A Wedding with a Twist

Love is in the air as Theatre on the Edge tell us more about their show for this year's festival.

This is our third Assemble Fest, so you might think that we have got the hang of things by now. (In 2014 we were at the Piper Club with Film Noir at The Monica, a noir-ish piece that included the characters of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, since it was based on the fact that the building used to be the Monica Cinema. Last year we performed at Recycling Unlimited with R U OK, Robert Fish?, which was devised from short stories written by users of the charity). But each time we’ve been involved in Assemble Fest we’ve learned something new that’s helped us to develop as a company. And this year is no exception – we’re on a steep learning curve.

The fact that we’re here again shows that Assemble Fest is not ageist when it comes to inviting companies to take part. Our core company members are all, to put it politely, ‘getting on a bit’ compared to the other groups, but we’ve learned a lot from working with younger companies. In this business it pays to be open to new ideas, and there are plenty of those buzzing around in the different companies and in the workshops. The energy and excitement rubs off on you and stops you from getting complacent.

We’re not all that old though. As a company one of our aims is to provide opportunities for people, regardless of age, who wish to pursue further training or to acquire performance experience, so we always try to bring in members who are recently out of Uni or Drama school. This year we have Georgia, Josh and James working with us for the first time. Georgia completed her professional training at New York Film Academy in Music Theatre, while Josh, who studied Performing Arts at college, recently completed a Law degree. James has a degree in Art and Design but was keen to tread the boards. As well as performing, James is working on the pics we’re using in our production. He’s a wizard with digital manipulation. All three have been patiently trying to bring some of the older members of the company up to date with the wonders of social media. They’re all loving the experience of devising a new piece of theatre.

At the other end of the age spectrum, the company includes Barrie, our writer, who claims the title of oldest member, and Chris, who is too young to retire and too old to hire. Occupying the middle ground are Trevor and Julie, who both recently worked with us on Dan Billany: Made In Hull. This was a collaboration with Hull University, Hull Libraries and Hull History Centre for City of Culture. After Assemble Fest, look out for our additional Dan Billany projects: HERO in July at NAPA and Kardomah94 and The Trap in August at Holy Trinity Church.
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Four weeks to go… we are now on the third of what may be several more drafts of the script to come, we have our first meeting/rehearsal with our mentor, Gemma Kerr, coming soon, musical arrangements to sort, and as our production is a “wedding with a twist” there is the matter of flowers, cake, etc.
June is the month for weddings. June 3rd is the date. The times are set. And… YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED…