Victoria Firth has been working in and around the theatre for more than two decades as a director and a performer, but this year she brings her first full length solo show to the Edinburgh Festival. The project was inspired by a workshop led by Fringe favourite Bryony Kimmings and sees Victoria explore a very interesting and very personal theme.
We were intrigued by both the show - 'How To Be Amazingly Happy' - and the journey Victoria has taken in creating it. Which meant we just had to ask some questions.
CLICK HERE to read today's Chris Meets interview.
'How To Be Amazingly Happy' is on at Pleasance Courtyard until 27 Aug.
Find out where to pick up a copy HERE or read it all online HERE.
As you may have noticed, this year we are talking to lots of people who work and perform at the Edinburgh Fringe about the ins and outs of presenting shows at the world's biggest cultural festival. Those interviews appear here each day in the TW Daily.
Well, we are also tapping into interviews to create a TW:DIY Guide To Doing The Edinburgh Fringe, packed full of great tips and advice from all the people we've interviewed. Having put the initial guide live last month we'll be adding to it throughout August. And we've just added a load more tips from the recent interviews.
So head on over to the TW:DIY website and check out our ever expanding guide here.
THREE SHOWS FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN >>
BambinO | The Edinburgh Academy | 7-19 Aug
I felt bad for choosing shows for the previous kid's show section that would be absolutely no use to those of you with pre-schoolers and toddlers, so here begins a section just for you. And it starts with a brilliant and already acclaimed show aimed at babby-lambs aged from six to eighteen months old. It's a reinvention of opera, designed specifically for these little growing minds, and it's a relaxed performance that allows those little ones to explore during the show, to interact with the singers, the musicians, and each other. Doesn't that sound brilliant? Wish I still had a baby. Well, maybe not.
Shhh... The Elves Are Very Shy | Royal Botanic Gardens | 5-26 Aug
You may or may not know about the long and involved love affair that ThreeWeeks has had with Edinburgh's Botanic Gardens. We really truly love it there, especially in the middle of the Festival when we want to go somewhere a bit less crowded. So how lovely that there is a really enticing looking show for little ones there. Elfologist Dr Faye Greenwood is all set to explain just why these poor elves are so backward at coming forward, and get help in encouraging her tiny friends to come out and say hello. Promises to be multi-sensory, musical, magical and accessible to the very smallest tots.
Kika's Birthday | Pleasance Courtyard | 1-13 Aug (pictured)
"Kika, a little French mouse, is going to be five years old! Her family has planned a birthday surprise, with friends, songs and a grasshopper band. But who is that with a twitchy tail and shining eyes watching them closely? It's that bright orange cat. Will she join the party, make some new friends and share some birthday cake, or does she have something else in mind?" A lovely storytelling show with interaction and puppetry, created for younger audiences, and brought to you by acclaimed performer Danyah Miller.
THREE HISTORICAL THEATRE SHOWS >>
Prehistoric | Summerhall | 1-26 Aug
Well, it feels a bit... sad to be calling this a 'historical' piece, given that it's set in the decade in which I was born. But, you know, I suppose last week is regarded as history, too. Anyway, this looks ever so promising, a punk theatre gig focusing on the topic of civil liberties. It's set in Brisbane in 1979 and is about Deb, Nick, Pete and Rachel, who meet at a gig, start their own band, and "find out - the hard way - why their town stays so quiet". It's based on first hand accounts of those who were, at the time, living and making music in Queensland, which apparently (I did not know this) was then under the power of a notoriously corrupt and brutal government.
Revenants | Pleasance Dome | 1-27 Aug
This new play by Nichola McAuliffe is set a long time before I was born, so that's making me feel a bit better. And here's what it's all about: "25 years after the murder of the Romanovs and 25 years before the murder of Martin Luther King, a group meet in an English birch wood. Actor Ernest Thesiger, Queen Mary and her chauffeur Walcott commemorate the death of the Russian royal family. Into their midst comes Waverley Monk, a young black GI whose experience of segregation has him ready to wreak revenge on a whites-only barracks. As the group battle with notions of persecution and bravery, it's clear that violent revolutions must have unforeseen consequences".
Bloominauschwitz | Just Festival at St John's | 3-25 Aug (pictured)
This one-man show isn't just historical, it's got a big old literary reference in it, because its protagonist is Leopold Bloom, the central character in James Joyce's 'Ullyses'. Escaping from the pages of that novel, he cuts a swathe through the history of twentieth century Europe, allowing the piece to explore a variety of themes, including migration, Jewish identity, and right wing nationalism in Europe. Sounds good, right? Well, we know it's good, because it has already won much acclaim, winning the Best New Play Award at the 2015 Brighton Fringe. How lovely that we get to see it here in Edinburgh in 2018.
THREE DEBUT COMEDY HOURS >>
Heidi Regan: Heidi Vs Sharks | Pleasance Courtyard | 1-26 Aug (pictured)
Not sure I need to say anything here, do I? I mean, it's called 'Heidi Vs Sharks' and that'll pretty much do for me. But as you might not be as interested in shark-based comedy as I am, I'll also throw in the information (if you weren't aware of it) that Heidi Regan won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2017 and the So You Think You're Funny competition in 2016, so yes, I feel fairly sure we can expect good things. As well as an exploration of "our relationship with an increasingly confusing world via the medium of bad shark films" we're promised discussion of topics including the NHS, religion, and "what makes 'Shark Attack III' the 'Godfather III' of bad shark films". Ace.
Jake Lambert - Little Lost Lad | Pleasance Courtyard | 1-26 Aug
"Jake lives alone, cuts his own hair, has an ability to remember the exact date he first tasted each specific food for the first time and has a one-eyed cat. If this sounds like it needs some explaining and, let's face it, it probably does, then this is the show for you..." Another comedian with a debut hour this summer, and all the signs point to yes: Jake Lambert secured a nomination for Best Show at the Leicester Comedy Festival earlier this year, has written for shows like 'Mock The Week' and supported Seann Walsh, Kerry Godliman and Tom Allen on tour.
Sarah Keyworth: Dark Horse | Pleasance Courtyard | 1-26 Aug
She's been a finalist, runner up or close to it in pretty much any comedy competition going; she's supported a load of big names on tour; she's been on Comedy Central and the BBC; and now she's headed to Edinburgh with her debut hour. Sarah Keyworth tells a semi-autobiographical tale about sex and gender identity, pondering on some very pertinent questions about the expectations society imposes on girls as they grow up, and describing some of her own personal revelations about what it means to be a lesbian and what constitutes femininity. "Think 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' but British, deadpan and in no way similar". I really, really want to see this.
THREE CONVERSATIONS... AT THE STAND >>
In Conversation With... Rory Bremner | The Stand's New Town Theatre | 16 Aug (pictured)
When it came to picking stuff from the Spoken Word section of the Fringe programme I got rather distracted by all the great events that The Stand have going on in their 'In Conversation With' strand. And because that happened I basically only picked stuff from said strand. So I guess this section is actually now the 'In Conversation With' section. And you know what, that's okay. Not least because I love The Stand. And I am going to start with Rory Bremner because I bet you all know who he is, and I bet a lot of you would be interested in an event involving him.
In Conversation With... Paddy Hill | The Stand's New Town Theatre | 10 Aug
Fewer of you, possibly, will have heard of Paddy Hill, though the moment I begin to recount who he is, you will instantly recognise his case. He was one of the so-called Birmingham Six, who were wrongfully convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings back in 1974. If you were a reasonable age back in the eighties, you will surely remember that the campaign to free them became incredibly high profile and, of course, finished with the quashing of the convictions. Paddy has since campaigned tirelessly on behalf of fellow falsely-imprisoned inmates.
In Conversation With... Aamer Anwar | The Stand's New Town Theatre | 5 Aug
And finally, Aamer Anwar, who does one of my favourite things, human rights lawyering. A brief biog: "Originally from Liverpool, coming to study at Glasgow University in 1986. Widely recognised as one of Scotland's leading human rights campaigners. Solicitor of the Year 2016, Lawyer of the Year 2017. Glasgow University Rector. Made legal history in a 1995 civil action against Strathclyde Police for a 1991 racist attack. He has been instructed in some of Scotland's highest profile cases, including the seventeen year campaign to secure a conviction for the Surjit Singh Chhokar murder. During the Fringe he will be in the middle of defending ex-Catalan minister Professor Clara Ponsati against extradition". I'd like to hear more from him, for sure.
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