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 Kate Daley about their new show Join the Club! A Story About the Sex You Never Wanted.
Can you tell me a little about your show and what audiences can expect?
Sure! Join the Club! A Story About The Sex You Never Wanted is a solo play about the realities of dating in the 21st century highlighting the absurdity of dating that has become so app-centric and hookup focused. Audiences can expect to laugh (a lot, we hope) while also touching on some more serious issues. If you don’t think anything is TMI (too much information), this show is for you!
What drew you to this specific story, and why does it belong at the Edinburgh Fringe?
Spoiler: this play is based on a true story from my life. When I first wrote it, it was more for me to process different events from my life and make sense of all the emotions I was having. Really what drew me to making it anything more than a personal exploration was other people’s responses when I shared it with them. I shared it with close friends and was blown away by what I thought was a very specific, lonely experience I had resonated with other people. That made me think that there was something in this story that might be connect with others, not just me. Once I considered the show that way, it became apparent that Edinburgh was the place for the show. There’s nowhere else in the world that is such an effective artistic incubator for new works, particularly solo shows, and where a new piece from someone people haven’t heard of yet can stand amongst work done by acclaimed artists.
What has been the biggest challenge in bringing this production to life?
The solo show format has been both the biggest challenge and biggest asset in terms of bringing this show to life. When I started writing this piece, I was only familiar with a limited number of solo artists and their work created the parameters in which I thought a solo show could exist. But as I committed to the solo show format, I began reading and watching more and more solo pieces – stuff from different centuries, from different cultures. My understanding of what could be done in the solo format absolutely exploded. Every time I engaged with a new piece, I had 40 new ideas about how to restructure the entire show. So while that was super freeing and allowed me to find my own solo style, it also was overwhelming to wade through all these ideas and focus in on the format that served our show the best.
How does the design of your show (set, sound, or lighting) impact the presentation of your story?
Sound plays a really interesting element in the structure of our show. Without giving too much away, the show is framed as a therapy session with the therapist as voiceover, and how the use of voiceover evolves becomes increasingly impactful on the story and structure of the piece as it progresses. This will make more sense once you’ve seen the show ;)
If you could sum up the show in one word or phrase, what would it be and why?
Probably TMI ! An earlier version of the show was titled that to reflect how the show focuses on topics that are typically taboo or uncomfortable to talk about openly. All of those topics are confronted head on in Join the Club!, and nothing is off limits.
Join the Club! A Story About the Sex You Never Wanted runs at Snug at Paradise in Augustines (Venue 152) from August 7th – 30th. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/join-the-club-a-story-about-the-sex-you-never-wanted
