Hello! Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?
I'm Rachel Briscoe. I make theatre and I co-run fanSHEN theatre company. We have a show at Summerhall called Lists for the end of the world.
How would you describe your show?
Things I pretend to be interested in. Times my 8 year old self would be proud of me. Places I would hide a body.
Lists for the end of the world is a show composed entirely of crowd-sourced lists, from all kinds of people in all kinds of places – including from the audience as they queue up to take your seats. In Lists…, the ordinary and the extraordinary, the profound and the ridiculous sit playfully side by side. It includes laughs, music, sad times, romance, some dancing, a look at the world through other people's eyes, fish sticks.
Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
The audiences are incredible, and it's a brilliant thing to be part of - so many great people are involved and up there. Oh, and so more people can see our work and book it for the future (hint, hint).
What differentiates it from other festivals?
The consistently sunny weather?! I think the sheer range of work that you can see.
Do you think the Fringe has changed over the years? If so, how? Are these changes positive or negative?
Well, it keeps getting bigger doesn't it? In some ways that's good - the democracy of it, that anyone can have a show in the Fringe - but it is a bit overwhelming when you pick up the brochure and it's almost as big as War and Peace. Like, where do you start? I think that's why word of mouth recommendations are so important.
What first motivated you to enter the industry? Who were your inspirations?
I've always been obsessed with stories. In theatre you get to tell stories with words and images and people and light and sound and all sorts of other things. It's like doing the thing I'm most fascinated by, with the best tool box. In terms of inspirations, I saw Improbable's Shockheaded Peter when I was doing my A-levels and it blew me away - I was a bit like, 'Wow, theatre can be this??'
If you didn't have your current job, what would you probably be doing?
Honestly? Probably working in advertising. It's all the same skills as theatre, but used for evil rather than good.
If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
Actually the one I do. I get to work with brilliantly talented generous people to make things I 100% believe in, and then share them with more people. I guess I'd also quite like to write recipe books as I love food and cooking. But I'd hate to be a chef - it looks super stressful and the hours are even worse than theatre!
What is your earliest childhood art memory?
Watching some cats climb the trellis in next door's garden. I remember there was a man with a massive beard there - recently I told my mum this and she said that would have been my dad… The '80s was not a decade of restraint in the field of male facial hair.
Do you ever feel any pressure to be a social commentator, or constantly update material to respond to events?
Not pressure as such. I feel like the work I make is always in dialogue with what's happening in the world, although often in quite an indirect way.
Equally, do you think there has been a shift in public sentiment that has affected your work?
I think Brexit revealed how divided the UK is - and that worries me. I'm interested in how art can create contexts where people who have very different views/ backgrounds/ values can encounter each other - I don't think we're very good at that yet but it's something I'm thinking about a lot.
Describe the last year in 5 words or less.
Not quite what we expected.
If you could work with anybody, from any point in history, who would you pick and why?
Maybe the person who did the paintings in the Chauvet cave. Whoever they were, they understood story structure! I'd like to collaborate with them on a piece using all the tools we have available to us now -like VR for example- and see what they made of it!
Lists For The End Of The World is performing at Summerhall at 13:45 on 2nd – 27th (not 14th – 21st). For tickets and more information visit the Ed Fringe website.
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