The Camden Fringe is almost upon us, providing one of the best times in the capital to get into Fringe theatre, and the stories it can tell. To get prepared for the festival, 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 Andreas Bedorf about their new show Dance Again.
Can you tell me a little about your show and what audiences can expect?
Dance Again follows Noa through one night at a music festival, a psychedelic trip seeking joy and unity that collapses into a massacre. Told through the distorted lens of LSD, with a live DJ performing throughout, it tracks what happens when the space you love most becomes the scene of the worst humans are capable of. It’s inspired by real events, such as the Nova festival, the Bataclan, and Manchester. It’s a memorial and a love letter to rave culture, asking whether joy can be reclaimed after horror. The audience can expect something very unique: electronic music that shapes the atmosphere of the scenes as an additional character, and a story that is told through the body as much as through text. It’s intense but still earns moments of joy.
What drew you to this specific story, and why does it belong at the Camden Fringe?
I was on the way to a psytrance festival when I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened at Nova. About those people being the same sort of people, I was about to dance with. They were seeking the same thing, carrying the same joy. That tension between the utopia a dancefloor creates and the devastation of the events…I felt like I really need to tell this story.
It belongs at the Camden Fringe because this work takes risks, formally and emotionally. A story drawn from real life atrocities, not offering clean solutions. I think fringe is where this kind of new writing gets to be genuine.
What has been the biggest challenge in bringing this production to life?
Two things, and they’re connected.
The first one is the emotional weight of the story. Though fictionalised, these events are real, the grief is real, and the characters are inspired by real people. That’s a responsibility everyone involved has been aware about from the very beginning. But we are making sure to honour that responsibility throughout the process.
The second is technical. The live DJ, the projection, and the choreographies are very integral to the storytelling. Making that work within the constraints of a fringe production has meant we had to be inventive. We’ve found great solutions but we’d love to take the show further.
How does the design of your show (set, sound, or lighting) impact the presentation of your story?
The music and the dance are everything. The DJ performs live throughout, which means the atmosphere responds to the action in the scene. There are moments where the music is the first thing that tells you that something changed, before any of the characters know it. This, together with the visual art by NomadiCortex and the amazing choreography by Maya Dagan turns a festival dance floor into a story telling device that is very unique.
If you could sum up the show in one word or phrase, what would it be and why?
A memorial, a rave, and a refusal. That’s the emotional journey we invite the audience to experience. You arrive at a festival, you witness its destruction, and then the show refuses to let that be the end of it.
Dance Again runs at The Cockpit on 10 – 12 August. Tickets are available here: https://camdenfringe.com/events/dance-again/
