Are You Really Being Dramaturged? With Steve McLean @ Edfringe 2016

What's in your shopping basket? Probably not the same as what's in Steve's. 

Some things can be just too cheap – would you really pay a tenner for laser surgery? Join Steve as he delves into the deepest darkest regions of the supermarket shelves… 

Exploring both the high-end and the cut-price retail markets, featuring props, jokes and maybe songs. Pro-consumerists of the world unite with the anti-capitalists.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

I'm fascinated by consumerism and the way we buy our products. There are many aspects of shopping that are illogical and it also why it's accepted that certain items should be cheap and others expensive. I often hear complaints about the price of sweets and treats but we would dream of paying a tenner for laser eye surgery.  Yet the both items affect our bodies. 

How did you go about gathering the team for it?

This is more or less a one man show. The only help I've had was designing to poster (which was created by notable musician Darren Hayman). I've work shopped some of the script with other acts but mostly there's no team in I... 

How did you become interested in making performance?

I think this ties in nicely with the theme of the show, I've always seen the world as producers and consumers. I've always wanted to be a producer. It's built from that. 

Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance?

While my show is now mostly scripted, it has all happened organically. One of the reasons why I don't think it's pure stand up as I spend very little time musing over words. I take half baked ideas and same them out loud at scratch nights and then say them again and again until structure forms with joke or a point. 

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

I hope they enjoy it. I hope they find their own meaning too. I leave the meaning hanging, so many shows hammer home what they are about, but I think it's healthy for a show to be interpreted by the viewing. 

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

I think each show should be different, there's an element of improv at the start that I have no intention of scripting, I think for better or worse that should affect the mood of the show. 

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?

It's closer to stand-up but the joke rate isn't really there for the traditional stand up (20 second rule doesn't apply) but there's also an element presentation or lecture albeit with a very animated delivery.