Friday 14 July 2017

2 Becomes Dramaturgy: Swipe Right Theatre @ Edfringe 2017

2 Become 1 is a 90s pop musical. Following sell-out runs at King's Head Theatre and Edinburgh 2016, the show is back, even bigger and better - with new songs, scenes and even more comedy.
Gilded Balloon, 2-28 August, 3.15pm, 60 minutes  

What was the inspiration for this performance?
We were up at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014 when we went to see a 60s duke box Musical. We loved how much fun the show was, and after we thought wouldn't it be brilliant to do a duke box Musical for our generation, 90s kids! 

When writing the script, we took inspiration from the strong female friendships that were on our screens in the 90s; Charmed, Sex and the City, All-Saints, and of course the Spice Girls, to help create our characters and their relationships.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 
Absolutely. Ultimately we want our audience to have a good time, but we also use the comedy and our stereotypical female characters to get people thinking about how women were perceived in the 90s and whether anything has changed in that way. 

How did you become interested in making performance?
Like many other graduates we found ourselves spending more time as a waiter rather than an actor. We started writing to keep creative and to be able to perform.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?
This show was very much work-shopped and devised as a collective with the cast. After writing the script we had a few set ideas for characters and staging, but mostly it was something that was developed over the rehearsal period

Does the show fit with your usual productions?
2 Become 1 is actually our first production as Swipe Right Theatre. We think we have found a great formula for a successful piece of musical comedy so this is something we will definitely use for our future shows. 

What do you hope that the audience will experience?
We want to take the audience back to a simpler time, when dating and meeting people wasn't confined to the screen of your IPhone, and where women were starting to be able to truly explore their sexuality. We want 2 Become 1 to be a party of a show, we hope they come out dancing, singing, and feeling like they're part of the gang. 

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?
As it is a 90s Musical it is all about getting the level of nostalgia right, we wanted to make sure that there were things that any generation of audience could relate to, whether you were a child, a teen, or an adult at the time. 

We also interact with the audience a lot to get them really feeling like they are going through the experience with the characters. If you have a 'audience participation' phobia, sit at the back, and even then we will probably find you. 


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