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 find out about the show Greyjoy.

Date: 10th-14th August
Time: 16:30
Price: £11.50 Concession £9.50
Location: The Libra Theatre Cafe

Ticket Link: https://camdenfringe.com/events/greyjoy/

---

Tell us a little bit about your style of show?

GREYJOY has been notoriously hard to explain across every interview I’ve done. I describe it as This Is Going To Hurt meets Every Brilliant Thing – it’s a medical dramedy about the inadequacies of the NHS to care for the people who care for us. It’s about anticipatory grief, being a young carer and realising it’s never too late in life to do the things you always wanted to. Also, there are guest stars/doctors every night who have no clue what they are going to say! That’s the main thing. We had a week-long run in Oxford which uncovered some ridiculous possibilities for audience interaction, and I’m so looking forward to really pushing the boundary of what a traditional Fringe play is. 

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

The good thing about GREYJOY is it means we have to recruit nearly 30 completely different guest doctors for our full run! This resulted in me being extremely invested in our fringe-mates before rehearsals even started, so I have a long list of what I want to see. I’m very interested in seeing Almost Famous and Caroline McEvoy’s new WIP at our venue, The Libra Theatre Cafe. Outside of Libra, I really want to catch I Can’t Stop The Loneliness at Hen and Chickens.

How are rehearsals going?

So well – I love our cast so much. The great thing about remounting the show after our initial run is that we can really develop the script with personal stories from the cast and crew. The initial script was very intertwined with my own experience of the healthcare system and grief, and whilst we were rehearsing we had so many amazing discussions about how we conceptualise losing people, the performativity involved in caring for people, how we take our tea… the show is a living document and I can’t wait to work even more with our cast and crew on developing it further.

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

Camden seems to have such a unique sense of community that I think is sorely missing in a lot of fringe theatre spaces – there is so much inter-show support and friendship, and such an amazing sense of dedication to doing weird, boundary-pushing and risky things with theatre.

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

I think the key is to find a venue who build their program with your best interests at heart. Whilst London is very expensive to even breathe in, a lot of Camden venues offer free or subsidised rehearsal space, technicians, show-themed cocktails (shout out Libra!)… the works. It’s also a good idea to stay in a hostel or one of them capsule thingys if you don’t live near central London – which, who does these days? The other main life hack is to pester every friend of a friend of a friend for crowdfunding money – a little goes a long long LONG way.

Who would be your ultimate dream audience member?

Florence Pugh. You’ll have to come and see the show to find out why.

On a slightly more realistic note, anyone with experience of caring for a loved one, or anyone who has been to a funeral where something funny has happened and you haven’t quite been able to laugh. 

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?

Diana. No further questions. 

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

Find us @blackstar.prods in most places – we have a very exciting summer coming up (including some possible shows of GREYJOY beyond Camden!) so keep ’em peeled. 

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

‘Pal’ in ‘palliative’.

Thank you again for all your support in reading and engaging with the website.

If you want to help support the website then you can! You can buy Holly a cup of tea (and a biscuit!)