Life is about to get #UNBORING at PostScript Journal: The Edinburgh Fringe 2014 starts here...
- emilylouisehardy
- Jul 25, 2014
- 4 min read
By E. L. Hardy
It's PostScript Journal's first summer at the Edinburgh fringe festival - the largest arts festival in the world and the greatest cultural event on the planet. Plays, musicals, comedy, spoken word, installation and everything in between - you name it, it's there. But, with over 3000 shows and 250 venues, where do you start?
This is a festival about discovery, and discovery is unplanned and fortuitous. No one knows for sure which shows are going to make the biggest impact at the festival this year, or can say what you should definitely see (or avoid), but a good starting point might be the shows hand-picked by Ideas Tap. It's my opinion that you can probably have some faith in an establishment dedicated to new writing and innovative theatre and whose ethos is to discover, uncover and fund exciting and important arts projects.
Each year, the Ideas Tap Underbelly Award gives four theatre companies the funding for a run at the fringe festival at a prime location at Underbelly Cowgate, as well as mentoring from leading theatre practitioners, advice, pre- Edinburgh boot camps, and regular expert sessions for the winners to attend. Mentoring the 2014 winners are Louise Callow (Scamp Theatre), Rachel Tyson (producer at the Bush Theatre) and Rob Watt (youth programme manager for the National Theatre). Past winners found that their Edinburgh exposure led to opportunities beyond the Festival which otherwise may not have been accessible to them.
The 2014 winning shows (and four shows that have made it onto our Must See list) are: Karla Crome’s Mush and Me, Rachael Clerke’s How to achieve redemption as a Scot through the medium of Braveheart, Buddug James Jones’s Hiraeth and Jacqui Honess-Martin’s We Have Fallen. (Yes, I did just list four women.)
Click the titles below for tickets and further information.
Thursday 31st July – Monday 25th August (except 11th), 2.50pm 1 hour
Underbelly Cowgate – Iron Belly
'Mush and Me' tells the story of Gabriella and Mushtaq, united by a mutual love of hummus and a shared distaste for bacon, but at odds over faith and family. Writer Karla Crome (star of Misfits and Prisoners’ Wives) follows the friendship of a Jewish girl and a Muslim boy as cultural pressures and contemporary life collide. This stirring piece charts their office spats and lunchtime chats, from initial mistrust to eventual dependency. Mush and Me is a comic and compassionate new play that interrogates the religious, cultural and political loyalties of young, British-born Muslims and Jews.
-How to achieve redemption as a Scot through the medium of Braveheart by Rachael Clerke
Thursday 31st July – Sunday 24th August (except 12th), 4.10pm 1 hour
Underbelly Cowgate – Iron Belly
'How to achieve redemption as a Scot through the medium of Braveheart' explores identity, belonging and machismo, delving into the personal- political debate of a country on the edge of a decision. Rachael feels uneasy about Scotland. She feels uneasy about Alex Salmond and Donald Trump, about golf, tartan and the independence referendum. She feels particularly uneasy about the fact that she once performed the Braveheart freedom speech to Rangers fans outside Ibrox. Expect rousing speeches, a woman dressed as Mel Gibson and your very own Scottish enlightenment.
Thursday 31st July – Sunday 24th August, 2.10pm 55 minutes
Underbelly Cowgate – Big Belly
'We Have Fallen' begins the day after 12 planes have fallen from the sky. Three characters embark on journeys across Europe in the midst of a global crisis. Aviation crash investigator Jennifer must find her way home from Egypt, international financier Richard is stranded in a hotel bar in Moscow and, having lost the perfect retirement plan, Pam must find a new way to be useful. This new play from Insite Performance is about coming home and why we choose to fly.
Thursday 31st July – Sunday 24th August (except 13th), 4.50pm 1 hour
Underbelly Cowgate – Big Belly
'Hiraeth' explores the decline of Welsh identity and tradition, through one woman’s struggle to escape and let go. When Bud makes the decision to leave her family’s three hundred year old farming dynasty, she also leaves five generations of tradition behind. As a modern young woman, Bud is desperate to change her destiny; she sets out alone into the big smoke encountering men, heartbreak, drama and hilarity along the way accompanied by live music and Welsh cakes.
Buddug James Jones spoke to PostScript about what it means to have been awarded this opportunity and what the Edinburgh Fringe Festival means to her:
"There's a couple of reasons for us going up to Edinburgh: Firstly, we would like to tour the show across the UK and even further. Edinburgh is a great platform for us to showcase the show prior to future touring. This story needs travel further than Wales because it's so relevant. Not many people know what is happening in rural communities right now. I am passionate about telling people about what is happening in the agricultural industry. Secondly, we want to tell our story to as many people as possible, and as Edinburgh has such a huge and varied audience, it's perfect for us. It's also great for us all to see the theatre that's being created right now, and be a part of that buzz. Along with making new friends!"
"Winning the award has been incredible for us. We have so much to thank Ideas Tap for. Without the award it would not have been possible for us to go to Edinburgh. It is overwhelming to think that a network like IdeasTap want to support a little show from West Wales! It's definitely given us the confidence and drive to take the Fringe by storm with 'Hiraeth."
Certainly a good place to start, wouldn't you say?
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