“We’re not only actors but also producers, marketeers, writers, translators, designers, proof readers, costume designers, pencilpushers (a term from the play) and roadies.”
WHO: Louise
WHAT: “Following five-star success with Miss Julie (*****, ThreeWeeks) and The Nine Lives of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (*****, CafeBabel.com), the veterans are back with a perfect lockdown party. Picture an ancient couple, beached in life and marooned in some isolated spot, inviting many imaginary guests. Sometimes life is more absurd than fiction. ‘Brilliant new version of Eugene Ionesco’s surreal, funny and moving mini-masterpiece with rhyming rhythms and sizzling dialogue’ (Scotsman). ‘A pot-pourri of word-plays, slapstick and physical comedy. Well-paced theatre and highly entertaining. A wee bit like Waiting for Godot meets The Marx Brothers’ ***** (Herald).”
WHERE: Gilded Balloon Patter House – Other Yin (Venue 24)
WHEN: 10:30 (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
This will be our 15th time at the the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Over the years this Festival has grown and grown and grown and grown and exploded all over town to as far as Leith in the north and the Meadows in the south. In 1996 we were invited by Ricky Demarco and the Demarco European Art Foundation to perform the Chairs in his St. Mary’s School building in Albany Street in Edinburgh’s NewTown. There were other theatre groups from Eastern Europe and in the front of the building was an art exhibition with new work by Jimmy Boyle. We probably fitted into his
Eastern Europe programme because Eugene Ionesco is from Romania. The next year our Director
Andrew Dallmeyer got us into The Assembly Rooms on George Street in a long and narrow room
with crystal chandeliers on a tiny high stage where you could easily fall off. Of course we haven’t
been every year but pretty regularly though. Producing and writing takes a lot of time and research especially if you wear all the hats. We’re a small company but we have performed in all the big venues. New and existing plays, we’ve brought it all to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We’re not only actors but also producers, marketeers, writers, translators, designers, proof readers, costume designers, pencilpushers (a term from the play) and roadies. It is great to see how much people can enjoy the imagination that is inherent to theatre. It is an event of communication in which the experience of imagery is shared with others. The Festival is great to discover new talent, to see such a variety of performers and the city is buzzing with creative energy.
But to get them to your show…. You have to work hard get an audience in. They don’t come flying
in like that, especially when there is so much choice, so you REALLY have to work for it. It’s
always nice to run into people who say their friend urged them to come and see us. Word of mouth is the best publicity. We can’t complain, we’ve always had very decent audience numbers and even some groupies that check us out whenever we’re back.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
Since 2023 we learned that Absurd theatre is appreciated and recognized much more in this day and age than in the past. And we see a much wider range of people – young, old, comedians, and people who would never go to a theatre play – all craving to have an absurd experience that touches on the essence of life. Before the Covid pandemic absurdity in Western Europe was a term only used by dramaturgs or high brow theatre critics to describe incomprehensible niche plays. In Eastern Europe absurdity and black humour was part and parcel of daily life. A way to cope with the stark reality of daily life. A way to express yourself and talk about things that mattered. Since the pandemic however we have all been experiencing absurdity in our daily lives: rigorous rules that had to be obeyed turned out to be rules that changed every day. Experts on virus infections had more unanswered questions every day. Nothing was certain, everything was real and not real at the same time. Theatres were closed, technical operators found new work installing solar panels. People changed careers because of Covid, divorced or fell in love, lost friends and neighbours, bought dogs for company and suddenly realized what really mattered in life. Ionesco was a close friend of Samuel Beckett. They lived in Paris and were part of a group of European writer friends who, after the horrors of World War II, had a different look on life. They concentrated on the emptiness and absurdity we encounter in our lives. Now we recognize their take on the world.
Another thing learned since 2023 is that the importance of social media is nothing to be sniffed at. I never cared much for social media, but now really have to force myself to contribute to all the different platforms on behalf of the company. It’s a steep learning curve. This way to advertise and keep people informed, to me feels as an easy, lazy and ephemeral way to communicate and work yourself into the picture. Apparently it’s the thing to do so we have to adapt to that phenomenon and go with the flow. I still prefer language over emojis and the old-fashioned contact between real people over all that digital froth. Funnily enough on my rounds I meet a lot of people who re-appreciate the old legwork and real contact with someone who is involved in a show over the virtual deluge of information they are forced to swallow every day.
Tell us about your show.
Eugene Ionesco wrote The Chairs in 1952. He wrote many other plays like Rhinocéros. That play deals with the temptations of Fascism. A very bizarre play, probably because it is not realistic but at the same time a very striking a comparison with our own society. That is his strength and that is what we liked about The Chairs. A very old couple, living on a remote lighthouse island. One day the old man decides it is time to reveal his message to the world and invites all the great and the good to come and listen to his message to mankind. We hear the boat arriving, the doorbells – they have many front doors -we see the chairs they pull out from every nook and cranny but we don’t see any real guests. However we can imagine very well what they all look like and how they (mis)- behave.
After the pandemic we decided to take up this play again because it made so much sense all of a sudden. We call our new translation The Chairs Revisited because the same actors are coming back with the same play, after 28 years, to the same festival. During the Covid pandemic we all had to adapt to living in small bubbles. Just like that old couple in the play. Those restrictions led to apathy and depression for some of us and to revolt, protests and inventive actions for others. What can you do when all entertainment and all sportclubs shut down? You go for a walk in the woods. There we stumbled on secret meetings: friends gathering in the middle of nowhere far out on the moors, looking over their shoulders while carefully nipping at glasses, passing around a bottle of Gin. We passed grandparents and grandchildren sitting on a fallen tree the midst of the woods. With all the restaurants and theatres shut where else to go for fun and entertainment? Experts and politicians, that we looked up to, had to bring hope and clarity but in the end proved to be inexperienced weak humans like the rest of us. They did not know the answers to all our questions and misbehaved as much as the rest of us. All this and more (Greta Thunberg) you can find back in our new translation/adaptation of the play from 1952. We plan to bring it to other theatres after the Fringe and are working on a Dutch translation to be able to show it in Belgium and the Netherlands.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
Please go an see other theatre productions during this Festival. It is a small section in the Fringe guide but worth exploring. What about Myra’s Story. I keep running into people who were deeply moved by this play, a one woman show and I plan to see it this year now my schedule will not clash. Grandma ‘s shop sounds really interesting, a granddaughters investigation in the life of her own grandmother, new work and multi characters. Also in Gilded Balloon Patter House: The Steamie. It is a fantastic play done by a great team with music, funny and heart warming. And don’t forget the comedians: Jason Byrne, I saw him a couple of years ago, he never fails to surprise you with anarchy and fun. Michelle Brasier, saw her last year, she’s a powerhouse very inspiring, good connection with her audience and quick witted. And of course: the magician Caspar Thomas who combines self-deprecating humor with really clever tricks and a very good with his audience. Check out Anu Vaidyanathan. I met her last year, we were both flyering for our shows and found her already very funny off stage, this year our shows are not at the same time and I plan to go to her show at Gilded Balloon.
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