Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?
Hiya! My name is Charlotte Price, I’m an Actor and I am playing the inspirational Anne Marshall in The Actress.
I grew up in London and trained as an Actor at ArtsEd, graduating 6 years ago, and have been lucky to work professionally across stage and screen since, with credits including the National Theatre, Jermyn Street Theatre and Amazon Prime. As well as doing two shows at Edinburgh Fringe 2022, I’m currently doing performance capture for a very exciting project!
Alongside acting, I also work as a Fight Performer, and Fight Director for True Edge Ltd, with my 2022 credits including Cluedo (U.K. tour), Looking Good Dead (U.K. Tour) and TV show The Courtship (NBC). I fell in love with combat at drama school and continued it from there. I started my Fight Performer training 9 years ago and have been working as a Fight Director for the last 4 years.
So basically, I’m a storyteller. Sometimes that story is told with a weapon, sometimes it isn’t - I love it either way!
How would you describe your show?
The Actress is a brand-new play brought to you by Long Lane Theatre Company. It is premiering at Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022, at Underbelly!
The Actress tells the story of the pivotal moment in history when the first woman was cast to perform on a professional British stage. This actress was Anne Marshall, and I have the absolute honour of playing her. Anne Marshall isn’t a name many people know and yet she paved the way for every female actor that followed her. How has she been so forgotten in history??
At a time when women’s rights are in danger in parts of the world, this play really couldn’t be more relevant. It is a brilliant story of passion, heartbreak, determination and explores what it takes to fight for what is right, and the consequences of doing so.
We’ve got a very exciting cast and creative team and I couldn’t be more excited to share this brilliant, incredibly important story.
Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I have never been to Edinburgh Fringe Festival before, despite having wanted to for years because it is so iconic in our industry. It is THE Fringe Festival! But I’ve always either had other work or simply not had the money to go. So, to be offered the chance to perform at Edinburgh Fringe this year was incredibly exciting and I jumped on the chance straight away, especially as this play is phenomenal! I’m very grateful to have this opportunity and can’t wait to experience the uniqueness of Edinburgh Fringe!
What differentiates it from other festivals?
Mainly reputation! It is just so huge! Thousands of shows are put on throughout the month and I see it as a celebration of everyone who works in the arts industry. It’s a chance for us all to gather in a beautiful city, to experience so many different stories, through different artistic platforms. So many unheard voices can rise to greatness from this Festival and the opportunities it can bring are like no other!
What first motivated you to enter the industry?
Two moments. When I was 16 I went to a week-long drama course at a local theatre. At the end of the week I was asked to join their youth theatre. Cut to - me sitting in the car with my Mum, terrified and anxious about going inside for the first session. I didn’t want to go but my Mum calmed me down and said if I go in to have a look, she would stay in the car park so if I want to leave I could come back out and she’d take me home. I went in. 10 mins later I texted her to say I was staying and she could go home. I don’t think I’d be an actor if it wasn’t for that group so I owe that bit to my Mum - thanks Mum!
The second moment was when I got to play the lead role in a National Theatre Connections play. We got to perform it at the Oxford Playhouse and the play started with me doing a monologue in a spotlight centre stage. I will never forget that feeling in the wings when I saw the lights go down and I took my first steps on stage. I remember clear as day thinking ‘this feeling is incredible. I want to do this forever.’ From that day, I spent most of my time committed to trying to work out how people become actors and then trying to do it!
Who were your inspirations?
If we’re talking famous actors then I was always a huge Will Smith fan - I watched The Fresh Prince growing up and then all of his big films afterwards. I was always inspired watching his incredible performances. But my biggest inspirations were Matt Bateman and Adam Goldstein. Matt and Adam were the two legends that ran my youth theatre (360 Youth Theatre!). They are the real reason I knew I wanted to act. And they are no doubt the reason that a hell of a lot of the other people from my youth theatre now work in the arts industry too. We were inspired by them every Thursday night at 360. Time and time again they gave us confidence to tell stories and play with improvisation, devised scenes and productions of all sorts of plays at the Compass Theatre. When I knew I wanted to be an actor, they were the two people I went to straight away to ask for advice and the support they gave was invaluable. We still keep in touch now!
How has your background, upbringing and education had an impact on your artistic career?
Growing up, my mum was always super creative with entertaining me in school holidays and encouraging hobbies… even if it led to me in tears at a trial ballet class because I didn’t want to ‘walk on my tippy-toes’! My mum was the first audience I ever performed to when me and my friends made up ‘plays’ at home to act out for her (I’m sure she deserves some kind of award for sitting through them). I also remember watching my older brother play Mr Tumnus in his primary school show, and he was the reason I then did the shows when I was old enough! Like a lot of actors, I was quite shy at high school and struggled to deal with the social pressures of that age. But doing the school productions helped me find my voice and ‘my people’.
I was lucky to have a very supportive mum and dad in my life as I grew up, who came to see every school production and youth theatre show I did. It only encouraged my passion more and it’s something I’ve never taken for granted.
What is your earliest childhood art memory?
The earliest art memory I have is perhaps not the most positive but definitely hilarious to look back on. I was in playgroup (aged around 3) and we did a nativity production for Christmas. I was cast as a star and I have a flash of memory where I’m on the stage with a star on my head and not happy to be standing with several other kids as stars. Basically, I was very upset that I wasn’t Mary in the nativity. Not long after, I had a fancy dress party for my birthday and I went as Mary for that. My mum told me that I was adamant that I have to go as Mary after being so upset that I didn’t get to be her in the nativity at play group. I mean… some might say it was a sign…I might argue it was just my stubbornness…
If you didn’t have your current job, what would you probably be doing?
I played Netball competitively for years and had to give it up to go to drama school. Until that point my goal was to try to get onto the England netball team so if I didn’t change plans to be an actor, I probably would have continued to pursue that! Either that or I might have looked into becoming a PT like my brother - I was always the ‘sporty one’ at school! (Sporty Spice will forever be my Queen…)
Did Covid-19 change the way you create work? Do you approach shows with a different mentality now?
Covid rocked our industry unimaginably. We were the among the first to shut down and last to come back. I think most people in the arts would agree that the mental impacts were heavy. Even as productions resumed and I got the odd theatre and film jobs, the opportunities for creatives were much fewer. They arguably still are. When we did work, it was also incredibly difficult to have creative freedom and play, something that is so crucial to what we do, when still operating under such intense (though necessary) restrictions. I was already grateful pre-Covid for every job I got, but when something you love is taken away from you completely, it ignites a fire deep down that burns and grows until you get that thing back. It makes you appreciate it even more. People in the Arts are among the most passionate and determined people I know, and Covid has only ignited our fires more. I’m proud of us all for bringing this industry back to life.
Describe the last year in 5 words or less?
Proof artists should never re-train.
Do you subscribe to the idea that art should be exempt from ‘cancel culture’?
This is a difficult one. I wouldn’t say I have the right answer to this, or even that I have the right to talk about some of the aspects it. But I do think ‘cancel culture’ has led to lots of people feeling confident enough to stand up against issues that have been swept under the carpet in the past. We are now in an age where people are starting to recognise the importance of accepting people’s individual identities and celebrating and supporting the differences that make us all who we are. We are all unique, but equal in our importance as human beings. Of course, there is a long way to go still on that front but I’m proud to be part of a generation that is starting to speak out and raise awareness. And if the best way to do that is through cancel culture, calling out people for things they have said and done, and cancelling productions that promote terrible viewpoints, then I personally don’t see that as a bad thing. It doesn’t mean these hard-hitting topics can’t be portrayed in pieces of art, they absolutely should be, it’s just that the goal should be to educate and inform, in order to build a better, more understanding world for everyone.
If you could work with anybody, from any point in history, who would you pick and why?
This is a very tough question. I’m going to be cheeky and pick two – Tom Cruise and Julie Walters. I’m on a bit of a Top Gun hype right now with the sequel recently out (it’s amazing). Everyone always talks so highly of Tom and his work ethic, which is something I really admire. He also has a lot of skills which he has learnt for his action movies and that’s something I see myself doing. I’d like to get on a set with him and absorb some of that talent and drive! And then I’d love to do a play with Julie Walters. Lots of people know her for her screen credits but I saw her in a play at the National Theatre, which is still my favourite play I’ve ever seen to this day, The Last of the Haussmans. She blew me away and ever since I have loved her in every role I’ve seen her play!
What advice would you give to someone who wants to take a show up to the fringe?
Seeing as I’ve never been to Edinburgh Fringe before myself I don’t think I’m qualified enough to give advice! But I have done a lot of Fringe shows before elsewhere and seen the rise of some amazing creatives who began at the Fringe. So, what I will say is, if you are a creative in this industry and you have an idea, Fringe theatre is an amazing platform to share it. It’s a place where anyone’s voice can be heard and shared, in a way that we might not be given the opportunity to elsewhere. So, my advice is if you have a story to tell, tell it. Talk to other people, pitch your idea, there are always creatives out there looking for their next exciting project to collaborate on. Why couldn’t that project be yours?
When and where can people see your show?
The Actress plays at Underbelly Bristol Square this Edinburgh Fringe, from 3rd-29th August (no show 16th) at 4:40pm! Come and see us!
It is produced by the brilliant Long Lane Theatre Company, who have two other shows at Edinburgh Fringe this year too: Arty’s Ani-magination (Assembly Roxy, 10:30am - I’m also in this!) and The Giant Killers (Gilded Ballon, 12:45pm)
And where can people find, follow and like you online?
Instagram: @charlotte__price (2 underscores)
Twitter: @CharlottePrice_
Spotlight: https://www.spotlight.com/6574-6751-2339
Fight Company Instagram: @trueedge.fights
Long Lane Theatre Company Twitter: @LongLaneTheatre
The Actress, Underbelly Bristo Square (The Dairy Room), 4.40pm, 3-29 August (not 16). For tickets and more information, visit: https://underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/event/the-actress
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