Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?
Hi! My name is Rowan Armitt-Brewster, and I am the director, producer, scriptwriter, and a performer in Skedaddle Theatre’s A Brief Case of Crazy debuting at Edinburgh Fringe this year. I am an actor, director, dancer, singer, and physical theatre performer from North Wales, and have a passion for creating physical comedy. I have written and directed A Brief Case of Crazy and this production encapsulates how I create my work. I love using different genres of physical performance such as: mime, object manipulation, dance, and puppetry. These skills are all very present in this show. My aim is to create simple stories that are told beautifully, creatively, and skilfully.
How would you describe A Brief Case of Crazy?
A Brief Case of Crazy tells the story of a remarkable introvert named Thomas and his quest for love. The story explores the joy introverts and people who are “different” have to offer the world, and how society must become better at accepting differences within people in today’s environment. Thomas works a dead-end job, his days punctuated by his brief encounters with equally shy, wide-eyed colleague Daisy. On his quest for love he encounters several obstacles, whether it’s a boisterous boss, his own excruciating insecurities or a rather bothersome briefcase that drags him through a perplexing, but hilarious, series of events. Will his mission to find love also come to a dead-end, or will he discover it’s what’s inside that counts? Through physical comedy, slick choreography, mime, puppetry and object manipulation, Skedaddle Theatre creates an incredibly skilful romantic comedy that will leave the audience deeply moved one moment and in tears of laughter the next. This is Skedaddle’s love letter to physical comedy.
What is your favourite part of your show?
The slick choreography, our use of skills such as mime, dance, and object manipulation, gives us great joy. However, the moments between Thomas and Daisy are my favourite. The hilarious, and sometimes painful awkwardness between them is my favourite element of the show, as although it’s amusing and entertaining, it beautifully displays the nervousness and inner introvert we all possess inside us, whether we show it or not, and how beautiful and natural these feelings and emotions are.
If your show had a theme song, what would it be and why?
When first creating the piece, I stumbled across “The Theory of Everything” film soundtrack, and “Forces of Attraction” from this score would most definitely be the theme song. The melody possesses an innocence and beauty that is present in the piece.
Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe? What differentiates it from other festivals?
We want to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe not only because of its size and scale, but also because of the variety of audience members we hope to attract. Truly everyone can gain an enormous amount from this show, and we can’t wait to change people’s perspective on how society must improve how people who are “different”, or “awkward” are treated. We also want to view a wide range of theatre, becoming familiar with companies and productions that we were previously unfamiliar with.
How has your background, upbringing and education had an impact on your artistic career?
My parents have been incredibly supportive of my ambitions throughout my entire life and journey, and this has helped me ever so much. They noticed my passion when they saw me dancing along to Me ‘ol Bam-Boo from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a very small child. I began dance and acting classes at a very young age, and when I was eleven, I joined vocational performing arts schools including “The Hammond School” and “Tring Park School for the Performing Arts”, which gave me such valuable training that has stuck with me in my professional work. At 18, I joined East 15 Acting School and have recently graduated from the BA Acting & Physical Theatre course. All three company members, Lennie Longworth, Samuel Cunningham, and I graduated from this course, and we had an unbelievable three years of training. The course gave us skills that we now incorporate into our work, such as: mime, physical comedy, puppetry, and physical movement.
Can you describe your creative process and how you develop your ideas into a full-fledged performance?
Originally, I created a seven-minute solo for a drama school third year show, and this is where this production was formed. During the performances, I fell so deeply in love with the concept, especially after seeing the audience reaction, and decided that I would take the piece further, and I now have enormous ambitions for the production. Initially, it was a challenge to take a very short solo and create a full production, but I had many ideas for what I wanted, and I knew exactly the style I wanted. I wrote a first draft in February this year and proposed the idea to Samuel Cunningham and Lennie Longworth, and we decided to take the leap and dive into the Edinburgh Fringe. The piece is heavily movement based and therefore much of the creative process targeted choreography and movement. Although we are all highly skilled physical movers, something that remained critical to me was that every single movement had a purpose, making sure not a single finger or toe was out of place with the rest of the world I wanted to create. The characters and the world of the piece have also developed throughout the process and have posed many challenges – making sure that Thomas and Daisy are people of the same “realm”, but also placing importance on their individuality. After many discussions and rehearsals, we have infinite ideas, and therefore creating a full fifty-minute production has been challenging but joyous.
What is your favourite thing about performing for a live audience?
The irreplaceable factor of live theatre is the raw reactions shared between the performer and audience member. Nothing can compare to experiencing a shift in the audience’s attitude towards a topic, the nervousness of pre-show, the audience reacting beautifully to something specific you didn’t necessarily expect them to. Live performing also gives you a very honest, and transparent truth to the work you have formed, as you witness first-hand whether your work is doing justice to the purpose of your show.
Who are some of your artistic influences, and how have they shaped your work?
As a physical comedy company, we are of course inspired by the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Rowan Atkinson. These iconic performers display the importance of clear storytelling and making universal comedy. Their work also creates unity within an audience, a unanimous understanding and joy, regardless of background, age, nationality, or language. This is what we are inspired by – how we can make theatre accessible to all, how we can unite and entertain a widely diverse audience, and shift their attitudes towards important, relevant issues.
Is there a show you’re excited to see when you’re up there?
Our company is hoping to see “Korean Painter”. With the use of mime and the promise of a “mysterious” experience, we are fascinated to see what it entails.
What do you hope to learn or achieve from your first Fringe experience, and how do you plan to apply it to your future work?
We have huge ambitions for the show, so our mission is to gain the opportunity to take the production further post-Edinburgh. Our plan is to tour the production, to perform at theatres around the UK and internationally, as we want to spread our message about the importance of accepting differences within people in society. Our long-term goal is to take the production onto TV and screen, as we know how beautifully the production would translate to screen. We also simply want to entertain our audience, to make them think and rethink about how they can do more to accept those who feel out of place in today’s environment, because without this, the production does not hold the same level of importance and purpose. We hope to learn about networking, and other companies, as this will help our future work, especially if we plan to collaborate with other artists to further develop the piece. We will also learn how to manage a festival, how to perform at our best whilst also taking care of our well-being, which will massively help us with future festivals and work.
What would you say has been (potentially) the most useful piece of advice you’ve been given about taking a show to Edinburgh Fringe?
The best piece of advice I’ve received is to simply enjoy it. Performing is what we were made for, and it’s what we’re best at, so it is imperative that we enjoy the experience. We’ve also been told the importance of looking after ourselves, as the festival can be very demanding and intense. We’ve also been advised to take advantage of all the theatre at our disposal to watch throughout the festival, as our second favourite thing to do other than perform, is to watch others perform their work.
How do you plan to balance performing and exploring the vast array of other shows and events happening at the Fringe?
We are performing in the evenings at the festival, so we plan to see as many daytime shows and events as we can (when we aren’t flyering or marketing our own show), as we really want to see as much work from other artists as possible. This is one of the best opportunities to watch a huge amount of theatre, so we plan to take full advantage of this. As a group of physical performers, we hope to see shows of physical and comic nature, but also want to delve into genres we aren’t as familiar with, as it is important to learn about other genres, styles, and ways of working, as well as getting to know other artists and what gives their work purpose.
When and where can people see your show?
The Space @ Symposium Hall, Annexe, 12 - 24 Aug 2024 (not 18th), 21.15 – 22.05
And where can people find you online?
0 Comments