#fringebiscuit

Foodies and music lovers, gather around. We got the opportunity to meet Kate Bauer and James Ireland from Bradán Theatre to discuss the creative process of their latest projects. It’s story time...

Bradán Theatre is an eco-theatre company with a knack for musical storytelling. Their shows My Lover Was a Salmon in the Climate Apocalypse and Cooking the Vegan Salmon of Knowledge tackle large corporations’ accountability in the climate crisis through performances infused with Irish mythology, folk tunes & culinary experiences. 

📸: Rory Gradon

At #edfringe2022 we were 🤩🤩 by My Lover Was a Salmon in the Climate Apocalypse, in which an Irish Folk gig spirals into an absurdist dramedy about the horrors of salmon farming.

Like the committed stalkers theatre groupies that we are, we tracked them down met Bradán last month, following their run of Cooking the Vegan Salmon of Knowledge at the @dublinfringefest. Co-founders Kate & James shared how essential community building & collaboration are for & in their work, from theatre-making to environmentalism…

…After becoming friends at Trinity College, James and Kate got in the habit of cooking together whilst jamming to tunes. The combination of music and food became key. As Kate says: “Music & food are tangible. They are strong things─ people respond to them. Through them, we can think of the environment in tangible, accessible ways”. Not to mention the community-building quality that homemade meals & catchy melodies bring to the table. Environmentalism can be an anxiety-inducing topic, so both shows aim to put audiences in a safe space to tackle it as if getting a “warm hug from the biosphere”... 

📸: Kate Bauer and James Ireland

…Bradán’s creative process marinated within Dublin’s devised theatre scene, which they consider incredibly horizontal. “Collaborative designing streamlines the process & releases [the artist] from the fear”. The approach behind My Lover Was a Salmon in the Climate Apocalypse was super collaborative. Kate and James worked with musicians through a slow-simmering R&D process to strike the right tone before writing down a script for VAULT Festival in London (2022 edition─ cancelled due to the challenges posed by COVID-19’s OMICRON variant), Eventually, the show made its way to #Edfringe22…

…In contrast, Cooking the Vegan Salmon of Knowledge, a culinary performance with live music, stemmed from an article that James wrote in October 2020 and discusses the human impact on the environment through the history of food. The show, which includes a food-tasting experience as part of the community ethos & adds a ritualistic quality with guitar-led melodies, piggybacked on the lessons from Bradán’s run at Edinburgh and strived to create a safe place for audiences… 

📸: Kate Bauer and James Ireland

We got the chance to speak to Erin Fowler about all things #FEMME, discussing the importance of theatre and feminism, as well as what performing means to her. 

📸: Dan Finill

Why FEMME and why now?

"It's an interesting question because I made it in 2018 before #metoo had really come to the fore and every time I perform it I think "maybe it's not relevant any more", this idea around femininity and what it means to be a woman, to be female, to identify as female. But I think now more than ever we're facing ridiculously archaic situations...

"...It was really powerful doing the first show here (House of Oz). I hadn't quite connected to it fully again. Looking everyone in the eye which I do so much, it's like a stadium for people to witness me and to witness each other. I don't know if that's a good thing but it does still feel relevant. "

How does FEMME make you feel and how do you want other people to feel when they watch it?

"For me it's about allowing women, female-identifying people, to feel like their femininity can be whatever they want. This is my exploration of what femininity has meant or been or been challenged by for me..."

"...I hope that it's seen an offering and that it has a sense of solidarity, a sense of understanding for women to think "We don't have to be a certain way to be feminine, we don't even have to be feminine to still be a woman". That relationship is so ever-changing."

Catch Erin's show 'FEMME' on 25 August at #HouseOfOz at 5pm. Her other show 'EGG' is also on #HouseOfOz from the 15th. Erin will also be leading Qoya Feminine Movement Workshops on 20 & 29 August at 11am. 

Where do feelings go after a heart transplant? Blending movement, dialogue & poetry, Lovesick depicts the relationship between a patient (Georgina Barley) and her surgeon (Avena Mansergh-Wallace), probing themes of grief, sexuality and heartbreak. The clever script deftly balances pathos with humour, whilst raising a compelling question: can organs retain memory? Though enjoyable throughout, at times the plot seems overwrought, with unnecessary twists presumably designed to complicate the characters’ relationship adding little to the overall story. Barley’s character also seems to exclusively attribute her same-sex attraction to her heart transplant — a plot-point which felt somewhat clumsy, if not behind the times. Despite this, strong performances from the cast, along with an intriguing storyline and endearing comic moments make Lovesick an insightful and entertaining play. 4/5

We’re not going to lie, we’ve been working on this project for longer than we care to admit. What started as a half-baked brilliant idea over a couple of late-night drinks in mid-July has finally become a reality. We’re proud to present the first in a series of Fringebiscuit’s forays into the field of social science.

Like all genuinely important scientific enquiries, this first played out on Twitter...

📸: Graham Clayton Chance

as british as a watermelon was two years in the making. “Originally, it was a live show for Contact, but because of the pandemic, [the theatre] asked if I could create a film.” mandla rae’s (no capitalisation, no pronouns) initial reaction? “I was scared. I knew nothing about film.” Nevertheless, mandla took the plunge. Two years and a successful Edinburgh Fringe run later, the show makes its live premier in Manchester at the Black Gold Arts Festival later this week.

Full disclosure: we’re avid fans of the piece, which sees mandla, through poetry, storytelling and sumptuous visuals, delve into a selective memory to unearth and reassemble fragments of a traumatic past. mandla’s enigmatic persona treats tales of asylum, migration, adoption and abuse like the many watermelons featured— tangible objects to be regarded, explored, cut open and destroyed. Their destruction is profoundly satisfying…

…and reflects a defiant undercurrent in mandla’s work. “I don’t want pity… I don’t want to spell things out. It is as it is: wobbly and wonky.” Watching the round-faced, cheeky smile, you soon realise that pity isn’t an option. Behind the white teeth, mandla— “It means power”— seems ever-so-slightly dangerous.

Since collaborating with director Graham Clayton-Chance and producer Jayne Compton, mandla says, “I have fallen in love with film.” But the live show is a different beast altogether. Originally designed to be small-scale, the pandemic has flipped the script. “Studio shows are out of the window for now, unless you want seven audience members.” Instead, the performance will happen in Contact’s largest theatre space.

Such challenges have become routine. Looking back over the last few years, mandla muses, “I’ve had opportunities to push myself. [Before 2020] I had never done a solo show.” One important source of inspiration was Bryony Kimmings’ standout, one-woman show I’m a Phoenix, Bitch, which was a highlight of Edfringe 2019. mandla, then working at Edinburgh’s Summerhall venue, realised: “I’m interested in making work outside the usual lens of what audiences expect.”

And yet, mandla aims to gradually move away from performing and return to a first love: “I’m a writer. I write. I would do it even without [an audience.]”

So, you’re bringing a shiny, new banger of a show up to the Edinburgh fringe— congrats! But here’s the rub: you don’t have the budget for professional PR services. Never fear! The Fringebiscuit team has put together a list of essential advice for managing your own marketing and promotion. First up…

The crowds of theatregoers (and undercover reviewers) won’t always have time to listen to the full, podcast-worthy pitch for your show. So, make sure you have a short version ready. The traditional “elevator pitch” of around 20 seconds is ideal — and should be just enough time to introduce your show and say what makes it worth seeing.

Sending a press release riddled with spelling errors attached to a poorly formatted email is a surefire way to end up in a publication’s “not interested” pile. Make sure to proofread your content by sending it out to yourself or a trusted friend first.

Make you, your company and your show easy to find by including clickable links in your promo email. Successful marketing often boils down to being more accessible than your competitors!

If your show is ready to go, beat the festival rush by inviting reviewers to pre-fringe previews. Good early reviews can equal sold out audiences from day one.

Please, please remember that your show isn’t a proxy for your worth as an artist or as a person. Be savvy about marketing, but realise that you don’t need an “important message” or “timely theme” for your ideas to be worthwhile.

Some unscrupulous types may ask for money or other types of payment (extra tickets, drinks, food, etc.) in exchange for a review. This is unethical and no reputable reviewer would request anything more than a press ticket to see your show.

Edfringe is a great place to meet producers, programmers, agents, journalists and other industry professionals who can provide you with opportunities. Ensure you aren’t tongue-tied in the moment by brainstorming your goals before the festival begins.

Avoid revealing the best jokes and most thrilling plot points in your press release— save these highlights for the show! On the other hand, “You’ll have to see it to find out” only works if you’ve provided enough set-up about your plot and characters for the reader to care.

Want to pick the brains of an industry professional? Invite them out for a coffee. You don’t need to be previously acquainted— a polite email can work wonders.

From press events to industry workshops, it’s likely that you’ll meet many new contacts while at the fringe. Follow up these interactions with a short email or reach out on social media before you forget.