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 Stacy Price about their new show Citizen Otherplace.
Can you tell me a little about your show and what audiences can expect?
My show is about the medical care system in the United States and truly it’s a COMEDY.
Expect Mel Brooks meets David Lynch with a side of deadpan.
What drew you to this specific story, and why does it belong at the Edinburgh Fringe?
I got cancer, it’s true. But, what I found particularly hard to digest was the billings system/the medical system in general in the United States. I feel like the only way to talk about hard things is comedy.
This is a wild and weird take on everything that is wrong, told by someone who got to through it. The Edinburgh Fringe feels like an incredible melting pot of talent, and there’s some truly great and hopeful about it. I hope this story gets seen by a lot of people I’d never have met otherwise.
What has been the biggest challenge in bringing this production to life?
I had to get out of my own way a little bit, and the first thing is getting that first workshop in front of people. There was a moment backstage where I said to myself “what am I doing?” I guess that’s possibly how you feel when you’re doing something SCARY, which is hopefully fun for people to watch.
How does the design of your show (set, sound, or lighting) impact the presentation of your story?
The lighting design specifically gives a different voice to each character. The sound is extremely important and informative, the hero character essentially finds herself in an action movie. Our set is basic/simple, it needed to be for our small theater, but the use of the curtain (essentially our only set piece) is very much what a patient gets to feel.
If you could sum up the show in one word or phrase, what would it be and why?
Business. The medical care industry in the United States is a business.
Citizen Otherplace runs at Pickle Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court (Venue 16) from August 7th – 29th. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/citizen-otherplace
