Broadway Baby talks to Terry Burns, the man behind the one-man show Plain English.
The company, Transfigured Productions, is brand new and formed off the back of Plain English. At the moment it consists of myself and my wonderful director Clara Onyemere, who is also an actor, but we hope to grow it with more shows and more company members over the next few years.
Tell us about your show
It’s a one-man comedy/drama play set in an inner city London school. It follows an idealistic newly qualified English teacher and charts the obstacles he comes up against when trying to make a difference in the lives of the kids “affectionately known as The Muppets”. Hopefully it’s entertaining and thought provoking.
Why did you decide to take your show to Space UK this year?
Having been put in touch with Charles at Space it seemed like a good fit and Surgeon’s 1 is the perfect intimate space for my show.
What are you most looking forward to at this year’s festival?
Just being part of the whole experience. Getting to do what I love in performing live and hopefully getting to see lots of other great performers. I just love the whole atmosphere of the festival.
Have you brought a show to the festival before?
I have been involved as an actor in 2 other shows at the fringe but this is first time I’m bringing my own. I was actually inspired to start writing Plain English’ when I saw a one-woman show here called Stripped in 2010.
How did you create your show?
As I said I was first inspired to write a one-man show to showcase my talent when I saw a one-woman show at the fringe. That was the start and it has grown from there and taken on a life of it’s own. The reason it’s set in a school is that I used to be a teacher so I’ve done the research. All the characters are based on people I’ve met.
What’s the main thing you want to get out of the festival this year?
Well, first and foremost the experience and the memories… and the learning. Of course if some producer really liked it and offered to fund a tour or something, I would be over the moon.
Can you tell us a bit about your company’s background?
The company, Transfigured Productions, is brand new and formed off the back of Plain English. At the moment it consists of myself and my wonderful director Clara Onyemere, who is also an actor, but we hope to grow it with more shows and more company members over the next few years.
If your show does well in Edinburgh, what do you want to do with it next?
Well, as I said, a tour would be great, but we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s all very exciting!
Production Company: Transfigured Productions
Venue: Surgeon’s Hall 1
Dates: 24th – 29th August
Time: 12.05pm – 1.20pm
Twitter Handle: @iamterryburns
