Wales' official showcase returns to Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August, with three high quality uplifting shows from a cohort of exceptional multi-disciplinary artists, exploring urgent and topical issues through dance, music and performance.
From 22-26 August, the spotlight will be on Wales as a team of established and emerging performing artists take part in the official This is Wales in Edinburgh Showcase Week. Presented by Wales Arts International / Arts Council of Wales, the showcase week will invite audiences from across the globe for a taste of Wales and will feature world class performances from exceptional artists.
Selected to perform at this year’s This is Wales in Edinburgh Showcase are:
Common Wealth & Darren Pritchard – ‘Payday Party’
Dirty Protest – ‘Double Drop’
Jo Fong and George Orange – ‘The Rest of Our Lives’
The cohort have been supported by the Wales in Edinburgh Fund, which is administered by Wales Arts International / Arts Council of Wales. The selection process included a panel of industry experts including:
Dawn Walton - Independent writer, director, arts consultant
Claire Verlet - Théâtre de la Ville, programmer
Liara Barussi - Jukebox Collective, artistic director
Krystal Lowe - Dancer, choreographer, writer, director
Tunde Adefioye - Lecturer, essayist, coach, dramaturg
Nici Beech - Independent arts consultant, programmer
Maggie Dunning (chair) - Arts Council of Wales, Project Manager
In attendance:
Natasha Nicholls – British Council Wales, Arts Manager
Louise Miles-Payne – Creu Cymru, Director
Eluned Hȃf – Head of Wales Arts International
Find out more about the showcasing companies’ performances below.
Joining the Wales in Edinburgh Fund recipients is the selected Seeding for the Future Programme participants. The programme supports established and emerging artists and producers who have yet to take work to the Fringe to realise their future showcasing potential. The selection panel included Dawn Walton, Jafar Iqbal, Fadhili Maghiya, Elen Roberts, Elin Roberts, Jenny Stoves and chaired by Maggie Dunning.
The Seeding for the Future Programme cohort are:
Callum Lloyd
Isaac George
Krystal Lowe
Hannah Lloyd
LOYALTY
Taking Flight Theatre Company
Rhiannon Mair
Jukebox Collective
Gareth Chambers
Leading the Wales in Edinburgh programme, Project Manager Maggie Dunning said: “We’re very excited to be supporting a unique group of artists and producers to attend the Fringe this year and hope this opportunity will allow them to experience showcasing in a new way. The quality of applications to this programme were exceptional, and the number of successful recipients highlights the exciting talent currently brewing in all corners of Wales.”
Phil George, Chair of the Arts Council of Wales said: “Wales in Edinburgh is a great opportunity to showcase the vibrancy, the edge and the provocation which are strong features of our performing arts scene in Wales. I’m sure that the three selected shows will grab attention in that crowded Festival! And I’m thrilled to see the continuation of the Seeding for the Future programme for artists and producers who have not taken shows to the Festival before. The connections and alliances they make at Edinburgh will provide new stimulus to their creative careers.”
Wales Arts International and Arts Council of Wales look forward to the opportunity to listen avidly to conversations at this year's Culture Summit, also taking place in Edinburgh following the Wales Showcase week.
More information on Wales’ participation at the Culture Summit will be available soon.
About the Showcasing Companies
Common Wealth & Darren Pritchard
Payday Party
Theatre (Political, True Life)
AceDome, Pleasance Dome, 1 Bristo Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9AL
23 - 27 August | 14:40 (15:40) £11.50 (£7)
Box office: 0131 556 6550 | www.pleasance.co.uk
Common Wealth’s Payday Party is the most glamorous legal political party you will go to. Six artists share their real-life stories and talents in the hope of getting paid by the audience. Song, dance, rap, spoken word and live music are thrown into the cauldron of despair to cook up a survival cake Marie Antoinette would be proud of. Exploring what it means to be Welsh, working class and in the arts, Payday Party directly addresses our times, giving a voice to those rarely platformed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and beyond. The bold new work tackles racism, elitism and class, touching on the cost of living crisis, austerity and the conclusion of the investigation into the Westminster lockdown party scandal.
Dirty Protest
Double Drop
Theatre (New Writing, Drama)
Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall Place, Edinburgh, EH9 1PL
23-27 August | 14:40 (15:40) | £7-11.50
Box office: 0131 560 1581 | www.summerhall.co.uk
Dirty Protest Theatre’s Double Drop is based on experiences of growing up in traditional Welsh culture in mid nineties North Wales. This new play with music is about coming to terms with your shame by creating your own culture. The play sees the rites and ceremonies of the Eisteddfod (traditional Welsh speaking festival) collide with the communion and transcendence of a rave. Double Drop is by the critically acclaimed Welsh new writing company and writer, performer, founder and lead vocalist of folk band 9Bach, Lisa Jên Brown. This hilarious, mind-bending, and charming work was originally created as a 20 minute audio play during the first pandemic lockdown for audiences to enjoy on their daily walk. Through the third lockdown in 2021, a pared-back development production was created in two weeks especially for the MultiStory open-air hub at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021. After sold out audiences and acclaim, the team have now developed the play into a brand new, fully realised production.
Jo Fong and George Orange
The Rest of Our Lives
Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus (Comedy, Cabaret)
Old Lab, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall Place, Edinburgh, EH9 1PL
16-21, 23-28 August | 10:15 (11:15) | £8-13 | 14+
Box office: 0131 560 1581 | www.summerhall.co.uk
Jo Fong and George Orange’s celebratory, hilarious The Rest of Our Lives is a cabaret of life and near death, a joyful morning dose of dance, circus and games. The performance features two middle-aged lives in an eclectic, spontaneous, predictable and random decline. Jo is an old dancer, George an old clown. They are international artists with 100 years of life experience between them, armed with a soundtrack of floor-fillers, a book of raffle tickets and a sprinkling of eco-friendly optimism.