edfringe

Danish theatre company fix+foxy premièred Dark Noon at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe which “explores one of the great American myths—the Wild West” through seven South African actors.

The production will be restaged at Manchester’s Aviva Studios this spring. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to co-directors Tue Biering and Nhlanhla Mahlangu about what and whose story the play is telling and about the process of creating it.

Dark Noon will be performed in the South Warehouse of Aviva Studios in Manchester from 6 to 10 March 2024.

Jenny Sealey has been artistic director of Graeae since 1997, a theatre company, which, according to its web site, “boldly places Deaf and disabled artists centre-stage in a diversity of new and existing plays”.

In that time, she has directed many productions, including co-directing the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympics in London with Bradley Hemmings.

However, for her next production, Self Raising, for the Edinburgh Fringe, she will be performing herself for the first time in three decades in a solo piece co-written with Mike Kenny based on her own early life in a family in which she was the only Deaf person.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Jenny about her return to acting (“terrifying”), the play, what Edinburgh Fringe and Edinburgh the city is currently like for a Deaf or disabled person, the excitement and problems of creating the opening ceremony (coming up against the doubts of Jeremy Hunt) and more.

Self Raising will be at the Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh from 2 to 27 August 2023 at 12:30PM.

Peter Straker’s first big break was in the West End première of the musical Hair in 1968, following which he has had a long and impressive career in both musical and non-musical theatre and as a recording artist, notably collaborating with his close friend Freddie Mercury.

His show based on the songs of Jacques Brel was a hit a few years ago at the Edinburgh Fringe, but this year, he is trying something new with Adventures of Straker, featuring songs from various musicals accompanied by musician Gabriele Baldocci.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Peter about his Edinburgh show, as well as a bit about his journey from Jamaica to the West End stage, performing in the taboo-breaking musical Hair just as the censorship of the Lord Chamberlain was ending on the British stage and a few other highlights of his career, plus some of his packed future plans.

The Adventures of Straker will be at theSpace @ Niddry Street in Edinburgh from 15 to 20 August 2022 each day at 6:55PM. For more information, see www.adventuresofstraker.co.uk, or to book tickets, go to www.edfringe.com. You can find more information about Peter Straker and his work at his own web site, newsite.peterstraker.com.

Mischief Theatre, which rose to fame ten years ago with its smash hit comedy The Play That Goes Wrong, is returning to Edinburgh in 2022 with three shows: Charlie Russell Aims to Please, Mischief Movie Night and Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle.

Charlie Russell, who writes and performs the show that names her in the title, has been a co-creator and cast member in most of the company’s shows so far. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Charlie about their three Fringe shows as well as about the company’s creative process and phenomenal success.

Charlie Russell Aims to Please runs at Pleasance Below, Pleasance Courtyard at 3:15PM from 3 to 27 August. Mischief Movie Night is at Pentland Theatre, Pleasance at EICC at 6:30PM from 3 to 28 August. Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle is at Pleasance Beyond, Pleasance Courtyard from 3 to 28 August.

The new piece by Henry Shields, Good Luck, Studio, will be at Mercury Theatre in Colchester, Salisbury Playhouse and Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford between September and November 2022.

For more details and tickets for the three Edinburgh shows, go to www.edfringe.com, www.pleasance.co.uk or mischiefedfringe.com, or for more information about the company and its work in general, see www.mischiefcomedy.com.

Rehearsal photo of Charlie Russell by Danny Kaan.

John Lloyd, the TV and radio producer behind many classic comedy programmes from The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Not the Nine O’Clock News and Spitting Image to Have I Got News For You, The News Quiz and QI, will be asking audiences to put his accumulated knowledge on all subjects to the test at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe in his show Do You Know Who I Am?.

BTG Editor David Chadderton asked him about the show, about his career and about the things that continue to fascinate him enough to make producing programmes like QI more like an addiction than a job.

John Lloyd: Do You Know Who I Am? will be at The Stand’s New Town Theatre on George Street, Edinburgh from 5 to 15 August 2022 at 3:40PM every day.

For more details and tickets, go to edfringe.com or www.thestand.co.uk.

One of the biggest hits of the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe was a one-man show about comedian Eric Morecambe written by Tim Whitnall and performed by Bob Golding.

When comedy impressionist Jon Culshaw (Dead Ringers, Spitting Image) had the idea to pay tribute to comedian Les Dawson, he teamed up with Tim and Bob to create Les Dawson: Flying High, which will make its debut at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe before being extended for a national tour.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to the three of them together during the rehearsal period about their approach to telling the story, some of the elements they had to include and the affection that they and many others still have for a few comedians of Les Dawson’s generation.

Les Dawson: Flying High, written by Tim Whitnall, directed by Bob Golding and starring Jon Culshaw, will run at the Gordon Aikman Theatre, Assembly George Square in Edinburgh from 3 to 28 August 2022 followed by a tour of the UK.

(Photo of Jon Culshaw as Les Dawson by Steve Ullathorne)

I caught up with actress, writer and podcaster Jennifer Tyler, who performed 'Ready Or Not' at Edinburgh Fringe 2019 and only started 4 weeks before the start of the Fringe. Here we learn about Mental Health, Fringe Performing and Musical Comedy. 
 You can also hear Jen's Podcast ' Thank You For Sharing'

Hosted by Ben Punter. 
Join the page Facebook.com/whathavewelearnt 
and on Twitter & Insta: @benpunter  

This is the fourth episode in a series of podcasts covering Edinburgh Fringe 2019. 

Listen back to the previous episodes with Mika Johnson & Teddy Lamb, Travis Alabanza, and Emily Aboud & Charlotte Dowding, and look out on our social media for tour dates to see their shows.

You can now support Bechdel Theatre on Patreon with a monthly donation of $1.

Brigitte Aphrodite is a punk poet, musician, writer, theatre maker and feminist showgirl. Brigitte is the writer of Parakeet, and performs as a parakeet underscoring the show.

Michelle Tiwo is an actor, poet and model, and the lead performer in Parakeet.

Brigitte’s #FeministFaves are…

Music: Pink Suits, Self Esteem, Big Joanie, The Tuts, Dream Wife, Kate Nash, Lunatraktors

Books: Period Power by Maisie Hill, Laura Dockrill’s books for children & young adults.

Poet: Neelam Saredia-Brayley

Michelle’s #FeministFaves are...

Travis Alabanza & their writing about Edinburgh Fringe

Ruth Sutoye & Bald Black Girls

Tobi Kyeremateng & The Black Ticket Project

Poetry & art from: Touching Bass, Steam Down, Andrea Phillips, Vanessa Kisuule, Rachael Young, Theresa Lola, The Rap Party, Belinda Zhawi & Born::Free

Michelle & Brigitte’s Edinburgh show recommendations...

Pink Lemonade by Mika Johnson

How To Be Brave by Dirty Protest 

Out by Rachael Young

Splintered by Emily Aboud

Burgerz by Travis Alabanza (Autumn tour includes: Dublin, Newcastle, Glasgow, Warwick, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge & London)

The End & One by Bert & Nasi (One is coming to Battersea Arts Centre in October)

Civilization by Antler Theatre

Class & Fat Blokes By Scottee (Class is coming to Home in Manchester in Oct & touring in 2020)

Hearty by Emma Frankland

I sit with friends Biba & Rikesh to dissect our group trip to Edinburgh Fringe 2019 to compare expectations, accommodation, weather, food and favourite shows. 

Hosted by Ben Punter. 

Follow on facebook.com/whathavewelearnt 
and on Twitter & Insta: @benpunter 
.

In this episode from the final week of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for 2019, we hear from the current director of a production that has become, after 28 years, an Edinburgh Fringe and C venues institution, Shakespeare for Breakfast. Damian Sandys has directed the production since 2006, as well as its younger brother, Dickens for Dinner, and he explains what audiences can expect from both, as well as how the shows are devised each year.

In a previous BTG podcast episode from the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014, Paines Plough’s artistic director James Grieve told us about the company’s new pop-up theatre, Roundabout.

This year, we spoke to director Steph O’Driscoll, who has directed three productions to be performed by the same company of actors in Roundabout this year: Daughterhood by Charley Miles, On the Other Hand, We’re Happy by Daf James and Dexter and Winter’s Detective Agency by Nathan Bryon. Steph explains about the process of creating productions for this unusual performance space for Edinburgh and for a subsequent tour.

(Image of Stef O'Driscoll, credit: Rebecca Need-Menear)

Owen O’Neill is an Irish writer, actor and stand-up comedian who has become known particularly on the Edinburgh Fringe for his one-man plays.

This year, he has written a two-hander called Shaving the Dead in which he does not perform but it is directed by Fringe regular Guy Masterson, with whom he has previously collaborated on a number of major projects. Between them, Owen and Guy have clocked up 49 visits to the Edinburgh Fringe.

In this episode, BTG editor David Chadderton spoke to Owen just after the play had opened in Edinburgh, and he explained about the origins of the play, spoke a little about the differences between his stand-up and his one-man shows and said that, just occasionally, critics will write some things that he actually finds useful.

Shaving the Dead from Theatre Tours International will be at Assembly George Square Studio Two at the Edinburgh Fringe until 25 August 2019.

(Owen O'Neill photo by Steve Ullathorne)

I sat down with Sally & Rhiannon aka Stiff & Kitsch about their musical comedy double act at Edinburgh Fringe 2019, We discuss Comedy Duos, Badges and naming your show. 

Find and follow them on social @StiffandKitsch 
or visit stiffandkitsch.com

Performing at EdFringe19 at Pleasance, Bunker Three Everyday at 2pm 

Hosted by Ben Punter 
Follow on Twitter & Instagram @benpunter 

I spoke with comedian Adele Cliff at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe about stand up, writing and life at the Fringe for visitors and performers. 

Follow Her on Twitter @AdeleCliff 

Adele’s Show Undershare is on at Just The Tonic at the Tron at 340pm everyday until 25th Aug, excluding 12th.  

Hosted By @benpunter

As the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe was about to start, we spoke to two people whose work will be featured in this year’s festival.

Jesse Jones is co-director of the latest devised theatre piece from Bristol-based The Wardrobe Ensemble, produced in collaboration with Complicite and Royal and Derngate Theatre in Northampton, called The Last of the Pelican Daughters. He spoke to us about the themes of the show, their devising process and about working with a company that was one of their greatest inspirations when they started working in theatre.

The Last of the Pelican Daughters is at Pleasance Beyond until 25 August 2019.

Daniel Bye’s previous solo shows at the Fringe and elsewhere have always been quite interactive, but for his latest piece, he will be coming to the homes of his audiences to perform his show Arthur, which is named after his a co-star, the four-and-a-half-month-old son of Daniel and director Sarah Punshon.

(Images, The Last of the Pelican Daughters cast; Daniel Bye and Arthur, photo by Jonathan Ackley)

In our first podcast episode on the 2018 Edinburgh Festivals, we speak to two people who are now veteran Fringe producers and performers.

Rick Conte will return to the Fringe this year as Dog in the multi-award-winning Puppet State Theatre production The Man Who Planted Trees. However he is also performing and producing a new adaptation of The Time Machine by H G Wells that combines puppetry with human actors for The Scientific Romance Theatre Company,

The Time Machine will be at the Scottish Storytelling Centre from 2 to 19 August at 2:30PM, and then The Man Who Planted Trees will take over the same slot from 20 to 27 August.

Guy Masterson has been a fixture of the Edinburgh Fringe for 25 years as an actor, director and producer. With his company Theatre Tours International, his annual programmes of productions have ranged from solo shows to international collaborations and shows with star-studded casts, many of which have lived on after Edinburgh with international tours and West End runs.

This year, Guy will bring four productions to Edinburgh: Hamlet—Horatio’s Tale and Henry V—Lion of England will be performed on various dates at Assembly Rooms; A Christmas Carol and The Marilyn Conspiracy will be on most days throughout the Fringe at Assembly George Square Studios.

Producer Richard Jordan and BTG's Philip Fisher talk about trends in Edinburgh and discuss the best shows to see.

Philip Fisher also chairs a critics panel with Joyce McMillan of The Scotsman and freelancer Mark Fisher in which they discuss Alan Ayckbourn's The Divide, Frances Poet's Adam and Ontroerend Goed’s £¥€$ (LIES) and also pick some personal favourites from Edinburgh 2017.

(Photos of Erin Doherty in The Divide by Marc Marnie; £¥€$ photo credit Thomas Dhanens)

This year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival featured a series of events subtitled “a theatrical exploration”, in which well-known Scottish novels were partly staged by a director, scriptwriter and actors produced in association with Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre.

One the three novels explored in this way was Booker-nominated His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet, who spoke to BTG editor David Chadderton about his involvement with the project on a busy final Saturday at the 2017 Book Festival.

Also, Philip Fisher spoke to Milly Thomas who, after this interview was recorded, won a Stage Edinburgh Award for her performance in Dust, a self-penned piece directed by Sara Joyce for this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

(Production image of Milly Thomas in Dust by The Other Richard)

Philip Fisher reports from the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Lara Foot is the Director and CEO of the Baxter Theatre Centre at the University of Cape Town. She talks to Philip about the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, her own career and the theatre scene in South Africa over the last thirty years.

Award-winning stage and screen star Monica Dolan tells Philip about her first play as a writer, The B*easts, and its Edinburgh Fringe debut. They also discuss her passion for acting and the key moments of her career.

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Luke Barnes is the latest "gig theatre" production from Hull-based theatre company Middle Child.

After a run at the Welly Club in Hull in June, the production will be performed at this year's Latitude Festival.

BTG editor David Chadderton spoke to Middle Child artistic director Paul Smith about the show, as well as musing on political theatre, adapting for festivals, attracting new audiences to theatre and becoming a new National Portfolio Organisation for Arts Council funding.

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything will be at Latitude Festival in Southwold, Suffolk on Sunday 16 July before appearing at Reading Fringe on 20 July and then in Paines Plough’s Roundabout Theatre at Summerhall for the Edinburgh Fringe from 4 to 27 August 2017.