The Edinburgh Fringe is almost upon us and to get prepared for another Scottish summer Read About Stuff is running a ‘Five From The Fringe’ interview series, where creative teams answer five questions about their upcoming Festival shows.
In this interview, I chat to Low Fat Productions about their show Spraywatch.
Can you tell me a little about your show and what audiences can expect?
Spraywatch: A Beautiful Rescue is an original musical comedy inspired by a certain iconic 90s lifeguard series, but it’s really about much more than beaches and red swimsuits. It follows a glamorous Californian lifeguard who washes up in a struggling British seaside town. Desperate to get home, she has one shot: whip the local lifeguards and the town itself into shape and top the global beach rankings.
If you come expecting a parody, you’ll be disappointed! Yes, there are plenty of ridiculous jokes, big musical numbers and nostalgia, but underneath it’s a story about beauty, ambition, identity and belonging. It’s silly, it’s heartfelt, it’s a little bit dark in places, and all of our audiences to date have left having laughed a lot while feeling unexpectedly moved. We’ve described it as Barbie meets The Book of Mormon, which feels about right—although with considerably more crabs.
What drew you to this specific story, and why does it belong at the Edinburgh Fringe?
I’ve always been fascinated by the contrast between the glossy optimism of American television and the reality of growing up in Britain during the 1990s. That gap felt like a brilliant place to build a comedy, but the more I wrote, the more it became a story about people chasing impossible ideas of perfection and slowly discovering they’re enough as they are.
The Fringe is exactly the right place for a show like this because audiences there are willing to take a chance on something original. It isn’t a straightforward parody and it isn’t a traditional musical either. It sits somewhere between comedy, musical theatre and a slightly surreal British seaside adventure. Edinburgh celebrates shows that don’t fit neatly into a single box, and that’s very much what Spraywatch is.
What has been the biggest challenge in bringing this production to life?
There are the creative challenges you’d expect—writing something that feels genuinely original while still giving audiences the fun they’re hoping for. The temptation would have been to make a series of references to a famous TV show, but that gets old very quickly. We wanted to create characters people genuinely care about, with catchy songs that move the story forward rather than interrupt it.
The biggest challenge, though, has honestly been financial. We’re completely self-funded and, like many companies coming to Edinburgh, we know we won’t make a profit on this production. We’re paying for the venue upfront rather than working on a profit-share model, and every week another cost seems to appear that you hadn’t even budgeted for. One of the hardest things we’ve encountered is the lack of transparency about what things actually cost until we’re already committed. You learn as you go, and that can be an expensive education! That said, I wouldn’t trade the experience. Reflecting on where we started 3+ years ago to where we are now is overwhelming, and we have complete faith that this investment will be well worth it.
How does the design of your show (set, sound, or lighting) impact the presentation of your story?
One of the key design elements of the show is that the actors all remain within the same shared space. Even when they’re not speaking, they’re still part of the world of the story, watching, reacting and sharing it with the audience. It’s one of the oldest forms of storytelling there is: a group of people gathering in a space to tell a story together, with everyone else’s attention focused on that shared world.
Because our story is about community, loneliness and belonging, having the company constantly present changes how we experience those emotions. Sometimes the cast become a community supporting each other. Other times they become silent witnesses, making a character’s isolation or vulnerability feel much more exposed. Simply being watched can completely change the meaning of a moment.
I love that tension because theatre can do something film never can. It allows us to believe in a world while always being aware of the people creating it in front of us.
If you could sum up the show in one word or phrase, what would it be and why?
“A Beautiful Rescue.”
And no, not just because there are lifeguards.
I think we’re all rescuing something—our confidence, our identity, our relationships, or the version of ourselves we thought we were supposed to become. The show starts with a character who’s chasing perfection because, in her world, beauty genuinely has value. She’s also judged the moment people see her. Everyone assumes she’s shallow or unintelligent simply because she’s beautiful.
One of the things I wanted to explore is that those assumptions can be just as limiting as the pressure to look perfect in the first place. The answer isn’t pretending appearance doesn’t matter—it clearly does in many parts of life. It’s allowing people to care about how they look without reducing them to that one thing.
It’s funny, loud and unapologetically entertaining, but if people leave feeling a little kinder towards themselves and a little less quick to judge other people, then that’s the best kind of rescue I can imagine.
Spraywatch runs at Lower Theatre at theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 9) from August 7th – 29th. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/spraywatch-a-beautiful-rescue
