The Man Who

While it is generally very difficult to determine which companies will have a successful Fringe - although I am always quick to point out that the average audience for a show during August in Edinburgh is somewhere around five people, and not going home ten grand in debt is a success - I am investigating the possibility that certain venues might have a stronger track record. I like to think that the most important thing is the coverage by the critics... but that might be wishful thinking.

Chatterbox are a young company: "O

utside of studying, most of the team have been working in theatre for a grand total of a year," laughs director Eilise McNicholas. "but saying that it has been a great year!" She even remembers Fringe 2011 fondly. "It was a hi

ghlight for me – like most young companies we had no money, a short run and relied on handing out flyers to get people into the show. But even with that we had a great turn out and brilliant feedback. We also loved meeting other companies – it was lovely to see companies in your audience whose show you’d seen the night before or a group you’d had a drink with- felt like one big happy family!"

Chatterbox have returned in 2012 with the story of a man who has a talented best friend.  McNicholas describes the show as "

A quirky, weird and wonderful mockumentary about the best friend of The-Man-Who-Invented-The-Wheel. Set shortly after the dawn of time, The Man and The Younger Man have invention on the brain while The Woman has an idea that will change their lives forever. This is an absurdist comedy about love, invention and making the wheel rounder. If you are a fan of Spinal Tap and Aeroplane – you’ll love this!"

McNicholas is especially enthusiastic about the script. "

Our show is a new piece by one of the UK’s hottest young writing talents," she explains. "Seamus Collins was one of the winners of the BBC writers room 10 competition and was also shortlisted for the International Student Playscript competition. He is currently being mentored by the BBC while his plays have been read on BBC Radio 3 and have been shown in various cities throughout the UK and Ireland. Catch him before he goes global!"

"Inspiration for this piece came from an assignment on the theme of invention.," she explains. "The writer was late to class and hadn’t done the work. Like most great ideas the thought came to him out of nowhere that it would be funny to write about play about the best friend of The-Man-Who-Invented-The-Wheel... and it was!"

The Man Who

2nd – 6th of August 2012, 14.55 (45mins)

White Belly, Underbelly, Cowgate

Listen The River

The Fringe is a mixed blessing for the critic. On the one hand, there is work from all around the world - Liminal Space, for example, present,  Listen! The River, and I don't get to see enough American solo shows where the performer plays both a one-eyed dog and a water fountain. On the other hand, there's a good chance that this Fringe will be the one that breaks me, as I try to see ten shows a day and brush up my Russian in an attempt to get exclusive interviews from Derevo and Akhe.

Hopefully, I'll get to catch Listen! before my collapse: performer Wendy Peace has promised free gifts (go to twitter and follow @turbo_cat for details) and the play evolved from a meeting between actor and author at a New York based organisation called the League of Professional Theatre Women. Apart from being well-known for my politically correct position on the arts, I've been encouraged to support anything that includes marginalised groups in theatre because of the great work that comes from Stellar Quines, who have a similar woman-positive attitude to commissioning.

The author of Listen!, Robin Rice Lichtig, "was inspired by the relationship between the playwright, Robin, her sister and her cat," explains Peace. "Robin was having a difficult time processing her sister's illness. She felt the need to write about it, but found it easier to express her feelings through the character of Turbo the cat. Turbo really was her sister's cat. He came to stay with Robin on a temporary basis and you'll have to see the play to find out whether he stays. It's a melding of what Robin was experiencing and what she perceived the cat may be going through."

The balance between serious subject and a more humorous angle allows Lichtig’s script to straddle a wide range of characters -  Peace performs seven “beautifully written and creatively directed, including the cat, a one-eyed dog, a ball of string and a flirty water fountain” - and moods - “people will have a chuckle, or find someone they can relate to and be affected by it.”

“Listen! The River initially grabbed me because I felt great empathy for all the characters,” Peace remembers. “They all have very different lives from me, but there's something about them that is very relate-able. I found myself rooting for them and hoping it all worked out in the end.”

Having met Lichtig and been inspired by this play, Peace then hooked up with the third partner in the team: When I met Prav MJ, the director, through a connection that started in Toronto, wove its way through New York, Norway, Barcelona, London and back to New York's LPTW,I showed her the script and she decided it was a great fit for her production company, Liminal Space whose focus is on emerging artists, particularly those from the States.”

Apart from her respect for the writer, Peace feels a personal engagement with the idiosyncratic approach.  “As the owner of a dog and lover of animals I liked the way pets play a prominent role in the story,” she says. “I really believe in the healing power of animals. My Great Dane is a certified "pet therapy" dog. which means she goes to hospitals, nursing homes, etc to visit, and hopefully help people. In New York we participated in a study involving cancer patients and their rate of recovery from radiation treatment if they had a visit from a therapy dog at each appointment. Apparently it does. There are numerous stories of people who have benefited from having a service dog. We're all familiar with seeing eye dogs, but there are now dogs who assist returning soldiers with PTSD, autistic children, people with seizures or mobility issues, etc.This play shows a glimpse of the healing possibilities of animals and that definitely spoke to me.” This belief in the play’s intention led to a further, generous connection. “This is also why we've partnered with the Edinburgh Dog and Cat home. They're an organization that shares in the philosophy of the benefits of animals. They're dedicated to the return of lost pets, the re-homing of pets and the spaying and neutering of pets. A portion of ticket sales will benefit their cause.”








Liminal Space presents
Listen! The River
by Robin Rice Lichtig
Directed by Prav MJ
Starring Wendy Peace

Venue:              theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53)        
Times:              13:55 (60 mins)
Dates:               13-14 Aug (Previews), 15-25 (not 19)            
Tickets:            £5 (Preview) (3.50) / £8 (6)

League of Extraordinary

In my campaign to do as little work as possible - but cling vaguely to the idea that I give respect where it is due - I am reprinting an extract from an interview that I did with Wendy Peace about a New York based organisation that intrigued me. The following explanation is all Wendy's: I just thought it was more interestingly written than my own attempts to summarise.






"The League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW) is a great organisation for professional women involved in all aspects of the entertainment industries, but particularly theatre. It was founded by a group of women who were concerned by the lack of women playwrights, directors and artistic directors in high visibility positions. It's currently celebrating its 30th Anniversary! Its mission statement is to "promote visibility and increase opportunities for women in the arts", while also providing a support system, and a place to exchange ideas and creative skills. To become a member you must have worked in your discipline for at least 5 years, in some type of leadership role, "under standards set by the American unions and guilds". Membership is now nearly 500 strong and the League has definitely played a role in increasing the profile of women in the arts. For me it's also been a great resource of playwrights, directors, producers, etc. and they also happen to be women."

Violet Shock: Beth

Evaen though Violet Shock are bringing a musical (a form about which I am ignorant, or at least badly informed) based on Shakespeare (of whom I have seen quite enough, unless it is in Polish) to Edinburgh Fringe, their email was charming and their website gothic and self-deprecating enough for me to chase them for an interview. Beth is a female-centric Macbeth that promises to have the dark physicality of their 2008 entry to the Fringe, Something Wicked This Way Comes and the show-stopping tunes of their 2011 Shop of Horrors.

The sex-reversed cast seems a step in the right direction away from the plethora of Scottish Plays that will haunt my in-box until the end of August. "Not very inspiring, or original really until you actually see it!" says Karl Boyd, artistic director. "The female cast have thrown themselves into the role of the warrior maiden and have drilled themselves in fitness and swordplay - the swords look perfectly natural in their hands." Meanwhile, their 'Lady Macbeth' is now a man. "A cunning, deceitful husband gives an interesting twist on the traditional Lady Macbeth role," Boyd continues. And the witches " are just wrong, there's no other way to describe them, creepy, sleazy and very, very visually arresting!"


The company have, however, kept faith with the Bard's language: "When Yvonne Rushmere (lyrics) and I (score) sat down to write this beast, we found that Yvonne  was able to include a lot of the original text," Boyd admits. "It soon became obvious that this Shakespeare classic in particular is the perfect inspiration for a musical. Yes, it's been done before in many forms but we like to think we're being as true to the original text as possible. Add all of this to an original blistering, epic rock score inspired by Sigur Ros and Muse and I think the show may just stand out."


Beth is a good choice for the Fringe: it's a mix of humour, violence, the familiar and the strange, loud music and aggression. Rather like a walk down the Royal Mile once the flyering starts... and unlike footsore critics and cynical editors, Boyd is excited about the festivities.  "We love the atmosphere, the experience and the sheer free for all melee that is the flyering on the mile." He even seems comfortable with the volume of competition. "We've made some great friends over the past few years and, of course, some "playful" enemies. Having a sing off with rival musical companies last year was a mutually beneficial marketing tool, but more importantly, bloody funny."




He even insists that Beth is the start of a new enthusiasm for the company. "We made their Fringe debut in 2008 with Something Wicked This Way Comes, a collection of ghost stories at the Greenside. We then focused on writing and performing a few of our own adaptations in and around Northumberland our home county ranging from Kind Hearts and Coronets - the musical to Wychwood House a collection of Edwardian Ghost stories told through physical theatre, stage illusion and Danny Elfmanesque songs. We returned to the Fringe last year with Little Shop of Horrors and knew straight away that we'd been away too long. This is now a regular venture for us without a doubt. We may only be a youngish, amateur company, but we have big, professional leanings. Fringe 2012 isn't even started and we're already working on adapting Wychwood House for a Fringe venue.  You can't keep us away."


The Space
6- 11 August 2012

Wild West End

Being from Glasgow, the idea of a Wild West End conjures up visions of middle-class parents strolling their prams past Oran Mor at top speed, before blocking the entrance to the Oxfam Book Store. But for Paulden Hall, who rocked the Fringe with Fresher, The Musical last year, the WWE is more about the parody behind the hit musical. A new book from Adam Paulden and Matt Leventhall, with lyrics By Andrew Doyle and Ed Clarke (holder of the 2010 Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year Award and a touring maestro from the East Midlands, respectively), WWE follows a struggling musical theatre writer in a razor-witted satire of some of the greatest musicals of all time, deconstructing the hits and the characters.

"The fringe will always be a regular thing for us," explains Matt Leventhall. "We started as fringe producers and we love the festival. Having looked at the fringe programme this year, we're without a doubt the only show offering a satirical take on the world of musical theatre."

The rise of jukebox musicals - where existing songs are shoe-horned into a vague narrative - might have devalued the worth of the genre, but Leventhall insists that WWE is something original. "Whilst others in the past may have rewritten songs, we are unique in presenting a whole story in itself, with famous music from the great shows, but which is a no-holes-barred parody of the genre and its big names."

Equally fortunate for Live Art enthusiasts like me, this isn't just a series of in-jokes. "It is fun and accessible to all. You don't have to be a musical theatre expert to get our jokes - all you need to know is that musical theatre exits," he continues. "And perhaps have been exposed to a little of it. We feature the music of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Les Miserables, Oliver!, The Wizard of Oz, The Lion King, meaning it's very unlikely you wont have come across at least one of them!"

"We as a company decided to hold up a mirror to our world as musical theatre producers and found that artists we'd worked with in the past all loved the idea and each contributed huge amounts to the book. We drafted in two superb comedic writers to create the lyrics - one is Andrew Doyle - with his own stand up show on the fringe this year!"

Pleasance Theatre, Islington, 29th July, 7.30pm,
Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh, 1st-3rd August, 6.50pm (1hr)
Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh, 4th-29th August, 6.50pm (not 14th)