Real Life Becomes a Rumour asks what three people have really done in their lives. We investigate.
It’s tense and aggressive, but there’s an underlying sense of melancholia to the principal characters, as the play asks the question what have these men actually achieved in their lives.
Tell us about your show
It’s essentially a pitch black comedy where three former business associates meet in a shabby apartment in the middle of nowhere. Structurally it’s almost a thriller; there are a lot of twists in the narrative and a shady fourth character that doesn’t emerge until late on in the play. It’s tense and aggressive, but there’s an underlying sense of melancholia to the principal characters, as the play asks the question what have these men actually achieved in their lives.
Why did you decide to take your show to Space UK this year?
We were certain that our show would be a good fit with Space UK after we were initially contacted by Charles Pamment. The Space UK is renowned at the Fringe for promoting new writing, so we felt very encouraged as a recently founded theatre company with work from a student playwright. It was very clear that the Space completely understood the needs of our production, and that we required a very intimate venue where the audience could truly feel like they were part of the action and actually be in the room with the characters.
Why Edinburgh? What’s the attraction?
Some people find the extraordinary number of performances at venues at the Fringe Festival quite overwhelming, but we find it very reassuring. People bring shows to the festival, regardless of whether they gain any money from it, because of the audience. A typical Edinburgh audience is literally up for anything, and there’s a unique euphoric atmosphere to the Fringe, everyone there is united by a love of theatre and performance, no matter how quirky or individual.
Have you brought a show to the festival before?
Not as White Box Theatre, but our cast is made up of people who have performed with bigger theatre companies such as Bear Pit and Young Pleasance. This year should be interesting as we try and move away from more established companies and attempt to make it on our own.
How did you create your show?
It’s taken a lot of work shopping with a wide variety of people. It began as a 20-minute potential short film, but as drafts became increasingly longer, someone suggested that it might work well as a 60-minute play instead. We’ve had a lot of help from Jonathan Lewis, who some of the company have worked with on his new play A Level Playing Field. Jonathan helped us re-structure the play and was generous enough to host a workshop with us at Jermyn Street Theatre.
If your show does well in Edinburgh, what do you want to do with it next?
We don’t want to be too optimistic about the future of the play, as the festival will be the first time we perform it to a proper audience, but there’s a hope that if the play goes down well then we might do a second run at the Fringe.
Show Name: Real Life Becomes a Rumour
Production Company: White Box Theatre
Venue: Theatre 3 (Week 1) & Theatre 1 (Week 2)
Dates: 7th-22nd August
Times: 13:45-14:40 (Week 1) & 10:00-10:55 (Week 2)
