Interview with writer and actor Steve McMahon

Writer, actor and Assembly ART Award winner Steve McMahon returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August. Steve talks to us about his play Sandcastles and the joy of growing up with the Fringe on his doorstep.

Interview with writer and actor Steve McMahon

Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?

I’m Steve McMahon, writer of Sandcastles at Assembly Festival in the Edinburgh Fringe. I’m a Scottish playwright and actor based between Edinburgh and Florida.

How would you describe your show?

Sandcastles is a funny and moving exploration of grief, millennial angst, friendship and growing up.

Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?

I [was] born and raised in Edinburgh, so to have the world’s biggest arts festival on my doorstep is a treasure. I’ve been attending it my whole life, and I’ve performed in it three times, so to have a play on in it feels very special. We’re winners of Assembly’s ART Award, which has given us a great deal of support in doing the world premiere at the Fringe.

What differentiates it from other festivals?

It’s certainly not without its flaws but Edinburgh pulses with a life and energy when the festivals are on that I haven’t seen quite the same anywhere else. As hard as it is to put a show on at the Fringe, there is something exciting about the fact anyone can bring a show and maybe change someone’s life there.

What first motivated you to enter the industry? Who were your inspirations?

I wasn’t interested in theatre until I was almost 16, when it hit me very suddenly. If I remember correctly, at roughly the same time, I ended up stepping into a school play and getting a huge thrill from making an audience laugh, and also doing work experience in a bookshop where I’d read plays on lunch breaks. That opened up a whole new world to me.

How has your background, upbringing and education had an impact on your artistic career? 

I’m the only one in my family who’s ever been involved in the arts, so I’m not really sure how that came to be. I think the fortune of getting to grow up in Edinburgh, going to see panto as a child, having access to the arts in school, and [being] in a city with a lot of culture on offer all steered me in that direction.

What is your earliest childhood art memory?

I think it’d be doing the Nativity play at primary school, as one of the Three Kings, I believe. That and seeing the King’s panto in Edinburgh, which is such a joyful institution.

If you didn’t have your current job, what would you probably be doing?

Well, alongside the precarious career in the arts, I’ve been working in cafes and bars to pay the bills, so I imagine that’s where I’d be.

Did Covid-19 change the way you create work? Do you approach shows with a different mentality now? 

We won the Assembly ART Award in 2020, and it’s taken this long to finally get to do the show, so I’ve got a huge sense of gratitude for the process of getting to make a show again. And for the people making that happen both at Assembly and in our brilliant cast and creative team. My director Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir has been attached to the play for four years and has been the driving force in making it all happen. One of our actors Marion Geoffray did some development on the play three years ago, so to finally get to see the team at work has been amazing. We’ve certainly had to acknowledge the events of the past couple of years as people and as artists, and I’m sure we’re all quite different [from how] we were before.

Describe the last year in 5 words or less?

Tumultuous.

Do you subscribe to the idea that art should be exempt from ‘cancel culture’?

I’ve yet to see so-called ‘cancel culture’ definitively cancel anyone for their actions. People who have done awful things keep resurfacing and going about their careers as if nothing happened. There [are] certainly people I used to be a fan of whose work I now ignore because they don’t deserve my support.

If you could work with anybody, from any point in history, who would you pick and why?

That’s a really tough one, and I’ll change my mind any second, but at this very moment, I’m going to say Caryl Churchill because she’s just the best.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to take a show up to the fringe?

I think, most importantly, make use of the support networks offered because it’s an exhausting and difficult thing to do. It’s important to take care of yourself and others because it’s a very demanding month.

When and where can people see your show?

We’re at Assembly Rooms, 4-27th August at 12.50 pm.

And where can people find, follow and like you online?

I’m on Twitter at @stevemcmahon13, Kolbrún’s company Brite Theater is at https://www.britetheater.com/ and @BriteTheater on social media.


Steve's play 'Sandcastles' will be on at the Assembly Rooms at 12:50 pm throughout August. For tickets, visit https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/sandcastles

Header Image Credit: Steve McMahon

Author

Saskia Calliste

Saskia Calliste Voice Team

Saskia is the Deputy Editor of Voice and has worked on campaigns such as International Women’s Day, Black History Month, and Anti-Bullying Week. Outside of Voice, Saskia is a published author (Hairvolution) and has guest featured in various other publications (The Women Writers’ Handbook/ Cosmopolitan/ The Highlight). She has a BA in Creative Writing and Journalism and an MA in Publishing. She is a mentor for Women of the World Global, has guest lectured at the University of Roehampton and has led seminars/panel talks on Race, Equality and Diversity. She was a 2022 Guest Judge for Dave (TV Channel) in search of the 'Joke of the Fringe'. She is 27-years-old, based in London, and loves to cook and explore new places in her spare time.

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