As Brighton Fringe gears up for 2016, Broadway Baby offers a preview of the shows, the people and the world that is Brighton Fringe. We’ve been speaking to participants from around the Fringe and asked them to give us an insight into their shows.
Find a good story! If the story is good, you believe in the material and do it justice - your audience will find you.
Name Hungry Wolf Visionary Youth Theatre
Show Runts by Izzy Tennyson
Tell us a bit about yourself
Hungry Wolf burst onto the youth theatre scene in 2013 and quickly established itself as the go-to company in the South East for young actors wanting to perform hard-hitting, realistic and uncompromising material.
Now entering its fourth productionwithRUNTS, Hungry Wolf has once again assembled a creative team of the UK’s most promising and exciting professionals and (after a county-wide search) has cast the cream of Sussex's youth talent.
Can you tell us a little bit about your show, what can we expect?
Award-winning writer, Izzy Tennyson wrote Runts exclusively for Hungry Wolf, taking the basis of the plot from her hit Edinburgh and Soho Theatre solo production, Brute. It is a shocking and realistic exploration of female friendship, bullying and violence in schools. The brilliant dialogue takes the audience right into the psyche of eleven classmates and their exasperated teacher, Miss Potts. It's dark, twisted, laced with uncomfortable humour and guaranteed to bring a tear to the eye!
Why did you decide to perform your show at the Brighton Fringe?
Hungry Wolf's parent company, The Theatre Workshop is a Brighton & Sussex based performing arts school for young people and we've been here since 2003, so the Brighton Fringe is right on our turf! We've had several successful seasons in Brighton, performing to sell-out audiences and five-star reviews. We can't wait to get back into The Marlborough Theatre for 2016!
What makes your show different?
The incredible talent of our youth cast! The all-female cast are all aged 15-21, most are still at school or college and yet they conduct themselves just as a professional company of actors would. Never one to shy away from hard-hitting material, Hungry Wolf has once again lifted the lid on very shocking and difficult subject matter and our young performers have met the challenge of doing it justice, head on.
Who would enjoy seeing your show?
We're a youth theatre company and so naturally we want young people to turn out to see us and get a taste of just how powerful theatre can be! However, everyone has experienced bullying in one way or another and we all had to go through difficult periods at school so there is something for everyone in Runts!
What has been the best advice you have been given?
Find a good story! If the story is good, you believe in the material and do it justice - your audience will find you.
What show, apart from yours, would you recommend at the Brighton Fringe and why?
Hungry Wolf sponsored the recent new-writing festival, (Brighton &) Hove Grown and we saw Made in Cumbria there. Jane Postlethwaite is hilarious in this show! And we also recommend Stamp from Spun Glass Theatre, an interactive game show where the audience make the rules!
What do you think audiences will enjoy the most about your show?
The brilliant dialogue and the tear-jerking performances!
Runts is appearing at the Marlborough Theatre, 12-13 May 17:00 14 May 18:00 14 May 16:00 15 May 14:00
