What happens when three complete strangers are whisked away to a mysterious room to confront ghosts of their past? You'll have to see Dearly Beloved to find out!
I think it’s that although it’s sad, edgy and challenging, it’s also light, funny and uplifting, there’s something in it for everyone.
Tell us about your show
A thirteen year old girl, a middle aged business man and a twenty something single mother, are wrenched from their everyday lives to find themselves trapped together in a mysterious room. Abbie, Peter and Lacey are thrown into a world of confusion and are desperate to find a way out. Following the arrival of a tea lady, who offers cryptic answers as well as the perfect cuppa’, they realise that in order to escape, they will have to confront ghosts and share secrets they thought they’d buried in the past. In this room they have no choice but to put aside their masks and bare their souls.
The play has been written by comedian Sarah Archer and she wanted to combine her love of a great story with making people laugh. There’s a number of twists and turns that have surprised preview audiences and kept them gripped until the end. Dearly Beloved also deals with some challenging themes, and the journey of these three people throws up questions for all of us, juxtaposing heart rending and socially taboo issues with laughter, pathos and joy.
Why did you decide to take your show to Space UK this year?
Sarah took her first solo comedy show to theSpace at Surgeons hall back in 2011 and she was impressed by the venues and the team. They also have a strong theatrical programme and it made sense to us to come back. We are also chuffed with the space at Niddry street and can’t wait to perform there.
Why Edinburgh? What’s the attraction?
There’s no place like it. It’s hard work and expensive to come here, but it’s amazing to see the talent and creativity of people from all over the world pooled together in such a historic city. Also, it’s a platform for your work to get seen by the public and people from the entertainment industry and the hope is that, if they like it and you do well, more opportunities will come as a result.
What makes your show unique amongst the thousands of others at the festival?
I think it’s that although it’s sad, edgy and challenging, it’s also light, funny and uplifting, there’s something in it for everyone. We’ve even got magic and an original song. Great entertainment and value for money!
How did you create your show?
Sarah had the idea for the show in the autumn of 2014 and she finished writing the first draft in January 2015. As writer and Director she always had a clear vision for the show, how it would look and how she wanted audiences to feel when they left. The show developed further in rehearsals with the cast and through question and answer sessions with the work-in-progress show audience to make it into the finished version for Edinburgh.
If your show does well in Edinburgh, what do you want to do with it next?
We hope that the show will get seen by Theatre Programmers as we want to take it on tour. We have some bookings already for November on the back of preview shows, but it would be great to share it around the UK!
Show Name: Dearly Beloved
Production Company: Lemon Squeeze
Venue theSpace: @ Niddry Street, (Lower Theatre)
Dates: 7-29 August (Not Sundays)
Times: 20:50 - 21:05
Twitter Handle: @DBEd2015
