Edinburgh Fringe and Theatre
Passengers
The Edinburgh Fringe was another fabulous experience and something that I would recommend to any aspiring practitioner of theatre, or whichever particular aspect of the Arts you happen to be involved in.
I found a PR woman, who said she could sell my show on the strength of my being a heating engineer, as not many of those do shows in Edinburgh! She was correct. On Fringe opening day I found myself on the roof of the Scottish Television building in a live interview on the lunchtime news, while the cast were dispatched to do various radio interviews.
With help from a host of people, I managed to put together a great cast & crew and one of the joys of recent years is that the majority of the cast have continued to work not only in theatre, but also in film, television, and media production.
We worked very hard at selling the show. Margaret and I were in the High Street every day, almost all day, leafleting. The hard work paid off in very good attendances. With a capacity of @120 we were never less than half full and sold out the last three days – with many people waiting for returns on the last night!
The operators, Rocket Venues, even offered hold the show over for another week, and move us to a bigger venue. Nowadays, with a bit of experience, I know how big a deal that was, but we had no food left, no accommodation, no programmes or flyers and we had used the last of our credit card on a meal for the cast before the last show. We were broke, and we were going home!
Yes, the Edinburgh Fringe is a great thing to do, but for me, just the once!
Jerry with, rear, Jacqueline Hanan, Iain Williams, Elaine Blair, Garry Waltham.
Front. Sarah Anne McKeown, Gavin Smith, Douglas McFarlane, Jacqueline Spiers.
Photos © Alex Pirie.
Me, Not Understand Women?
After Edinburgh I had the notion to write another play. I wanted to prove to myself that the first one wasn’t a fluke and I wanted to write something that was not only comedic, but also had seriousness to it.
I was then invited to write a short play for the opening of the newly refurbished Fort Theatre in Bishopbriggs in February 2003. We had been given the use of the Theatre for rehearsals in the week before going to Edinburgh, and in return, our dress rehearsal became a performance to the Fort Theatre members.
I produced the show as Passenger Productions with Gary Waltham directing.
It was very well received and shortly after, I wrote a second act and staged it, again with the students performing, in November 2004 at The Village Theatre in East Kilbride.
GARRY WALTHAM
NATALIE CLARK
PAUL LOGAN
CHRIS BRANNIGAN
EMMA WALTHAM
NICOLA BUCHANAN
NATALIE McCROSSAN
Love Me Slender
In early 2004, I was asked to direct a play, Love Me Slender by Vannesa Brooks, for the Antonine Theatre Group who are based at The Fort Theatre in Bishopbriggs.I didn’t take much persuading. It is a bit of an odd play but a good one, and it was an opportunity to work with people I knew could do the job and have freedom to use their own space.
We performed the play in March 2004.
The cast and crew, all amateurs with a wide variety of experience and ages, approached the project in an enthusiastic and professional manner receiving great praise from the many people who came along over the four day run.
I never did return to theatre work as I enrolled in a screenwriting course - which then brought my writing to an abrupt halt!
Back - Ann Graham, Paula Mahon, Jerry, Grace Gordon
Front - Christina Heron, Lelsey Anne Wylie, Nan Saville & Suzi Caddy
