Club Dramaturgy: Ruaraidh Murray@ Edfringe 2016

Ruaraidh Murray and Something for the Weekend proudly present:

THE CLUB

A new dark comedy play written by Edinburgh born Ruaraidh Murray.

Venue: GildedBalloon – Billiard Room

Time: 5.00pm (runs 60 minutes)

Dates: 6^th – 29^th August

Previews: 3^rd - 5^th August

Ruaraidh Murray, the Edinburgh born writer and creator of the critically acclaimed theatre shows ‘Big Sean, Mikey and Me’, ‘Boxman’, ‘Bath Time’ and ‘Allie’ returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for a fifth consecutive year with a new two-hander play, ‘The Club.’ This dark comedy has been written by Ruaraidh and stars both Ruaraidh and David Brody, and has its worldwide premiere at the Gilded Balloon.

THE CLUB Trailer - Edfringe 2016 from Ruaraidh Murray on Vimeo.

Phoenix Nights meets The Sopranos. One night in London’s legendary 90s club The Tardis. If you were there you wouldn't remember anyway…George is facing closure unless he pays the mother of all rent demands. Fortunately, The Tardis is having THE party of the year tonight. Only problem is, George is also due money to feared gangster Dave Sharky, who’ll stop at nothing to crash the party and take the club for himself.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

The inspiration for my new play The Club comes from London’s Legendary 90s club, The Tardis.  The Club is set on one night in The Tardis...think Phoenix Nights meets the Sopranos.

How did you go about gathering the team for it?

The process of gathering the team for The Club came about firstly, when I was lucky enough to have producer Suzanna Rosenthal come and see my play Allie at last years Edfringe. Suzanna said she’d love to work on my new play! 

I met the actor I’m working with, Mark Farrelly, when we were both performing at the Gilded Balloon in 2014. The director Joe Harmston was introduced to me through Suzanna and coincidentally has worked with Mark on numerous occasions. In the words on Hannibal from the A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together."

How did you become interested in making performance?

I became interested in making performance when I started writing my own dark comedy solo shows and plays by accident as I wasn’t getting the acting work I wanted.

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

My process of making a performance is different every time. 

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

I hope my audience will experience the wetting of their pants and maybe shed a little tear when they see The Club. If so, I’ve done my job.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

 I did not consider strategies towards shaping an audience experience. Strategies are for wankers! So are audience experiences!

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?

I see my work within the ancient Egyptian tradition of sex, drugs and total dickheadery. Come and see the The Club and you’ll see.

Ruaraidh studied acting at the Oxford School of Drama and was a member of the Royal Court and Traverse Theatre's young writers groups. Film and TV acting credits include: Borgia (Netflix), Bob Servant (BBC Brian Cox comedy), and Simon Baker’s award winning feature film Night Bus (BFI London Film Festival 2014). Ruaraidh is about to star in Simon Baker’s new feature film 90 Minutes. Theatre credits include: the 10-year stage revival of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting (No.1 UK Tour). His screenplay for ‘Big Sean, Mikey and Me’ was long listed for BBC Films Screenplay First Award. Boxman was awarded funding from Dame Diana Rigg and he’s now adapting it into a feature film script with director Natalia Andreadis and Dame Diana Rigg attached. Boxman recently played to sell-out audiences at Vault Festival 2016 in London and at Under St. Mark’s Theatre in New York.

DavidBrody is an Edinburgh born, actor and singer, a multi-talented performer and mimic. He made a name for himself as one of Scotland’s most prominent and successful voiceover artistes and has worked with Irvine Welsh and Nick Hornby. His theatre credits include playing Louden Downey in the acclaimed production of A Few Good Men at the Kenneth More Theatre, Ilford. He is also widely regarded as one of the UK’s finest Big Band/Swing singers taking himself across the world performing and has held residencies at both, Kabaret London and Floridita Soho. He has performed extensively as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in many different Rat Pack productions in the UK and worldwide and has also performed alongside the legendary Tony Christie.