Time & Again Theatre Company Edinburgh Diary

Letters from the Home Front – Edinburgh Diary Day 10

Friday 10th August 2018

Friday dawned bright and clear. Possibly. We’ve been here for so long that we’ve lost all track of the concept of time and each day goes in a second, but also takes an eternity, and we can’t remember one from the next. However, I do remember this…

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We split off into two contingents: Jac, Paul, Fiona and Catherine went to watch Italia Conti’s The Dark Philosopher, who were performing at a fellow space venue, whilst Tim and I headed into town to sort out some admin. As the others were enjoying the play, we visited the printers to collect more posters and pull quotes. Whilst we waited we couldn’t resist popping up the road to our favourite shortbread shop to have a cheeky biscuit to keep us going (hazelnut and dark chocolate – yes please).

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We reconvened for lunch – big bowls of pasta and plates of pizza at Bella Italia, conveniently located right outside our venue. It was our final meal with Jacob (for the time being anyway) as he was leaving us to go gallivanting back to Crewe (in aid of the war effort of course). How would we cope? Who knows? Probably not very well.

We made our way to Princes Street to flyer outside the Virgin Money Half-Price Hut. 10 half price tickets were up for grabs! It was rather splendid to see our name in lights, up on the big screen. Definitely check out the Hut each day as it’s a great place to nab discount tickets to some really great shows (and I don’t just mean ours here, I’m being genuine. Really I am.) Whilst flyering, our eyes were drawn to the splendid market stalls that surrounded the National Gallery. Some marvellous insect brooches and Fringe inspired tote bags were particularly tempting.

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Afterwards we trooped back to the Royal Mile and did a spot of singing. The crowds seem to be drawn to the dulcet tones of Glenn Miller and the Andrew Sisters like a flock of seagulls to our bedroom window at 4am. They love it.

Then something very exciting happened. A new member of the company arrived in the land of Bagpipes; Anthony had arrived to take over the role of Will. He’d be filling in for the next two shows and we were delighted. To herald his grand arrival the heavens opened. Thank you weather. Love you.

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He swung by the apartment to catch up on some alterations we’ve made to the show and to collect his costume. Before he knew it, he was stood in a multi-storey car park space warming up like a professional. And then it was time for the show! Anthony hadn’t run through the show for over two weeks and yet he was word perfect and did us all proud.

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To celebrate, we decided to head to a Victorian séance at midnight. It was part of the Free Fringe. We collected Fiona from the Pleasance on the way. She’d gone for a few drinks with her friends and happened to see Dara O’Brien but was too shy to make contact. Better luck next time, Fiona.

The séance was an interesting hour where we were promised that the spirits would be crossing the veil tonight. They didn’t. But Catherine did have to go to the front and check that the rope was legitimate. To settle our nerves, we indulged in a little bottle of wine or two afterwards. Purely medicinal.

Night, night,
Laura (Katherine Winters)

Time & Again Theatre Company Uncategorized

Letters from the Home Front -Edinburgh Diary Day 8

Wednesday 8th August 2018

Another day, another review waiting for us when we opened out eyes  – this time from The List! And what’s more another amazing 4 stars! We’re getting spoilt by the morning reviews rolling in. It’ll go to our heads. No really, it will.

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Fiona was out bright and early to catch her parents (devout and loyal Greyhounds fans) for coffee before they left our adopted Scottish homeland. The rest of us were rather slower on the wake up and departed midmorning after a leisurely munch of Cheerios and Wheetabix (other brands are available.)

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We decided that today would be the day we went to the Elephant House – the birthplace of Harry Potter. J K Rowling used to write there when she first moved to Edinburgh and the toilets are now a dedicated graffiti shrine. It’s a place of pilgrimage for any Potter fan.  I can also highly recommend their Hazelnut and Nutella cake which I nibbled (lol, wolfed down) alongside a big cup of coffee. We also had a wander around some of Edinburgh’s finest vintage shops, including the National Museum of Scotland, where we made a couple of new friends…

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Due to a stroke of good fortune (and someone else not showing up) we were able to perform another round of rousing 40s close-harmony tunes on the Street Stage. The crowds gathered again – singing really does seem to be like a magnet to crowds of people – and the boys flyered to their heart’s content as the girls warbled away.

Being a kind and generous person of the highest degree, I whipped up a big bowl of pasta for everyone to devour for din dins. We ate early so we could get back to the Mile in time to catch Mission: Her, a show written to remind those with mental health issues that they are not alone. “Her is twentysomething, she has a five-year plan in place but life events put a spanner in the works. As Her begins to drown in the pressures of past and present society, her friends go on a mission to help.” It was a sharp and thought provoking performance with well integrated tech and effects to highlight the looming presence of social media.

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We finished in perfect time to hit our empty car park space for the nightly warm up and prepare ourselves for the the show (recentre ourselves so we didn’t disturb our creative energy – thanks Ruby). The performance seemed to go well again. We’re getting very quick at setting up and packing down our WW2 set: folding chairs, moving tables, sticking up posters.

After drinks and a catch up with some of Tim’s friends, we headed back to the apartment for our beauty sleep. Now proud owners of Ridercards, we can bus back and forth to our heart’s desire. Just watch us go.

Goodnight folks,
Laura (Katherine Winters)

Time & Again Theatre Company Edinburgh Diary

Letters from the Home Front – Edinburgh Diary Day 4

Saturday 4th August 2018

Saturday started in fine fashion; a civilised pot of tea over excited discussion about our opening night. With the lovely reception we received under our belts, we decided we must build upon the momentum. We began to devise a plan for the day to maximise our efforts. We would split up into two packs of Greyhounds to prowl the mean streets for the first time. Director Jac and writer/producer/actor Laura would hit the Fringe’s Meet the Media event, whilst the rest of us worked on spreading some good ol’ word of mouth – flyering and telling people a little more about our show! We donned full 1940’s regalia (as is customary these days), grabbed our gas mask boxes full of our patented ‘ration book’ flyers and headed our separate ways.

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Jacob, Fiona, Paul and I headed to The Pleasance (the buzzing hub with lots of theatre spaces and cheese toasties, if you remember Thursday’s escapades). There we flyered with reckless abandon, ensuring that word got around about what was to be performed just down the hill later that evening.

Meanwhile, Jac and Laura (with Tim acting as what I’m assured was a very efficient runner – fetching tea and snacks and boosting morale as required) joined the back of what was an extremely long queue to meet the Fringe’s media. Thus commenced a jolly long wait, a four hour wait to be precise. With 3000+ shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, I’m sure you can imagine the queue which snaked around the block when an opportunity arose to tell the press about what makes one’s show unique. Jac and Laura really got in the wartime spirit and took one for the team!

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The next task for the rest of us was to distribute some more of our snazzy A3 posters to catch passersby’s eye. This was preceded by a quick pitstop at Greggs to refuel and (rather unexpectedly) catch a well-dressed man stealing sandwiches. Keen to commence our task we marched onwards, baked goods in hand, ready to get these posters up. So keen we were that Fiona managed to staple up a poster with a chicken slice in one hand and her weapon of choice in the other (stapler). What a gal.

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We received word that Jac and Laura had now made it into the building where the media event was hosted but alas, they were now waiting in line to speak to the writers and reporters. When dropping a poster into theSpace Triplex, we spotted a chap from Error 404 Theatre Company‘s Wakey Wakey waiting to go on dressed in a flowing ivory wedding gown. We were intrigued and had to snap up some last minute tickets to see the show and find out more. Wakey Wakey is a newly-written comedy set at, you may have guessed it, a wake. Four twenty-something-year-old friends come back to their hometown to celebrate the life of Jessica, their best friend’s late wife. However, things don’t go as smoothly as planned as the bunch of misfits make faux pas after faux pas. The show is well-observed and has some real tender moments amongst the comedy when the characters divulge their feelings and stories about their late friend.

After taking in the show and doing a little more flyering, we reconvened with Jac and Laura once they had spoken to the media. We headed back to our apartment and got ourselves ready for the show. We didn’t quite have time to warm up as usual back at base, so ever the professionals we headed to the Radisson Blu’s car park, filed into an empty parking space and did our thing. I’ll admit we did get some funny looks from car park patrons as en mass we exuberantly proclaimed the word BA-NA-NAAAA. However, I’m glad of our weird car park warm up because we had a full house on Saturday! Jacob took this sneaky photo of everyone filing in pre-show…

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After a smashing show (with thanks to our wonderful receptive audience!) and a cheeky gin or two it was time to take in a show. We went to see Shit-Faced Shakespeare’s Hamlet. There was a great atmosphere in the theatre as we watched Claudius get drunker and drunker and mangle the Bard’s words and story – insisting that Laertes and Ophelia swap costumes. Much hilarity ensued as the actor’s muddled through the chaos. This show is best enjoyed after a few beverages – it does make for a fun night out!

We had such a busy and exhausting day that we all flopped into bed with ease when back at the apartment.

Adieu!

Catherine

(Greyhounds’ Ruby Winters)

Time & Again Theatre Company Edinburgh Reviews

Reviews from the Home Front – Cry God for Harry, England and St George!

Cry God for Harry, England and St George! by Mulberry Theatre Company

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Given the fact that Henry V plays such an important part in our show, team Greyhounds was excited to see that another production at the Fringe was using Shakespeare’s play to create their own story.

Rather than the 1940’s home front, Mulberry Theatre Company took us to East London, where we meet a group of teenage girls who are attempting to stage their own production of Henry V. However, they initially struggle to relate to the play as it’s about a load of white men in a situation seemingly very far removed from their own. This in itself raises the issue of diversity (or lack thereof) in the stories that are told in theatre and the actors who get to tell them. The key turning point in the play comes when the cast – along with many other Muslims in the country – receive an anonymous letter, declaring April 3rd as ‘Punish a Muslim Day’, thereby inciting people to commit violent crimes against Muslim people and communities.

Sadly, this letter was not a fictional dramatic device made up for the purposes of the play, but was actually a real letter that was widely circulated across the UK earlier this year. It was a very poignant and uncomfortable reminder that Islamophobia is still rife in our country, and that it is all of our responsibility to stand up for, and alongside, Muslim communities. I thought the actors handled this sensitive issue with great maturity, showing a range of responses from angry defiance to fear, raising some really thought provoking questions about what it means to be British which tied in well with the Shakespeare.

Though the subject matter was serious, there were some really lovely and inventive moments in the play to enjoy. I was struck by the set when I first walked in the venue, which effectively gave the impression of a community centre and was used well by the performers throughout. Technical aspects of the play were also executed well, such as when the girls were reading comments about their production of Henry V (both supportive and abusive) and scrolling comment feeds were projected onto their bodies. There was also a lovely moment with a skull, suit of armour, sword and crown – I don’t want to give too much away, but it was a surprising and creative use of what I had previously just thought of as a nice bit of set-dressing!

All in all, Cry God for Harry, England and St George! was very impressive for an entirely student-led production and these young people should be commended for what they have achieved with this show.