It is festival season and that means that in the next month there is so many great comedy festivals to look forward to! This month we are looking at some of the great shows that you can see at the Edinburgh Fringe. So take note because we are going to give you all the information you need for just a handful of some of the great shows happening this year!

The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave

Location:   Summerhall-Main Hall (Venue 26)

Dates:  Jul 30th -5th, 7th-11th, 13th-18th, 20th-23rd

Time: 18:05

Price: £17 Concessions £14.50

Ticket Link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-butterfly-who-flew-into-the-rave

Hello! Tell us about yourself?

Kia ora and hello! I am Oli Mathiesen (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Manu, Ngāpuhi), a queer and Māori choreographer and dancer based all the way on the opposite side of the world, Aotearoa-New Zealand. I make deeply engrossing, bold, and radical, genre-defying dance work that aims to always enthrall and entertain audiences while spiking their drink with a bit of politics.

My work is in reference to the diverse communities I am part of, using my indigeneity, queerness, or political viewpoint to find thrilling, clever, and vibrantly loud ways to explore them through dance. Beyond choreography, my love of performing informs all of my artistry, and I am in a constant pursuit of choreographing the dream show for me to perform. And beyond the stage, my love falls into the lap of Pinterest scrolling looking at chrome and leather furniture, Google Drive organising, and chasing boys who don’t live in the same country as me! Woohoo, that last one isn’t very financially viable.

Tell us all about your show!

An international sweaty hellhole and the cesspit I so desire to be trapped in for 48 hours. The likes of the Berlin and New York underground rave scene have always fascinated me. I believe another version of myself exists somewhere in a p***-covered club where I’ve chewed through my cheeks and some guy’s kids are spilled down my back. I am galvanized and roused by rave culture and everything it encompasses.

‘The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave’ is an endurance-based dance work to the booming techno album ‘Nocturbulous Behaviour’ by Suburban Knight. Made and performed in collaboration with powerhouses of Aotearoa’s dance scene, Lucy Lynch, Sharvon Mortimer, and Celia Hext, we explore the movement vocabulary used in techno and rave culture as a contemporary nightclub between 3 bodies emerges. Relentless movement, seamless without pause, detailed down to every beat. The atmosphere and culture of a 3-day rave condensed into a high art, streamlined performance where you watch the destruction of 3 human beings commence in front of you. Indulge in the pain, the sweat, the cathartic mess; a display of pure endurance to achieve a goal. A spectacle of the human body as a victim to music, as a victim to passion, as a victim to our endless desire to achieve more. To win and win again.

Resuscitation on repeat. It is the come up and the come down all in one and highlights the beauty of feeling alive but all the consequences that come with it. It’s an ode to the past 5-year marathon of losing societal morals and political structure. Our communal loss of work, time, love, sex, eating, fighting, cleaning, holidaying, sleeping, pashing, drinking, throwing up, everything, physicalised as an artifact of what we as a people have endured. And just like listening to a love song that sings to that one breakup you had, ‘The Butterfly Who Flew Into the Rave’ is an acid house remix that screams f*** you to the pandemic.

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

I think the best part about Fringe is that you don’t even know your favourite show exists yet! The thrill of stumbling around the city while trying to take on every person’s suggestion while wrestling with your FOMO is the fun of the festival. And in that, a show you never planned on seeing emerges from the phone book-looking program and solidifies its spot as your favourite show.

In saying this, I am so excited to see the other beautifully programmed dance and physical theatre works at Summerhall, such as ‘Anatomy of a Night’, ‘Because You Never Asked’, and ‘In the Bushes’. I am also looking forward to watching the returns of ‘300 Paintings’ and Kiwi clown Fringe veteran Trygve Wakenshaw. I am yet to scour the program with my Sharpie though, and my list is sure to grow!

If this is your first time – what are you looking forward to?

This is our first time! First time performing at least. Gosh, I simply think the thing I am most looking forward to is getting to share this one hell of a show with new audiences that span so many different countries, personal lived experiences, cultures, etc, and with that, new perspectives and interpretations of the work.

The post-show conversations with audiences will be a space of beauty, where you can really connect with the heartbeat of Fringe. I am also looking forward to getting really toned and fit over the month. Haha! The show is so physically excruciating and painful, I hope I get some sort of reward out of it!

Talk us through your daily routine for a day at the Fringe

Here is a little insight into what we are thinking. First call to action: a sleep-in! Every great artist must get their beauty sleep, especially when your adrenaline from last night’s show kept you up until 3:00am. A big protein-focused breakfast will be accompanied by a few early morning shows, hopefully!

Then as the month progresses, I am sure my daily show watching will be swapped out with meetings as our creative producer and I wring every opportunity out of Fringe. Maybe handing out a flyer or two, or 50, out on the streets. Then we will be heading into show prep, including a big warm-up, many nervous stops to the toilet, and getting our tech set up. Then show, show, show.

Dance, dance, dance. Post-show, we will be heading back to our accommodation to plunge ourselves into ice baths. And after a big meal, watch a couple more shows as a nightcap. Bed, aka, the best part!

Ok, where is your favourite place to eat at the Fringe? 

Last year, when I visited Fringe, I fell in love with the sandwich shop ‘BaGet Stuffed’. I am a big sandwich lover, and I would have to say this place sits in my top 3 favourites in the world. Saucey sandwiches and wraps, and the best part is their prices! Highly recommend, and tell them Oli sent you, haha!

Best thing about performing at the fringe?

I think the best part about performing at Fringe is getting to contribute to such a complex and layered ecosystem of art. Often in the world, you feel like a bit of an oddity being an artist. Sometimes it is hard to find like-minded people, or you get tired of feeling like the most unstable member of the family, or you don’t want to have to explain your very niche genre of art at your partner’s Christmas party. But at Fringe, artists are the majority; we rule! This is our domain, and performing arts are put on a pedestal of celebration!

What is the hardest part about performing at the Fringe?

I think the hardest part about performing at Fringe is the endurance of it. So often, art is fleeting, not asking to be recreated. The magic of performing arts is in the livelyness and the risk that comes with live theatre.

With the long season at Fringe, you have to keep on searching for the magic and not fall into a pattern of rhythm and complacency. You have to give every audience the same deserving love and attention as you did when you first premiered your show. Now that’s hard.

Do you bring anything special from home to make it feel more special whilst you are away?

Often, I don’t, but I think clothing holds a lot of importance. I think my clothing provides a lot of sense of familiarity and comfort, and definitely feels like a piece of home whenever I pull out my favourite jacket to wear. Travelling overseas is always a fun time to test out fashion, and also buy new fashion. It becomes a collaboration between the items you brought from home and the new items from the shopping spree. It will be like a New Zealand x Edinburgh fashion line.

What are your best hacks to save money whilst at the Fringe?

The Sainsbury’s Local meal deals! This is where the real money-saving happens. This is a bit of a ‘if you know, you know’, but the price for the amount of substance you get will save any visiting artist enough money to buy their return flight. Life. Hack.

What would be your top three items every performer must take to the fringe?

Oooo. Business cards. A full matching tracksuit. A massage gun.

what’s the secret to successful flyering? 

I am unsure, and would love to find out any tips! I am thinking it is to do with having a point of difference. Maybe a creative form of flyering? Maybe a costume? An offer of a free service? Let me know, my inbox will be open.

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

Instagram is the place to go! Follow along for the fun at @oli_sen on Instagram and TikTok. And then a quick Google search of my name should lead you to our YouTube, Facebook, and website. I’ll see you there!

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

Chaotic, frenetic, spectacle!

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