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 Michele Stine about their new show Always, Sometimes, Maybe.
Can you tell me a little about your show and what audiences can expect?
Absolutely! Always, Sometimes, Maybe follows the story of a janitor named Lou who is so lonely she makes her friends out of trash until she’s confronted with an audience. Now she has to contend with real life people: Will she succeed at making friends or fail and fall further into isolation? This show is a wild and hilarious look at loneliness and the desperation one goes to in order to find connection. It uses physical comedy, clown, and puppetry to bring the audience along for the ride. Audiences can expect to laugh, cringe, and maybe even confront their own vulnerability when it comes to making friends.
What drew you to this specific story, and why does it belong at the Edinburgh Fringe?
This story is both a personal and universal one. I’ve dealt with loneliness my entire life; making friends felt like this strange olympic sized event that I was not equipped to navigate. There are all these societal rules and expectations you’re expected to just know and if you don’t, the cost is social isolation or humiliation. So isn’t it easier to retreat and stay in the safety of your own comfortable bubble? Safer? Maybe. But loneliness and isolation is quite literally killing people. In 2023 the US Surgeon General released an 82 page advisory on the loneliness epidemic. If so many people are feeling lonely there’s got to be a way to build a bridge and forge connections between lonely people. Or at the very least, laugh together at the silliness of this contradiction.
What has been the biggest challenge in bringing this production to life?
Honestly? Life. I’ve been wading in the waters of grief for the last three years, and trying to create a show about loneliness has been both a beautiful distraction and vessel for processing, and also, at times, a thorn in an open wound. I’m incredibly lucky to be surrounded by amazing individuals who have supported me and the development of this story.
How does the design of your show (set, sound, or lighting) impact the presentation of your story?
This show is a puppet show with close to ten different puppets, each with their own personality and relationship to our protagonist. She feels most at ease when she’s communicating with and through these objects because each puppet allows Lou to express a different facet of herself that she so desperately wishes she could on her own.
If you could sum up the show in one word or phrase, what would it be and why?
“Holding friends together with rubbish, tape, a wish.”
Friendship takes work, effort, and a belief that we’re better together than apart. Always, Sometimes, Maybe embodies that with backwards, upside down logic.
Always, Sometimes, Maybe runs at Playground 3 at ZOO Playground (Venue 186) from August 7th – 30th. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/always-sometimes-maybe
