ghostwriter. She writes suicide notes for a living. It’s soul-purging work, and her record of seeing people through to the bitter end is less than perfect. After a difficult meeting with HR (Death), she’s assigned a challenge to prove herself and keep her place in the Office.
But she’s landed an impossible client: beloved chef and TV presenter Anthony Bourdain. Bennie is torn, but Chef has unlocked a secret to the universe and can’t live to keep it. And if Bennie doesn’t see this one out, she’s going Downstairs.
We’ll take it wherever you want it to go. I want to share it with a US audience because of their unrivalled intimacy to Bourdain and learn from that; in the UK, people either know him and love him, or barely know him at all. I feel like I’m spreading the Gospel of Anthony Bourdain in the UK, which is an immense pressure, but sort of the reason I’m doing it.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
Goblin by Derek Scott Mitchell – it’s hysterically funny, very dark, and taps into a fearful mid-00s emo nostalgia masterfully. Derek is gifted.
Mercurial by Rosaleen Cox at Shedinburgh. You have one night only to catch it. She is THE next big thing.
Lady Bolognese. Completely unhinged and hilarious. The next Mighty Boosh.
Louis, Lewis and the News. My best mate, handler, inspiration, rock, guru… surprisingly down to earth and very, very funny.
Failsafe – my producer has fantastic taste.
Bangtail by Lil Wenker – the rootinest tootinest clown in the West and all the land.
ROTUS from Leigh Douglas. The American Right Wing will never be as funny.
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