Broadway Baby is chatting to Mark Donald, proudly representing Generation Y.
In a world of quick fixes, Generation Y are said to have limited attention spans and seek instant gratification. But can we... oh never mind.
Tell us about your show
Four brand new short plays written by four up-and-coming new writers. In a world of quick fixes, Generation Y are said to have limited attention spans and seek instant gratification. But can we... oh never mind.
Why did you decide to take your show to Space UK this year?
The space UK boasts a fantastic reputation for new writing in particular. The incredibly good location plus 6 central box offices to help sell tickets made it an obvious and perfect choice!
What are you most looking forward to at this year’s festival?
Being there! This is MF productions inaugural show at the Fringe and we are all very excited to be up there and be part of this incredibly diverse festival.
Why Edinburgh? What’s the attraction?
No other festival offers what Edinburgh offers. The variety of creative work you can see and be part of is astounding and bringing new writing to the Fringe is what it's about. Our writers have a platform for their latest creative work, and that is not an easy thing to come by.
Have you brought a show to the festival before?
Various members of our team have brought different shows to the Festival before, but this is a first MF Productions.
What makes your show unique amongst the thousands of others at the festival?
No other show can offer you such a high quality diverse cross-section of theatre in such a short time frame. We're offering you four radically different 15-minute plays pinned around our Generation, written by members OF our generation. This is current theatre at its best.
What has been the biggest challenge in getting your show ready for Edinburgh?
Finances are always the most challenging thing in bringing a show to the Festival. But with crowd funding and sponsorship I think all productions can get there in the end!
Have you been to other venues at the festival?
Yes, a lot of our team have a lot of experience in seeing and working at many different venues at the festival for the past 8 years.
How did you create your show?
We wanted to do two things. Create a platform for four incredibly talented up-and-coming young writers to show their work, and also to explore the label our generation has been given.
We live in a consumer-paced world with everything at our disposal. Due to our supposedly ever-diminishing attention spans, the advice to those marketing to generation Y is to “say it quick, say it well”, so we've asked our writers to do just that.
What’s the main thing you want to get out of the festival this year?
We want many people to see this show because we believe in this piece, in what it says about our generation, and that the work of new writers must be heard.
Can you tell us a bit about your company’s background?
MF Productions was put together by myself (Mark Donald) and Francesca Bailey. We met whilst training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and have worked together many times. The company has come together to champion young talent and new writing.
If your show does well in Edinburgh, what do you want to do with it next?
We would love to transfer the show down to a space in London. We are also considering the idea of a Live Screening using digital theatre. Might that be a way to reach some of our Generation Y? Hang on, do we want them to access it online or should they be seeing it live? We'll have to think about that one!
Venue: thespace@surgeonshall
Dates: 24-29th August
Times: 2.30pm
Twitter: @GenerationY_EF
