Welcome to part two of our Edinburgh Debrief Series! The first topic we discussed during this brilliant panel session was material, preparation and writing.
Funny Women founder Lynne Parker kicked off this topic by asking Harriet Braine and the rest of the panel what they think defines a ‘work in progress’?
Harriet told the audience that her first show was actually in the making for a few years. She was, rightly or wrongly, under the impression that: if you don’t plan to do a whole Fringe run, then you do a ‘work in progress’. According to Harriet, it then actually turned out to be an hour, written in a year. The show ended up being called Harriet Braine’s Apocolibrary: based on the premise of a librarian during the apocalypse, being called up with strange questions, providing answers through the medium of song.
There was an overall agreement that the process for writing material is often quite the opposite: no real process, more like developing ideas over time throwing additional ones out there to see what lands.
As Ayesha pointed out, it can be so difficult to pin yourself down and get it all on paper. Life admin, procrastination and just about anything else can all of a sudden be priority number one! However, Ayesha was also somewhat ‘fortunate’ to have been developing her overall theme and narrative mentally for quite some time, while finessing it around her narrative relatively nearer to the start of the Fringe meant that it was quite topical.
The whole panel at this point agreed on this crucial learning: previews are SO important! They, of course, can be brutal but they are imperative for you to work out your material and makes you stronger, as a performer.
Rebecca How and Pauline took a two-hander show Better to the Fringe. Both agreed sharing a show is a great way to start Edinburgh because of the support you get being part of a team. In the case of Rebecca and Pauline, they were able to create a concept that naturally brought their individual material together. If you are able to come up with a concept for your show that poses a question or starts a conversation, it can be a real pull for audiences.
Watch out for Part three of our Edinburgh debrief series where we’ll share insights about marketing, PR, promotion and social media…
Our next Time of the Month is on Tuesday 25th September, for tickets and more information click here!
