It is August which only means one thing – it is Camden Fringe time! Over the next few weeks we are chatting to acts that are performing at the festival and finding all about their show and what they would call this years iconic Camden Fringe Pigeon! Today we speak to Nora Kelly Lester to find out all about the show of Bunny Bunny.

Date: 10th – 12th August
Time: 19:00
Price: £14 Concession: £12
Location: Lion & Unicorn Theatre
Ticket Link:  https://camdenfringe.com/events/bunny-bunny/

Hello! Tell us about Bunny Bunny? 

Well, it’s contemporary clown theatre show about this character Bunny.  Life isn’t going too good for Bunny. She can’t afford her rent and her career is going nowhere. Her romantic life is in Chaos. 

Bunny explores /reflects on different life roles including having a baby, working for google, getting “fucking married”, waitressing in a spaghetti restaurant etc. etc. all the while desperately dodging the calls from her landlord and her mother.

Torn between what she wants and what she thinks she should want, Bunny experiences the dilemmas faced by many 30 something women in today’s world. Bunny poses questions, pokes fun, unsettles her audience to make them think and laugh and question their perceptions of her and of themselves.

How did you come up with the name of your show that you’re taking to the Camden fringe?

Bunny just felt right for the character and the show is about her so … Bunny Bunny 

Tell us a little bit about your style of show?

It’s a contemporary red nose clown show . There is no 4th wall. It’s a comedy. There are elements of dark comedy in there too and physical humour, improvisation. There’s lots of dialogue – It’s definitely not a silent clown show. Bunny likes to talk. Her story unfolds in a series of vignettes and interactions with the audience including songs about hotel soap and scenes from Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. It’s  a show that tackles serious themes without taking itself too seriously and clown is a great medium to do this in.

Tell us about your set?

It’s a show in bag so the set is pretty minimal. I’m relying on my props and my very talented lighting and sound designers Conor Byrne and Luc Schouten. Some of the things I’ll be packing in my show suitcase are my real life childhood piggybank I made when I was 4, pink silky bunny tail knickers, mother and daughter aprons, my leopard print swimming togs and of course my red nose. 

What other acts are you looking forward to seeing at the fringe?

Miztli Rose’s “Cult Classic(k)” and Kal Aise’s “Too Soon”. Both these shows look great and they are also performing at Lion & Unicorn Theatre.

Have you done the fringe before? What have been some of your favourite shows to date and why?

This is my fist time bringing a show to Camden Fringe and I’m really looking forward to it. 

My favourite show I saw this year was Kim Noble’s Lullaby for Scavanger’s at Soho Theatre. I couldn’t shut up about it for weeks. Even the other night I met someone at a friends party and we were talking about foxes and anyway we figured out we’d both seen the show and I was like we have to talk. I love it when a show sticks with me this way.

What advice would you give to others who want to perform at Camden Fringe next year?

I’ll know more once the show goes up. At the moment I’m just preparing the show to go over.

What is the best thing about performing at the Camden fringe?

I don’t know yet. I am curious to see how the Camden Fringe audience will react to the show. One of things about performing a clown show is that it can change a lot depending on the audience each night…which keeps things exciting for me too

London can be an expensive place to perform in – what key advice would you give to performers that is a sort of life hack?

Yes that’s true. I’m travelling over from Dublin to do the show and luckily I have some good friends I can stay with while I’m doing the show there…so I guess if you have nice friends you can stay with – do that

What are your three favourite things about Camden?

The food, the theatres and the dogs…and the people too obviously. There’s a good buzz around Camden.

Who would be your ultimate dream audience member?

Jodie Comer come to my solo clown show!

The iconic image of the Camden Fringe is the Pigeon – if you could call this years pigeon a name to represent its style what would it be and why?

Pugnacious. Pugnay for short.

If people want to find out more about you where can they follow you on social media?

@NoraKellyLester on Instagram Facebook and Twitter

And Finally in three words – Why should people come and see the show? 

Because it’s brilliant