Broadway Baby is delighted to chat with Lisa Stenhouse, Artistic Director for PepperMint muse about The Colours of Kenny Roach.
The Colours of Kenny Roach is an honest, humorous and heart-breaking portrait of a Glaswegian artist’s battle with addiction. Kenny is talented, charismatic and charming but even his wife cannot save him from the demons that turn his colourful world to black.
Tell us about your show
The Colours of Kenny Roach is an honest, humorous and heart-breaking portrait of a Glaswegian artist’s battle with addiction. Kenny is talented, charismatic and charming but even his wife cannot save him from the demons that turn his colourful world to black. Written by recently published Rebecca Russell (The Regina Monologues) the play is inspired by true-life accounts and uses music, projection and original artwork to powerful effect.
Why did you decide to take your show to Space UK this year?
We have been really impressed with Charles’ hands-on approach and valuable advice. It’s also very reassuring to see testimonials from other companies and that many of them go back to theSpace year after year. Edinburgh is a battleground and we’re a small theatre company so we’re keen to forge a supportive long term relationship with a venue for this year and the future.
What are you most looking forward to at this year’s festival?
Putting last year’s lessons learnt into practice! Better weather (even the Edinburgh taxi drivers said last year was a wash-out!) Only having to deal with one production in terms of promotion, development and performance. And of course meeting amazing like-minded arts practitioners from all over the world, gathered together to showcase their work.
Why Edinburgh? What’s the attraction?
It’s a cliché, but it IS the biggest arts festival in the world. Even though there is a major difference between the real Fringe and the big commercial comedy acts (their marketing budgets for starters) we believe in the festival as a platform for emerging theatre companies. Promoters/bookers for theatres still come to scout for new work and if we want to grow the company it really is the only place to be.
Can you tell us a bit about your company’s background?
Peppermint Muse was born in 2008. Our first baby steps were taking intimate studio pieces, such as The Maids by Jean Genet and a Sam Shepard double bill to the London fringe and a selection of home counties theatres. The ambition was always to move into new writing (which started with a one-act festival at LOST theatre, London) and adaptations (our Hamlet adaptation, Hold off the Earth, premiered in St Albans last year at the Maltings Arts Theatre, where we are an associate company). Also in 2014 (it was a busy year) we premiered two solo shows at the Edinburgh Fringe festival and we’re working on another Shakespeare adaptation, which will hopefully be ready for next year.
If your show does well in Edinburgh, what do you want to do with it next?
We are looking to build on the bookings for last year’s shows and do some touring across the UK’s wonderfully varied regional theatre (although we had some interest from the US last year, so California isn’t out of the question!) Although we’d also be interested in working with non-theatre spaces – the art theme in The Colours of Kenny Roach lends itself to being performed in a gallery (we had a representative from the V&A museum talk to us last year about wanting to stage a piece of theatre at the venue so you never know!)
Production Company: Peppermint Muse
Venue: theSpace @ Niddry Street (Upper)
Dates: Monday 17th August – Saturday 29th August (not 23rd)
Times: 19:10 (1 hour)
Twitter: @PeppermintMuse
