Live Theatre is involved with five productions at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, the world premiere of a new play by Lee Hall; bursary-winning play The Soaking of Vera Shrimp; the Fringe debut of all-female sketch group Your Aunt Fanny; Key Change, a play made with female prisoners in association with Open Clasp, and bite-sized music based comedy Mixtape.
The World Premiere of Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour by Lee Hall (The Pitmen Painters, Billy Elliot), is co-presented by Live Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland and directed by former NTS artistic director Vicky Featherstone. Based on Alan Warner’s cult Scottish coming-of-age novel Our Ladies… is a funny, sad and raucously rude production about singing, sex and Sambuca. At the Traverse from Tuesday 18 to Sunday 30 August for the Festival Fringe, the play will then tour Scotland and has its English Premiere at Live Theatre from Thursday 1 to Saturday 24 October.
Your Aunt Fanny, the all female sketch group, featuring some of the most talented members of Live’s Youth Theatre, make their Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut at Just the Tonic from Wednesday 19 to Saturday 29 August. The original sketches that celebrate everything that is funny and inappropriate are written by two of the North East’s most exciting writers, Laura Lindow (Rendezvous) and Lee Mattinson (Donna Disco). The show, suitable for audience members aged 16 and over, contains strong language and strong women. Your Aunt Fanny have an Edinburgh Festival preview at Live Theatre on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 August as part of Our World Live Theatre’s 16th Annual Youth Theatre Festival.
The Soaking of Vera Shrimp, written by former Traverse 50 writer Alison Carr, also makes its Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut and can be seen at Attic, The Pleasance Courtyard between Wednesday 5 and Monday 31 August. This compelling, moving and funny solo-show about a girl with a remarkable gift is presented by Rosie & Me in association with Live Theatre. The play was the winner of Live Theatre/The Empty Space’s Bursary Award 2013 and was developed at Live Theatre, previewing at the venue in 2014.
Key Change presented by Open Clasp Theatre Company in association with Live Theatre will be at Northern Stage at Summerhall between Saturday 8 and Sunday 30 August. Devised with women from HMP/YOI Low Newton Prison, Key Change is a raw and illuminating portrayal of women in prison and was originally toured to male prisons. The show had its theatre debut at Live Theatre last year and will return to Live Theatre on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 September.
After a succession of sell-out shows at Live Theatre, Mixtape make their Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut taking their part theatre show and part music quiz to the Underbelly from Thursday 6 to Sunday 30 August. The Fringe Preview of their unusual bite-sized sketches inspired by music can be seen at Live Theatre on Friday 24 July. Currently based at Live Theatre, the Mixtapers, as the performers are known, also include several members of Live Theatre’s staff.
Max Roberts, Artistic Director, Live Theatre said;
“Whilst it is great to have a high profile show such as Our Ladies… at the Traverse, our co-production with National Theatre of Scotland, I’m delighted that we have been able to support a number of shows developed at or with Live Theatre to find at platform at this years’ Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It takes a lot of energy to take a show to the Festival and I admire their ambition and tenacity and recommend that they all are worth watching if you are in Edinburgh this August.”
For more information on the Live Theatre shows going to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe see http://www.live.org.uk/live-theatre-productions-on-tour.