Destination: 'Old Hag'. Photo Credit: Lesia Dubeniyk
Writer and performer Samantha Houston of theatre show Destination: 'Old Hag', approached us about writing a guest blog offering a behind-the-scenes view of performing at Fringe festivals. It's a fascinating read!
So, you have an idea for a show. You convince two fabulous friends they need to be a part of it, despite you having no money to fund it and no previous writing experience. You write it, rehearse it, present it at Scratch Nights (who knew theatre had such great opportunities to perform new works?!) and agree that – yes, you have a show ... but where do you perform it?
Why, at a Fringe festival of course!
We are now into our 2nd year of performing at Fringe festivals and it is nothing short of a baptism of fire! Nowhere else will you learn to ‘get in’ and ‘get out’ at the speed of light (that includes costumes as well as setting up/breaking down scenery), become a wiz on Canva in order to produce posters and flyers with no marketing budget, develop ways of seeking out any and all local groups and kindly plead with them to spread the word... I’ve even got better at promoting my show on local radio and in local press, so you might see or hear something about us!
However, even after doing all this, there is no guarantee of an audience. We've run the whole gamut from full houses to having to cancel due to 0 tickets sold ... but we persevere! Why? Because being part of a Fringe festival is a real privilege - so many artists from across the spectrum bring their stories to life and put them on for our entertainment and we’re part of it. Plus, you usually get to be in some pretty random venues - we've been in purpose-built theatre spaces, but we've also been in a hotel ballroom, a pub backroom, a basement ‘speakeasy’, a church hall and a pop-up tent... environments over which we have no control (one time, we were in the upstairs space of a pub trying to sing opera while a last-minute ‘Battle of the Bands’ raged on underneath us).
We've travelled to Bath, Folkestone, Lambeth, Bristol, Cambridge, Brighton and Tunbridge Wells, and now we’re heading to Buxton with our show tightly packed into one suitcase and whatever lighting the venue can offer - this sort of ‘guerrilla theatre’ approach isn’t for everyone but, for those of us who choose it, it’s super rewarding!
So, come and see us create theatre magic with a large, black cloth and a 10-metre extension lead...
We hope to see you all ‘backstage’ on Saturday 19th of July!
Samantha
Destination: ‘Old Hag’
Find us on Instagram: @destinationoldhag
Tickets via TicketSource
Buxton Fringe
Website: www.buxtonfringe.org.uk
Facebook: buxtonfringe
Twitter: @buxtonfringe
Instagram: @buxtonfringe
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