EDINBURH FRINGE - Your Perfect Life

One of the things I love about the Edinburgh Fringe is getting to see shows that I wouldn't normally go to. Although I've loved the Fringe since I was a teenager watching shows like Edinburgh Nights and Edinburgh or Bust, I've only actually been twice. On both of these occasions I have been working, so my random, go and see anything viewing has been dictated by when I have free time and what I can see with my venue pass. But because of Covid, this year is different. On the downside, I am not currently in a flat opposite a Fringe venue where I can just show up and see whatever I can get into. But on the plus side, I am in the comfort of my own home with a massive digital Fringe programme available for my perusal. 

Browsing the Fringe listings, trying to decide what to see, is always excitingly daunting, but not having the constraints of venues and timings this year I've just had to take some stabs in the dark at things that appeal to me from their blurb. And one of the things that caught my eye is Your Perfect Life, written and performed by Erika Marais and Faeron Wheeler from South Africa. A performance from South Africa ticks the box for something I wouldn't necessarily normally get to see and the subject matter appealed to me so I thought I'd give it a go.

Your Perfect Life is inspired by the lives of its writers and performers, "One woman has the family, the other the career. Neither is sure they have what they want." I was drawn to this story as I am at an age where this narrative feels very relevant to me and I've had conversations around this with friends, as well as it overlapping with some research I've been doing for a blog post that I have on the back burner at the moment. 

Caitlin (Wheeler) and Karlien (Marais) are high school best friends, brought back together at their 20-year school reunion. Their lives took very different paths with Karlien marrying on leaving school and having three children, while Caitlin is single, childfree, and has a successful career. The interaction that unfolds between them makes for an engaging hour of theatre.

The premise is fascinating and highly relatable. We can all picture what it would be like to see our old classmates after 20 years, who we would love to catch up with, who we'd rather not bump into, and our own insecurities that dictate what we'd love those people to know about us and what we would rather didn't come up in conversation. The awkwardness of once best friends who haven't seen each other in decades being thrown together, their preconceptions of each other's lives, and the opening of old wounds all wind together into a compelling narrative.

There is potential here to go beyond a good story and dive into the pressures that society puts on women and how their success is defined, but the depth and nuance isn't quite reached to leave the watcher pondering these important questions or change perceptions. Although semi-autobiographical, the characters are polar opposites to the extent that it almost feels a little caricatured, particularly when there are moments of dialogue that feel more like the writers trying to get a point across than the characters naturally expressing themselves. 

The piece does touch on some important attitudes and subject matters. Caitlin's experiences of awkward interrogations about why she isn't married or doesn't have children ring very true for me personally. Her comments about how at least if she had been divorced people would know how to react to her, as well as her allusion to how childfree doesn't mean responsibility-free, are hugely insightful. But these are just throw-away comments and need further exploration to have a meaningful impact on anyone without those lived experiences. The fact that I cannot pick out those insightful moments from the experiences that Karlien shares proves my point.

An enjoyable production that just lacks that extra depth needed to have a lasting impact.

EDINBURGH FRINGE - Iphigenia in Splott

The Fringe may have officially launched today (6 August), but Shedinburgh is already on day four of its varied programme of streamed events, all from the intimacy of a shed!

Although it passed me by when it launched last year, I got a bit of the Shedinburgh experience back in March when Tobias Menzies' enthralling performance of White Rabbit Red Rabbit became available to watch again - a play that has lived rent-free in my head ever since. Coupling this previous positive experience of the shed with an award-winning Welsh play that I have thus far managed to miss at every opportunity made this stream of Iphigenia in Splott a must-see for me, and I have not been disappointed.

Gary Owen's script may be inspired by the Greek myth, but what he has created in the character of Effie (a role originated by Sophie Melville and reprised by her here) is very much relevant in the here and now. As her story unfolds in this monologue, the people, places, and situations are recognisable and relatable, and the political and societal overtones are just as pertinent, if not more so, now as they were when the play was first performed six years ago. 

There is nowhere to hide in the shed; no set, no props, no fancy lighting design. Just Melville, sat in a chair, armed with Owen's words. And that is all that is needed. In the hands of Melville, this beautifully crafted script comes alive and is completely captivating. Drawing you into the world of Effie, you live every moment with her, feeling her every emotion, and laughing and crying with her along the way. If anything, this pared-back setting adds to the intimacy of the piece and that personal connection between the audience and the character, something that Melville skillful maintains with ease for the whole performance. For over an hour the watcher becomes completely emersed in Effie's world.

If this performance of Iphigenia in Splott is an indication of the quality of Shedinburgh's programme this year then it is well worth checking out.

CHALLENGE: Freewriting

For May, including Mental Health Awareness Week, CALM is taking over 64 Million Artists' weekly challenges. To start things off we have a free writing challenge; set a timer for two minutes and write.

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I have never done anything like this before and, I'm afraid, the result of me rambling for 2 minutes wasn't very exciting at all. I think the main thing I discovered is that 2 minutes isn't very long! But here it is, my unedited two minutes of just writing:

This is my first attempt at freewriting and my brain is a little like a pinball machine so this could go anywhere or nowhere. I think I’ve set an alarm for two minutes to know when to stop writing but I just had yet another argument with Alexa so I definitely have a timer set for 10 minutes and probably one set for 2 minutes as well. If there’s only the 10 minute one then this could be a long meandering ramble. I have no idea how many words I could write in 10 minutes. I have…

And that was it. Time up!

RESPONSE: The Joy of Nerding

I recently read this blog post by Dr Emily Garside, Let Me Enjoy Taylor Swift in Peace (or stop stealing people's joy). The more I read, the more my nerdy little heart was screaming YES at everything she had to say. I took to Twitter to express how much I related:

Read this blog post and celebrate your nerdiness, whatever it may be.

I obsess. I fangirl. And it has brought so much joy into my life. Friendships, shared experiences and in jokes, and so many adventures! Finding the people that enjoy and match your energy is the best. https://t.co/aL5mQYDlh4

— Jacqui Onions (@jacqui_onions) April 15, 2021

But sometimes a Tweet just isn't enough so here I am to tell you my own little nerdy story.

Firstly, Garside's blog post discusses the issues around perceived intellectual or taste superiority. Now, I am not the stereotypical South Wales Valleys girl. A lifelong theatre-goer with a Master's degree, I have spent my free time in lockdown seeking out online performances and biology and psychology lectures. Can you hear those childhood taunts of swot, snob, nerd? But take me out of the Valleys and little old me with my Doctor Who t-shirts, Funkos, and collection of Sulleys from Monsters Inc couldn't possibly appreciate Oscar Wilde or Dylan Thomas...could she?! And this is before you throw into the mix that the arts and sciences shouldn't go hand in hand in one person! So what am I, the superior or inferior? I don't consider myself either and certainly don't try to project either persona...in fact, I don't believe that either actually exists...but I'm sure in the eyes of different people I have been both. As Garside so wonderfully describes it, these people are all joy suckers! I love that I can go to my TV recordings and choose between Alan Bennett's Talking Heads or Star Trek, Uncle Vanya or Holby City, not to mention my inexplicable addiction to Say Yes to the Dress. Garside points out that the joy suckers that consider themselves superior "want people like me to think I’m enjoying quality high brow stuff and judge me for it." What the joy suckers don't seem to realise is that we can understand the difference and enjoy both. And when you stop worrying about what other people think and embrace the things you love, be they high art, popular culture, or just plain trash, you'll enjoy them all the more. 

Now we've decided to stop the joy suckers in their tracks and enjoy whatever it is that makes us happy, it's time to share that passion with the world. But how much should we share? Garside rightly points out in her blog post that "the idea that it’s somehow ‘unprofessional’ to profess a love for a musician? A TV show? This is ridiculous." Yet this is a battle I've had with myself several times. It is for the most part a pressure I put upon myself - I am my own joy sucker! Some days I am proud to be a fangirl, enthusiastically sharing on social media all the things that make my nerdy little heart happy. But then other days I censor myself, concerned that I shouldn't be going on too much about whatever my obsession at the time is. Garside observes, "Fans are used to the idea that being passionate about things like TV, film or comic books, even theatre fans, that it's a 'silly thing' that is a pat-on-the-head 'that's cute' but take it a step further and you're 'weird' and 'why are you so obsessed with this'." I need to remind myself of two things. Firstly, I have never lost any professional respect through my nerding, in fact, my colleagues and professional contacts often respond favourably to my geeky social media posts. Secondly, life is so much more fun when I fangirl. Let me expand on that second point by sharing some of the things I blame Daniel Boys for!

I have been stalking Daniel Boys for nearly 12 years now. By stalking, I mean in the summer of 2009 my friend and I purchased a fan site that we relaunched in the October as the Daniel Boys Fanzone. I say friend...we didn't actually meet in person until December 2009, several months after we'd decided to run this site together! Luckily it all worked out and we really are friends now. And that's the first crazy thing that I blame Daniel for...but it gets crazier. We've had plenty of adventures over the years (and made some wonderful friends along the way) but by far the weirdest moment was when I ended up on Points of View! Daniel had filmed an interview for a TV show but was cut completely so the Fanzone rallied the troops and turned to Points of View to find out why. We were chuffed when they responded to the messages we'd collected and were even more pleased that they were going to interview Daniel as a result, but it hadn't crossed our minds that they'd want one of us to make a video of our query! Guess who got volunteered for that one? It's certainly one of my stranger claims to fame! 

I also blame Daniel Boys for the fact that I ended up singing with a choir on an album! Let me elaborate. Daniel sang a track on More With Every Line - the debut album of Tim Prottey-Jones. Tim hadn't been on my radar until then but we made contact with him to do our little bit to promote the album through the Fanzone and of course I purchased a copy. I completely fell in love with his music and started following him on social media so when he came to be planning his second album and announced that he wanted to put together a choir from his Twitter followers to sing on it I had to give it a shot, even though I am most definitely not a singer. By some miracle or act of kindness on Tim's part, I got into the Twitter Choir and spent an amazing day in Birmingham with a lovely group of people that I'd never met before, learning and recording the choir parts for the album, Surrounded by the Sounds. It's an experience that I will never forget and ten years on I am still incredibly proud to have been a part of it and grateful to Tim for giving me the opportunity. And I wouldn't have known a thing about it, let alone put myself forward for it had I not been a fangirl.

So, good things happen when you fangirl but why do we fangirl in the first place? I'd like to return to the perception that these passions are a 'silly thing'. Yes, I make light of my fangirling and joke about stalking and obsessions but if you ask me or take an interest then I will happily articulate in all seriousness why I am passionate about a certain performer, TV show, or piece of theatre. Garside has even written a book about one of her personal passions, Schitt's Creek - that's no 'silly thing'. I am no author but I'll enthusiastically discuss with you how and why I became and remain a Daniel Boys fangirl, why I will watch anything that has James Spader, Michael C. Hall, or Matthew Macfadyen in it based purely on the casting, where my love of Under Milk Wood came from, or what I find so relatable about the musical Ordinary Days. And I actively encourage discussion and debate. I don't need you to share my love or agree with me, but I'd love to have a conversation about it and to discuss your passions too. The lesson here - engage with the nerd in your life. You may find you influence and inspire each other and have some fascinating conversations and discussions. 

I'd like to conclude by talking about joy. On the subject of Fan Fiction, Garside says, "it's one of the few things that has brought me true joy this last year. I'm clinging onto one Fic I'm writing like a life raft right now." I have never written Fan Fiction but I related to the sentiment in terms of the joy and comfort that my own passions have brought me during lockdown. For the sake of variety, let's move away from Daniel Boys for a moment and look at one of my other obsessions - Matthew Macfadyen. Macfadyen first caught my attention back in 2002 with the start of one of my all-time favourite TV series, Spooks, so I have been a fan for the vast majority of my adult life. Combine lockdown with the release of Quiz, my discovery of Succession, and I have disappeared down a rabbit hole! It's not unusual for me to go through phases of seeking out the back catalogues of my favourite actors (I have a decent James Spader DVD collection that I am always happy to add to), but so far the pandemic has seen me watching seven seasons of TV shows, two and a half mini-series', and six movies featuring Macfadyen. If any judgemental thoughts are crossing your mind right now then you are a joy-sucker! I have taken a great deal of joy in discovering film and TV that had previously passed me by and revisiting pieces that I have enjoyed before, as well as the comfort found in the familiarity. Most people have a comfort movie, well I guess I've just extended that a little! 

Take joy in your passions and those of others. Life is much better when you do!

For Once

Theatr Clwyd have been continually providing a variety of online theatre at this time where we cannot physically get into venues for live performances (visit the Theatr Clwyd website to see what they have coming up). One such offering is their Secret Stream series, presenting live readings of plays. These readings are not only a great opportunity for audiences to continue enjoying live performance, but also actively aim to provide employment for freelancers in the arts industry, many of whom have lost the vast majority of their work during the pandemic.

For Once by Tim Price, performed on 11 February, is the fifth Secret Stream from Theatr Clwyd. An intimate three-hander packed with monologues, this play certainly has plenty of the elements that mean it lends itself to being read over Zoom. However, the jumping around the timeline without the visual prompts that full staging would provide make it a little difficult sometimes to realise immediately if the action is in the past or the present. The break in focus that this causes the viewer is possibly why the play feels all of its length.

In a story of loss, secrets, and family dynamics, the action focusses on teenage son, Sid (Daf Thomas), mother, April (Michelle McTernan), and father, Gordon (Sule Rimi). With very little rehearsal, under the direction of Francesca Goodridge the cast produce some wonderfully moving moments of both grief and joy from a script that beautifully explores the different ways that people respond to bereavement. 

Performing over Zoom is rarely without its issues, and occasional rustling off camera results in a dip in sound for the person speaking. But this also serves as a reminder that the performance is completely live with no option to adjust the sound and re-take, and that in itself is rather exciting when so much online theatre is currently pre-recorded. It is a joy to experience truly live theatre and I hope to enjoy more Secret Streams in the future.

Surrealist Time Capsule

Dear Diary,

I finally returned home today. Bumped into Renée who made sure I knew it had been three months since I left. But she also said she'd missed me, which was cute - she's a sweet rhino at heart. 

I got back quite late but a few of my other neighbours were still out and about too. They all seemed pleased to see me back (except Julian who was his usual random self, but that's unicorns for you) and I'm not surprised looking at the lack of work that had been done around the place while I was gone. I'm guessing nobody bothered checking in on my house as I've returned to a cockroach infestation. And none of them have done any weeding while I was gone so that's something for me to look forward to. 

Still, I couldn't get too annoyed about the mess as the place looked so pretty in spite of the weeds - it had been snowing! So I decided to leave all the clearing up until tomorrow and build a snowman. Cheeky sod kept complaining about not being perfect even after all the effort I'd gone to in creating him!

I planted a new money tree. The ones I planted before I left are now fully grown so that's a nice injection of cash when I need it. That'll probably be sooner rather than later as I made the mistake of popping into Resident Services. No, "Hi! How are you?" from Mr Nook, he just immediately tried to sell me storage options. I haven't committed to anything yet but I'm sure he'll convince me to part with my money soon, he has a knack for that. But thoughts of home improvements can wait until the morning.

This blog post was created for a What the February challenge and is inspired by Animal Crossing New Horizons. 

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I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change

While we are unable to consume theatre in the conventional way, I have been looking more and more to engage in theatre in new, digital, ways. One thing I've noticed, much to my delight, is that the small scale musical theatre pieces that I love seem to lend themselves to lockdown productions. I've been able to watch a new version of one of my favourite musicals, Ordinary Days, created in lockdown, plus I finally got to see The Last Five Years, and now I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.

Unlike the other lockdown productions I've mentioned, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change was filmed with the performers together, but socially distanced, at the London Coliseum. Being a four-hander, in some ways the piece lends itself to physical distancing, but the theme of love and relationships really doesn't. Yet the clever staging and camera angles mean that, for the most part, you do not notice that anything is amiss. More than that, the production manages to transcend theatre and film, recorded and edited with a film quality yet staged in a theatre with a theatrical design. The decision to stage the piece facing upstage with the empty auditorium as the backdrop is hugely emotive. As an audience member you are filled with joy that this has been created in the most adverse of conditions by a cast and creative team thinking outside the box. But at the same time reminded of the devastating situation that there are theatres sitting empty across the country and audiences are forced to watch on a screen rather than having that irreplaceable in-person experience.

There are pros and cons regarding making a pre-recorded show available only at the time of the 'performance'. On the plus side, it does give a sense of coming together at the same time as other audience members like you would for live theatre. The downside is that if you experience any connectivity issues then there isn't the option to watch again. From a technical point of view, the stream was very smooth. The sound was a little quiet in places but it is hard to tell if that was an issue with the stream's sound or with my aging laptop. 

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change is a series of vignettes, presenting a multitude of unrelated characters, that look at dating, love and relationships from every possible angle. It is highly relatable as you will have been or met every one of these characters at some point in your life. The whole cast, comprised of Brenda Edwards, Alice Fearn, Simon Lipkin and Oliver Tompsett, are chameleon-like in their portrayals, morphing from character to character with great skill and ease. Although highly engaging throughout, the piece and performances build and build to a crescendo of highlights; Tompsett's stunning performance of Shouldn't I Be Less In Love With You?, Fearn's heart-wrenching version of The Very First Dating Video of Rose Ritz, and Edwards and Lipkin's beautiful creation of characters well beyond their own years in I Can Live With That.

A wonderful show, performed by a stellar cast, and made possible by the imagination and vision of the creative team behind it.