Sins Dramaturged: Lance Fuller @ Edfringe 2016

PL PRODUCTIONS present
American drama SINS BORNE explores race and relationships in Edinburgh Fringe premiere
 
Although racial strife has always existed in America it roared out of hiding during the Obama presidency which, as it nears its end, is seeing an even more terrifying possibility for the nation’s future. 

Sins Borne explores on an intimate level a father son relationship and the way in which racial prejudice is taught and harboured, not inherent, and that the complicated lives of struggling families can lead to unintended consequences.


JPL Productions is premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe 2016 the new American drama Sins Borne by California playwright Paul Braverman. JPL Productions was formed in order to create and bring this work of utmost relevance, in the waning days of the Obama presidency and amid the spectre of Donald Trump and those who support him, to this year’s festival.


Ever since EJ’s wife died, his only comfort has come in seclusion. Numbed to world events, he’s only vaguely aware of the racial strife raging outside his door. 

That comfort is shattered forever when his son Barry shows up, after many years on the run. Barry bears a gift that promises to redeem EJ, and the racist past he tried to escape, as well as change the world, but instead only shows how easily lies told can become sins borne.
What was the inspiration for this performance?
The presidential election and, more specifically, the winding down of the Obama presidency. Now that his presidency is ending and we’ve had 8 years of the ‘first black president’ we sort of take it for granted. 

I say ‘we’ meaning those who appreciate the man, his intellect, his nuance, how amazing his legacy will be both with and without the addition of being the first African American to hold the office. As part of his presidency it seems that racism has become an even more rife part of American culture. 

The divide between ideologies seems further apart, the consequences of being black in America seem even more pronounced and problematic, if not dangerous. Or perhaps what we’re seeing is what has always been there but it’s now more obvious and on the surface in part because of social media and in part because of what Obama represents to a section of the population.


How did you go about gathering the team for it? 
I, Lance Fuller, am an American based in the UK. I came here to attend the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and get my Masters in Acting. Before I moved here I worked in the San Francisco Bay Area as an actor. 

I worked with John Baldwin as a fellow actor and with Paul Braverman as a playwright. We were all connected by an amazing theatre company called The Pear Avenue Theatre company, affectionately shortened to The Pear. 

We were both friends and colleagues in California and though I haven’t lived there for several years we kept in touch. John was visiting Scotland, where I live, and brought up the notion of bringing a play to the fringe. We enlisted Paul as our playwright, had several discussions, and he wrote the play that we continue to revise.

How did you become interested in making performance?
I’ve been a performer since I was a child taking part in AmDram productions in my home town. It has been a part of my life nearly continuously since. I decided to make it my career back in 2009 and then in 2011 I decided to continue my training in the UK. I could add all sorts of thoughts like “I just feel so alive onstage” but it’s mostly that I love creating and playing out stories, living in a character. I’ve come to love creating pieces in collaboration with others. The Fringe is electric so I’m beyond excited to bring something to it and be a part of it.

Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance?
No this was a new way to make a performance. We discussed our themes, characters, stories over email and Skype. We’ve done read-throughs over Skype and have come up with a play and several revisions. That being said I’ve tried this before, working remotely. 

The most interesting version of it was a weekend experiment in which three theatre companies linked up via Google+. One in London, one in Brooklyn, and one in Oakland California. We devised a piece on one day, rehearsed it the next, then did a live performance that switched and interleaved our groups over video chat to create a unique piece. 

In our modern world you can create pieces, work, chat, see people remotely. In the end, though, we’ll rehearse in person and, of course, perform it live. In the end the live experience is part of what makes this experience so wonderful, interesting, dangerous, fun.

What do you hope that the audience will experience? 
Recognition, understanding. The power of storytelling and live theatre is in allowing the audience to experience a different perspective. In our case the extreme actions people take on behalf of false beliefs are rooted in the complex nature of human relationships.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?Immediacy. The small venues of the fringe make for a more visceral experience rather than the distance of a large auditorium and stage with proscenium. We’re drawing on very public, current events and trends in America which is under the watchful eyes of the world.

 
Listings Information
Sins Borne: V260 TheSpace @Jury’s Inn - 5-27 Aug (Sundays off) at 19:35 (50 mins)


For further information and press images please visit  Or contact Lance Fuller - 07845 551 308 / lancecfuller@gmail.com / Follow us on twitter: @sinsborne

About the Company
JPL Productions is a transatlantic company comprised of playwright Paul Braverman, actor John Baldwin, both of whom are based in the San Francisco, California area, and Lance Fuller, an American actor trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and living in the U.K. John, Paul, and Lance initially met while working together on productions at the Pear Avenue Theatre in Mountain View, California. They formed JPL to devise and create Sins Borne


DIRECTED BY: Michael-Alan Read
WRITTEN BY: Paul Braverman
CAST: John Baldwin as EJ
Lance Fuller as Barry

Dramaturgy In Utero: Judy Alfereti @ Edfringe 2016

Fonmanu Creative

In Utero

 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Surgeons Hall @theSpace, 5th August-27th August 2016

After receiving distressing news that their child will be born with an untreatable condition, Jenni and David descend into a pit of self-loathing, resent and guilt. 

Jumping between past and present, morals and motives are questioned as the pair desperately try to reclaim their happy ever after. Perfectly balancing comedy and tragedy, Fonmanu Creative presents an honest and frank look at love, loss and blame, in their debut Edinburgh Fringe show.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

In Utero is a development of a short play I wrote and produced last year, which was heavily based on my own experiences and decision to have an abortion. 

However, with In Utero, I didn’t want to focus on whether or not the couple will have a termination, but rather on how having some unexpected bad news can wreak havoc on your emotions, morals and rationality. I took the flurry of feelings- ranging from ecstasy to despair; hope to guilt- and applied it to a different (but similar-ish) situation. 

The characters are given the unfortunate news that their child will more than likely be born severely disabled, and I wanted to explore the affect this will have on a relationship, particularly when the couple have opposing views of what to do. Writing wise, I take a lot of inspiration from Dennis Kelly, Anthony Neilson and Zinnie Harris. I like how they can take a dark subject and make something beautiful and entertaining, whilst keeping it harrowing.

How did you go about gathering the team for it?

Luckily, the script is a two-hander, so I only had to cast for the male lead. Amir Tabrizi was my first choice. Having worked with him on several projects before, I know we have a strong chemistry, and gel very well together so can create a believable and turbulent couple. The challenging part of this project was sourcing a director. I am clueless about directing and creating something visually appealing, and finding someone who could recreate my vision whilst bringing in strong ideas of their own was difficult. 

After meeting with several directors, Mitch Tyre stood out as the one with ideas most like my own and so he joined the team. I’m very lucky to have friends who can operate the tech side and work the PR, and am eternally grateful that Craig and Kat were able to join us too.

How did you become interested in making performance?

As a struggling actress, this started off as a way to showcase my acting skills and hopefully generate future work, but it has developed into so much more. I want to tell my story, and to address any stigma attached to a woman’s right to choose.

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

When I get an idea in my head I tend to go full steam ahead with it, and that’s exactly what I did with this project. I had several sessions working on the script with my acting coach Mark Westbrook, who also gave me a lot of Fringe advice. I like to do things a certain way, I guess I’m a bit of a control freak, but if there’s anything I don’t know about then I outsource it or get advice from people who can do it. 

For example, I’m fairly clueless about lighting and the technical side of production, so I had to get people who knew what they’re doing. I just tell them very briefly (and not very technically) what I want and leave them to it.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

I want them to laugh, to cry, to get angry, to root for a character one scene then despise them the next. To feel hopeful that everything will work out ok in the end. I want them to constantly question the characters’ actions. I want the audience to realise that this is more common than they realise and to ask themselves honestly what they would do in this situation.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

The script jumps between before and after the couple receives the bad news, so in one scene they are all happy and excited and the next they are distant and struggling. By chopping and changing the time frame and the emotions, I’m hoping the audience will experience a whirlwind of confusion and will be constantly changing their minds on the characters. 

We’re hoping to integrate voice-overs featuring testimonies from people who have experienced this to demonstrate and really hit home just how common this situation is.

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?

I’m not too sure to be honest. I would say it’s a traditional theatre piece, with the focus being on the story and the characters. It’s a realistic piece, just trying to tell a semi-true story.

Producer: Judy Alfereti

Director: Mitch Tyre

Writer: Judy Alfereti

Cast: Judy Alfereti, Amir Tabrizi

Rosy Dramaturgy:Martin Foreman @ Edfringe 2016

Arbery Productions presents J B Priestley's rarely-seen The Rose and Crown. 

9.10pm, 22 - 27 August 2016

Venue 9 (theSpace on Niddry Street) 

In turns comic, moving and spine-chilling, a powerful one-act play by the author of An Inspector Calls and Time and the Conways. 

Post-war 1940s Britain is cold, rationed and bleak. In a London pub a group of drinkers are complaining about their lives when a stranger enters and makes an unusual request.

What was the inspiration for this performance?
I have always been a fan of Priestley. Although his work can seem
old-fashioned to modern eyes, it brings together many essential
elements of good theatre -  clear characterisation, social
awareness, tension. Add in the element of the supernatural which
comes into his best known works to strengthen the points he is
making. And in this play there is a definite comic element which
brings in the laughs in the first half

I discovered The Rose and Crown when looking for a one-act play
for the SCDA Festival earlier this year. It was one of the first
plays written specifically for television (we're talking 1947) and
although it has been put on the stage occasionally since then, few
people know it.  It was so rare that even Samuel French did not
have it and I had to track down a second-hand copy.


How did you go about gathering the team for it?
The original production was under the auspices of the Edinburgh
Graduate Theatre Group and the cast was drawn from their
membership. Unfortunately, EGTG were already committed to other Fringe performances this year which meant they could not put on The Rose and Crown. However, after the positive reactions we got in the SCDA One-Act Festival, the cast and crew wanted to reach a wider audience, so here we are . . .


How did you become interested in making performance?
I got into theatre late in life when I was living in London. I

took some part-time acting courses with the idea of being a radio
actor. (I like doing funny voices and, yes, I have a great face
for the wireless.) That led to roles in several fringe productions
and short films. In Edinburgh I still act occasionally and am
currently (June 2016) playing a role in Close to the Bone, a short
film commissioned by Creative Scotland for their Scottish Shorts
season. (Here's the nod to writer / director Kevin Pickering and
producer Lewis Wardrop.) On the whole, however, I prefer
directing.

The more I acted the more I noticed differences between directors.
Some were more interested in blocking than character; some were
collaborative and others dictatorial. The one who influenced me
most - partly because of her talent and partly because she
directed three one-(wo)man plays that I had written - was Emma
King-Farlow of Shadow Road Productions. Her focus on the meaning
and dynamic of the text and how that creates energy and movement
on stage helped me when I started directing.


Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance?
Yes, given my limited experience in that this was only the fourth
play I have directed and the first with a cast of more than one.
Before I start, I have a rough idea in my head of the emotional
dynamics of the play and the action. I try that out with the cast.
As rehearsals progress, the depths of the play begin to emerge
(that's a mixed metaphor, but you know what I mean). I usually
find myself surprised at the end result because it is so much
stronger and clearer than the vague idea I had at the beginning.

At least once in each rehearsal I ask the cast and the assistant
director what they think about what we're doing. I've heard
rumours that some cast members like my approach of regular
consultation  while others want me to be more decisive. The fact
is, I am decisive, but I make my decision after hearing from
actors whether a particular speech or blocking works for them.

Sometimes I accept, sometimes I overrule - remembering that actors are on the inside and don't always see what the audience does.  At the end of the day I would say that 70% of the result is my
vision, 30% is the actors' and 100% is their ability to present
that vision to the audience.


What do you hope that the audience will experience?
Catharsis. Enlightenment. Nirvana.

Seriously, though ...  This play was written in 1947 and set in a
London pub, at a time when Britain had won the war but was beset
by rationing. Life was dull and difficult for many people.
Priestley's genius was to introduce a serious subject that goes
far beyond the mundane concerns of its characters. He deals with
Life and Death, but in a 40-minute time-span, which means that it
is not going to answer all the audience's philosophical
questions.

We hope that the audience first laughs as they are drawn into the
lives of this disparate group of people; there some seriously
comic moments that still make us laugh as we rehearse them. But as
the play progresses, the audience should feel a tingle up its
collective spine; by the end they should see in each character
much more than the caricature they first appeared - and there may
even be a tear lurking in some people's eyes.

So maybe the first step rather than the final stage of Catharsis,
Enlightenment and Nirvana.


What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience
experience?
To do the best that I could. Watch the cast. Listen to the cast
and crew. Absorb myself totally in the text.


Do you see your work within any particular tradition?
Nope. I'm a part-time theatre buff with only a hazy idea of
different theatrical traditions. My personal motto is to present
thought-provoking theatre: that's a tradition that stretches back
to Aristophanes so I suppose it's the one I adhere to.

Cutting Dramaturgy: Duncan Graham @ The Vaults

Having taken the 2015 Adelaide Fringe by storm, Duncan Graham’s CUT is making its London premiere at The Vaults in July.

Set against a black backdrop with unsettling moments of complete darkness, a small audience is sealed in an atmospheric Vault under the Waterloo railway arches.


A woman prepares for work. Pursued by a man, she is hunter and hunted. CUT is a total work of art. A Lynchian dream that transports an audience deep into the heart of 21st century fears - the psychological equivalent of extreme turbulence. 

Part installation, part theatre poem, part noir thriller, prepare to be sealed into this intimate and unforgettable experience.

What was the inspiration for this performance?
CUT is a one-woman piece of work. It was inspired by several things, all of which collided in the making of the work. Firstly, I was inspired by the idea of watching one person on stage. I wanted to see the many voices, and the many aspects of our persona living and breathing in one moment, competing for a version of reality; I wanted to see reality itself straining to contain what it is to be present in the mind of a person. We know that life is not as concrete as we imagine. 

We can be inside and outside of it, we can manipulate it and it can have its own influence on us. I was also interested in the relationship between women and violence, and the way it's represented both in the theatre and in society at large. I was inspired by the Greek figures of Clytemnestra and Medea who took Fate in their hands and acted violently to change the course of a reality dictated to them by men.

How did you go about gathering the team for it?

Hannah Norris - performer and producer - approached me to make the work. It was a text I'd written some years before and she'd wanted to perform it. She gathered most of the team around her, people she thought would collaborate well together. As it turned out, she chose well. The work started its life in the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2015, but the makers were gathered from all around Australia - Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. 

The work was made in the spirit of true independence. We all wanted to try things out that we'd not been able to do inside the confines of our work within major companies. It's under these conditions that I most enjoy making theatre. You never second guess yourself and seem to work more instinctively. 

How did you become interested in making performance?
I came to the theatre by default. I started my adult life wanting to

be a doctor of all things. But I found that I was more interested in art than science, well not that there's that much difference between the two actually. We live in a time of such false separation in practice. This wasn't always the case. Our society is so specialised. So in this case, CUT is the dissection of a woman's psyche - her relationship to trauma, death, violence and vengeance. 

Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance?
I don't have a typical way of making any work. Speaking as the playwright, I just know I am following a knot of ideas, voices, images, impulses that I want to get down. In disentangling them, something arrives. At that point, depending on their form and content, a new approach has to begin: how to stage it so that it has maximum clarity and impact. Rehearsing a one-person show is very intense and demanding. There isn't anywhere to hide from each other - director and actor. You meet head on. Hannah and I took each section of the text apart and she'd bring a raw and unbridled approach to it. That would begin a dialogue between the two of us which I relished. It was about trying to shape something that honoured the complex changes of persona that occur, while always attending the thriller aspect of the story.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?
I hope the audience will experience extreme tension and disorientation. But that's impossible to guarantee. We just didn't want to make something that pacified an audience. It was about making them break through the fourth wall and be present in the same room as this woman. We have built a set and lighting system that drops the audience into a world of deep blackouts and then into lucid LED nightmares. But...! 

That's what's so thrilling about the theatre. You can try for one thing and end up getting another. An audience can never be told what to think and feel. And I never want to try and dictate terms to them. I want to lead them willingly, allow them to participate as fellow conspirators in a new reality. That's all you can do. They need to do most of the work, you just provide a certain framework in which this can happen. 

I never see the theatre as the suspension of disbelief, rather as a conspiracy of imagination and event between performer and audience. We all know we're in the theatre, let’s face it.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?
My main strategy is both the admission of the reality of the theatre; and then story. The first relieves the audience of any false assumptions of place and purpose; the second is the invitation to follow us somewhere emotionally and psychically challenging. Everything else - sound, lights, performance - has to come in around that. We also have very deep blackouts. They're fun. They are really disorientating, cracks in reality which we send the audience through.

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?
The work is very much influenced by a number of traditions. The Greeks are at its base. There are echoes of Beckett and Sarah Kane in the work. But it's in no way an imitation of their work. In the wake of their work are spaces for theatre that I'm interested to discover. Then there are some basic thriller tropes that we enjoy playing with. 

Blood For Blood Dramaturgy: Jonathan Holloway @ Edfringe 2016

jA Tale of Two Cities: Blood for Blood

Pleasance Courtyard (Beyond), 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9TJ Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 28th August 2016 (not 10th, 17th, 24th), 14:40

Dickens’ classic of heroism, espionage and revenge is thrillingly reimagined by multi- award-winning writer-director Jonathan Holloway. The show makes its European premiere direct from an acclaimed Hong Kong season.

This powerful ensemble production relocates the story in the present day, shunning cosy Dickensian theatricality in favour of a world of shadows and fakery. Six actors in a sea of empty chairs and discarded shoes recall ‘the disappeared’. Here, there are no wigs, no period frippery and very few of Dickens' original words. 

Dickens' well-thumbed classic is hurled into the arena of duplicitous hotel room fixers and secret assignations that reverberate through a lifetime.

Original music underscores an exquisitely designed production building on the success of 2015’s UK/Hong Kong Chung Ying collaboration with Jekyll & Hyde. A group of accomplished UK artists including Graeme Rose, Nicki Hobday and Eric MacLennan has once again been recruited to create work of international standing with one of Hong Kong's most impressively ambitious and accomplished theatre companies. The show is created and presented with the UK's legendary Red Shift Theatre Productions, and Olivier Award winning producers Seabright Productions.

Pleasance Courtyard (Beyond), 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9TJ

Note:Parental guidance

Preamble: Red Shift was for 27 years a national and international touring company based in London.  In 2008, we surrendered our Arts Council RFO status and became a test bed for new work including the immersive show The Fall of Man (Edinburgh 2009 and UK touring, since revived by other companies here and in the US)  and the crowd embedded Invisible Show I & II (Latitude, Edinburgh 2011 and UK touring).  Some of my work as a writer has over the last 15 years received new productions by Chung Ying which have been in Cantonese.  

It was an easy decision that Chung Ying and Red Shift should collaborate on projects written, directed and lit by me. The request for a version of A Tale of Two Cities initially came from Chung Ying.  

They are concerned to re-establish a thread of English language performance which has been neglected in recent years.  They also want to move forward in terms of style of production and need both to service an established HK audience and attract a more diverse audience, particularly younger people who are interested in music, film and exhibitions alongside theatre.  This project is also part of a plan to ‘internationalise’ Chung Ying and seek credibility at international festivals throughout the world. 

What was the inspiration for this performance?
I was initially unsure about the title because it feels so traditional and in a way artistically claustrophobic.  After careful thought, I decided it was actually a very good idea, provided I made the show less about epic narrative, and more about love and loss – essentially the bereavement of the Defarges and Carton’s obsessive desire for Lucie Manette, which leads him to sacrificing his life.  

These fundamental and quite scary elements are, of course, shared across cultures, and should work equally well for a UK and HK audience.  At our first speculative design meeting, Neil Irish (Designer) and I hit a simple but demanding concept which would provide an unexpected visual motif and bring with it a set of rules to which we had to adhere when making the show.  

This is the 100 empty chairs (80 in Edinburgh) arranged in a rigid grid pattern and with the same number of empty pairs of shoes underneath each chair.  We felt this resonated beautifully.  Every empty chair implies a missing person, consumed by revolution, suicide, disease, accident.  The rigid layout means the actors have to negotiate the rows of chairs, which are to some degree a constant impediment.  

The layout gives an architectural impression, as if looking down on the map of a city.  When emotional and physical violence takes place, it leaves disruption of the chairs, which stays, reminding us of past events.  It was very important that a chair should not be manipulated as if it is imagined as something else.  Instead, a chair is always a chair – an obvious point, maybe, but it seemed very important to us.

How did you go about gathering the team for it?
I have become less and less interested in recent years in the usual

process of choosing a play and then casting actors to the roles.  It seems to me much more valuable to assemble a team of artists who will be committed to creating the artefact represented by the show, and who will bring the show to them rather than moulding themselves to it.  Hence for Tale of Two Cities: Blood For Blood we have a team of six performers (seven if you include me) from diverse backgrounds.  

Youth can also be an issue in this kind of work, and I have been concerned to assemble a company that brings a lot of texture to the show.  Roughly speaking the performers range from early twenties to late fifties.  Several performers have experience of creating their own work either as individuals or as part of companies.  

Eric McLennan has just won Arts Council funding for his own new show A Voyage Around My Bedroom, and his credits include DV8, David Glass, Citizens Theatre Glasgow, Red Shift, Volcano and Shunt.  Graeme Rose co-founded several companies inc Stan’s Café and The Resurrectionists, and is closely associated with Bodies in Flight, Talking Birds and the Modified Toy Orchestra. 

Nicki Hobday makes her own shows and has recently worked with Forced Entertainment, Michael Pinchbeck, Annie Siddons and Richard de Dominici. We also have performers who come with a conservatoire background -  Mike Rogers, James Camp and Abby Wain – who bring a wealth of technical and emotional expertise.  I have worked with Linbury Prize winner and Venice Biennale exhibitor Neil Irish regularly since 1995, and with composer Sarah Llewelyn since we worked together in 2007 at Red Shift and Giffords Circus.

How did you become interested in making performance?
I am a lapsed Catholic brought up in a South London (part-Irish) working class household steeped in the imagery of Calvary and the Resurrection.  I discovered I wanted to work in theatre through the influence of a charismatic teacher and through Greater London Education Authority sponsored free visits to London shows,  and a mesmerising 1972 visit to the Edinburgh Fringe where Steven Berkoff, Lindsey Kemp and Max Stafford-Clark changed my life.  

I am a theatre-maker who has also to make a living, and the theatre I make is for my own entertainment, accompanied by the hope others will also be entertained.  I am rubbish at networking and have little interest in the theatre establishment, which is a career inhibiting failure on my part.

Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance? 
The process on this show has been deliberately a-typical.  It has been about layers, the imposition of seemingly arbitrary rules, constantly interrogating easy choices.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?
I hope they will be involved and moved (I don’t understand it when theatre makers talk disparagingly about emotional manipulation), and surprised that an apparently capricious set of choices add up to a marvellous evening.  I’m and entertainer.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?
Deliver big words, big emotions, big imaginary images, hold them in the grip of a worthwhile yarn, celebrate the emotional plain of everyday existence as if it has the status of Greek tragedy.

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?
I hope I’m a watertight storyteller who packages the work in unexpected ways.

Jonathan Holloway Playwright, Director, Lighting Designer, Performer Neil Irish Set, Costume & Props Designer Sarah Llewellyn Composer & Sound Designer

James Camp Cruncher/Charles Darnay Mike Rogers Monsieur Defarge/Stryver Abby Wain Lucie Manette/Barsad Graeme Rose Sydney Carton/Evremonde Nicki Hobday Mme Defarge Eric MacLennan Jarvis Lorry/Magistrate Jonathan Holloway Dr Manette

Jonathan Holloway

Jonathan is best known as founder and Artistic Director of Red Shift Theatre Company which toured throughout the UK and beyond from 1982 - 2011, and was subsidised by Arts Council England from 1986. His work as a director, writer and teacher has been seen and heard all over the world. He has directed events ranging from crowd-embedded performance to pocket musicals to landmark reinventions of the classics; run companies and venues; written over 70 professionally produced plays; collaborated with some of the most important writers, designers and composers in British theatre. Jonathan has contributed a huge body of work to BBC Radio 3 & 4, the world's most prolific broadcasting outlet for quality drama. 

His work as a writer and director has won numerous awards including a First Prize at the 2013 Prix Italia, three consecutive Scotsman Fringe First Awards, the Shakespeare Prize and Best Actor Award at Chile's World Festival of Theatre, The Stage's Edinburgh Festival Best Actor Award and a Best Actor nomination for Jo Millson at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2014, nomination in the final six for Best Adaptation at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2015. 

In 2015 Jonathan directed his radical adaptation of Jekyll & Hyde for Chung Ying in Hong Kong and London. In 2016, work for the BBC includes a new commission for a substantial drama examining the phenomena of radicalisation across the centuries, and a new adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel starring James Purefoy for Johnny Vegas' Woolyback Productions. Jonathan's original play Big Time, written for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, will be broadcast by the BBC in April, while his new version of Brave New World will be aired later in the year.

Chung Ying

Chung Ying is one of Hong Kong's largest and most influential companies presenting ambitious work in English and Cantonese and delivering theatre of the highest calibre to the people of Hong Kong. Under the leadership of its Artistic Director Ko Tin-lung it promotes cultural exchange and enriches local life. It has staged more than 250 productions since its inception in 1979, and attracted over 100 nominations and 75 awards at the past 20 annual Hong Kong Drama Awards ceremonies. The company has its own extensive premises and maintains a close relationship with the Theatre Department of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Acts.

Playwright and director Jonathan Holloway comments, This Tale of Two Cities is just what Dickens would have wanted in 2016. He was a social campaigner, a romantic, an unconventional artist and a polymath who adapted and performed his own work for live audiences. He was committed to watertight narrative and a populist who knew audiences think they know what they want, when what they really want is to be taken by surprise.

Mule Dramaturgy: Kat Woods @ Edfringe

MULE

Inspired by the real life story of the Peru Two 

AN OMNIBUS PRODUCTION 

BY MULTI-AWARD WINNING AND FIVE STAR FRINGE SELL-OUT

OMNIBUS ASSOCIATE WRITER

KAT WOODS

Inspired by the topical and real events of the Peru Two, Mule explores the murky, hedonistic world of drug smuggling and its apparent female-isation.

How does the seemingly innocent adventure of a summer spent in the party capital of the world spiral out of control and end locked up in a notoriously hard-core South American prison?

Mule is writer and director Kat Woods’ third Edinburgh Fringe outing, critically-acclaimed for previous works, Belfast Boy and Wasted, she’s back for 2016 by special invitation with her newest show at the prestigious Gilded Balloon.

What was the inspiration for this performance?
The inspiration can be broken into two parts for me. I can remember hearing about Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid a few years back when they were first arrested. To be honest, I had read some rather nasty comments about the pair and it got me thinking. 

Where as a people has our humanity gone? Why are we so quick to judge others? I have a younger sister, she is twelve years my junior and I have always felt a fierce sense of protection for her. These girls are more or less the same age as her. My gut feeling has always been that they made a mistake, albeit a huge mistake and maybe one that you or I would not make; however, it is a mistake and one that they will pay for for the rest of their lives.  

The second half of my interest spiralled from the apparent lack of awareness for consequence on the girls behalf coupled with the looming 'femalisation' of the drug smuggling industry. Why these girls, what has happened to them how have they changed? 

How did you go about gathering the team for it?
I really want to write here that I did something really cool like the Anchorman scene where Ron Burgundy shouts "Team assemble" and they all come running. Alas, I would just be calling myself as  I write, direct and part produce!

I am an associate writer with Omnibus Theatre in London and have had my award winning play Belfast Boy on at their venue. I wanted somewhere to stage an early preview performance of 'Mule' so that I could get the script ship shape for the Ed Fringe. Basically, a show to see how bad it is, so that I can fix it in time for August! 

The team at Omnibus Theatre have been fantastic, headed by Marie McCarthy with Diana Whitehead and Felicity Paterson. They have now come on board as producers, which is amazing. With Omnibus on board I was able to utilise valuable rehearsal space and cast the play. Mule is a two hander which showcases the wonderful talents of Edith Poor and Aoife Lennon. Both actresses have developed their roles and worked tremendously hard on the piece. I am very proud that they are a part of this work. 

How did you become interested in making performance?

Sociology was actually my degree of choice when I finished my A Levels. Although, I have always been somewhat of a storyteller, it was never on the agenda at the all girls Roman Catholic Convent Grammar that I attended. Which is such a shame. It was an ex boyfriends mum who suggested that I study some type of Drama course. She scared me. So, I did a Drama degree. And that's how it all began! I initially trained as a Director but couldn't find anything that I wanted to direct so I decided to write for myself so that I could employee myself to direct! 

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

To put it simply, yes. For all my plays I like to write and re-write until I get it right! I guess because I try so hard to become a different person when directing its almost like I become the harshest critic. My own works worst enemy is actually me!  

What do you hope that the audience will experience?
Mule is inspired by the events of The Peru Two. With any of my work I want the subject matter of this play to stay with the audience I want to educate those in a way that feels less lecture orientated. I want the audience, especially in this particular case, to think about their actions. Could that be your Sister, Brother, Mother etc...

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?
I don't really consider strategies to shaping the audience experience, for me, that would feel contrived. I think the job of the writer or theatre maker is to let the work be what it is and speak for itself.

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?
I just want other people to see my work and hope that it breaks the current trend towards the tradition of watching reality TV! 

I like to break down that forth wall, so maybe, not completely In Your Face but standing very close to ones face.  

The story of the Peru Two first caught Irish-born writer Woods attention in 2013 when the girls hit the headlines and were vilified in the press. Recent developments in their case have pulled this timely play into sharp focus. Woods’ vivid imagination skillfully weaves a cautionary tale of manipulation and betrayal - a must-see at Edinburgh Fringe 2016.
  
LISTINGS:
When: 3 – 29 Aug  (excl. 17)
Where: Gilded Balloon, The Balcony
Time: 1.30pm, running time 55 mins
Ticket price: Mon-Thu £10, Fri-Sun £11, £8 

About Omnibus
Omnibus is Clapham's premier multi-arts venue in London, housed in a converted Victorian Library, and offering a vibrant programme of theatre, music and visual arts. Inspired by the building’s literary heritage, the Omnibus programme focuses on retelling classic tales with a contemporary twist. As a multi-arts venue, Omnibus is committed to combining art forms to discover new artistic vocabularies and providing vital support for emerging artists to create new work within the building.

The Omnibus team is led by artistic director Marie McCarthy. Patrons include Sir Michael Gambon, Matthew Warchus and Richard Eyre.
omnibus-clapham.org

@omnibus_clapham

About Kat Woods
Kat Woods joined Omnibus’ stable of Associate Writers in 2015.

Growing up on a council estate in Enniskillen, County Fermanah, Northern Ireland, and having had her fair share of adversity along the way, Woods says her background has undeniably shaped and informed her writing. She is drawn to narratives that reflect real life struggles. 

Her authentic style has won her a string of awards and critical acclaim. Woods moved to London six years ago to study theatre directing, turning to writing when she couldn’t find directing work that she was passionate about.



2016: Mule; The Peggy Ramsey Award
2015: Wasted; The Peggy Ramsey Award; Selected for the Encore series Soho Playhouse New York (Best of Edinburgh)
2015: Belfast Boy; Longlisted Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award; Selected for the Tampere Fringe Finland (Best of Edinburgh); Winner: Stage Award for Acting Excellence
2014: Belfast Boy; Winner: Fringe Review Award for Outstanding Theatre

Hanging @ The Tron

Roger Casement was 'on the right side of history'. As a revolutionary for Irish independence, and a homosexual who, in Peter Arnott's play, refuses to apologise for his orientation, he becomes more a victim of early twentieth century attitudes than the traitor he is called by the British state. The double 'crimes' he committed, a century later, would not be prosecuted today. The incriminating diary of his sexual activity, used by British Intelligence to discredit him, would probably be a best seller.

Arnott is too subtle a writer, however, to make a simple, ironic tragedy about a man out of time. Using a basic structure - two men are locked in verbal battle - his script teases out the complexity of political action, questions of honour and the thin line between idealism and violence.

Given Casement's rehabilitation after his death (he counts among the martyrs who died for an independent Ireland), his characterisation is strikingly ambiguous. His initial honesty and display of moral integrity - refusing to lie or implicate others who may yet be innocent - gives way to duplicity in the second half. Captain Hall, representing the British state, gives reasonable justifications for Casement's arrest, spending the first hour attempting to offer the prisoner escape routes from the gallows. Hall turns vicious after he realises that Casement was involved in the organisation of the Easter Sunday uprising, and reading his explicit diary. The blend of sexual paranoia and disappointment at Casement drives Hall to violence, finally assuming the mantle of colonial oppressor.

Arnott's script is less interested in the hallowed hero and imperial

stereotypes than the complexity of his protagonist's life. Casement's work in Africa (which he regards as a financial deal with the oppressive empire) made him a dashing Victorian hero, the inspiration for Conrad's Heart of Darkness and a dream-like interlude suggests that his experiences on the continent informed his attitude towards the British Empire. Benny Young captures an edgy, nervous energy, as Casement alternates between to desire to act the gentleman and protect his fellow activists. At one moment he is apologising for inconveniencing Hall: the next, he is describing his integrity in refusing to accept money from the German state. While his execution is tragic - and as a coda taen from George Bernard Shaw implies - unnecessary, Young's performance reveals a man ready to take responsibility, and pride, in his actions.

Stephen Clyde, as Hall and a few other characters - including a brutal Irish policeman - is a foil to Young's central role, but is given a presence and intelligence by the script. His initial concern and respect for Hall may disappear in a homophobic disgust, but his sadness at the brutality caused in response to Casement's conspiracy offers a picture of a colonial warden driven by duty rather than sadism. The power is clearly tilted towards him - he regards the Irish revolutionaries as 'children' and their defeat as a necessary punishment - yet he attempts to be just, and identifies the value of Empire within its belief in justice.

The possible relationship to Scotland's own independence is unspoken - and, despite the programme notes, tangential. It's clear that the stakes were higher for Ireland in 1916 (the activists ending up executed then). Although Casement is given dignity, and drawn as both a sexual and political revolutionary, the script is far too nuanced to leave a clear moral, but rather invites continued discussion on the morality of Casement's actions.

Rotterdamned Dramaturgy: Donnacadh O’Brian @ Trafalgar Studios

Rotterdam, directed by Donnacadh O’Briain, is a bittersweet comedy about gender, sexuality and being a long way from home by acclaimed writer Jon Brittain, co-creator of Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho, and writer of What Would Spock Do? and The Sexual Awakening of Peter Mayo.



Alice wants to come out as a lesbian. Her girlfriend Fiona wants to start living as a man. It's New Year in Rotterdam and Alice has finally plucked up the courage to email her parents and tell them she's gay. 

But before she can hit send, Fiona reveals that he has always identified as a man and now wants to start living as one named Adrian. Now, as Adrian begins his transition, Alice must face a question she never thought she'd ask... does this mean she's straight?

What was the inspiration for this performance?
I was very moved by the story from the first time I read it, and in particular the character of Adrian who goes through the most profound series of life events through the play. I have been inspired by him and people like him, and the whole team have a real passion for bringing that story to an audience. I've rarely done a project with so much unity of purpose and emotional commitment.

How did you become interested in making performance in the first place - does it hold any particular qualities that other media don't have?
I trained as an actor, and so I developed a love of making work for audiences when I was in my late teens and older. As a theatre maker I am always thinking about the audience, and how they interact with the performance. I love to play with the liveness of the event, and I'm often drawn to meta-theatricality, particularly the playful type. 

Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance?
It was typical of how I work with actors, and I have my methods which I've developed of over the years for how I like to build a sense of liveness and a strong ensemble. 

But the production itself is its own thing - whilst there are characteristics of my work, I really do start with each script and try to understand it's unique needs. With Rotterdam, the style of the comedy was very important and informs a lot of the feel... It has a real pop drive which supports the comedy and provides a strong counterpoint for the tragedy.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?
I want them to have laughed a lot, and ideally had a little cry too - I always do both when I see it, and that was pretty common during the run at Theatre503. So having had an emotional experience and having laughed... But of course alongside that we want people to come out with having formed a real empathetic connection to the characters, and with the beginnings of an understanding of trans issues, and that is something I think the play does very well and very subtly.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?
Really it's always been about delivering Jon's script to the best of our collective abilities. It's such an accomplished piece of writing, that it was a gift to direct really. It does most of the work in terms of shaping the audience experience. I would lay claim to one major embellishment in the form of a sequence around the climax of the play that happens under Robyn's 'Dancing On My Own' but you'll have to just see it.

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?
Not especially. I do enjoy the connections people make between different productions, but it's not something that I do much. I try to respond to each play on its own terms and create an aesthetic for it which is bespoke. Ask me again in a few years.

Rotterdam by Jon Brittain

Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, London SW1A 2DY Tuesday 26th July - Saturday 27th August 2016

Following a highly successful run last autumn at Theatre503, Jon Brittain’s Rotterdam now transfers to Trafalgar Studios. Anna Martine (The Nether), Alice McCarthy (Boris: World King), Ed Eales-White (Strap In – It’s Clever Peter) and Jessica Clark (The Events) reprise their roles in this poignant and highly comic production.


Director Donnacadh O’Briain comments,

There's something really special about this play, and about the cast who brought it to life. Audiences were incredibly taken with it, I've rarely seen a reception like we had at Theatre503. We were entirely sold out a day or two after press night so it's fantastic to be able to bring it back to a wider audience. I think it's a must see and I'm not biased at all.
Jon Brittain was inspired to write Rotterdam after a couple of his friends transitioned in the late 2000s. He became aware of the absence of transgender stories in pop culture and wanted to address this on the stage. 

Through writing this show, he researched and consulted widely including talking to numerous trans people and their partners, conducting readings for members of the trans communities and discussing the show with various parties who were all supportive, including Trans Media Watch who then endorsed Rotterdam.

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Box Office Tickets are available for £15, £25, £30 from the Trafalgar Studios

Notes Ages 14+

Jon Brittain is a playwright, comedy writer and director. His plays include A Super Happy Story About Feeling Super Sad (New Diorama), What Would Spock Do (Gilded Balloon), and The Sexual Awakening of Peter Mayo (Pleasance). He also directed and co-wrote the smash hit Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho (Theatre503, Assembly, Leicester Square Theatre) for which he was nominated for 'Most Promising Playwright' at the 2014 Off West End Awards. 

He has worked extensively with Old Vic New Voices, he was part of the Theatre503 Five and he was a member of the Royal Court Studio Group. In comedy, he directed both of John Kearns' Fosters Award- winning shows Sight Gags for Perverts and Shtick as well as Tom Allen's shows Both Worlds and Indeed, and is a member of the Weirdos Comedy Club. 

He has written for Radio 4's The Now Show, Cartoon Network’s BAFTA and Emmy award winning The Amazing World of Gumball and he created the online sketch show HodgePodge for Hoot Comedy. He is currently developing an original series for BBC3, an hour long drama series for the BBC Writers Scheme, the musical How to Stop Being Fat and Start Being Happy with composer Harry Blake, and the comedy show Margaret Thatcher Queen of Game Shows.