I’ve been asked to write a blog post about taking The Beginning to the British Council Edinburgh Showcase and what impact it has had on our touring. This was my third opportunity to present at the Showcase and I feel more accustomed to talking about the work in that context now. Networking can be nerve-wracking and I remember being briefed about "shoulder-surfing" when I was first selected. I’ve found that as the years have moved on I’ve moved more towards the centre of the room and looked out rather than in. It helps to be able to have conversations with other artists and theatre companies. To feel like you are part of a wider artistic community in Edinburgh is invaluable.
To begin at The Beginning…
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The Beginning (c) Claire Haigh
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The Beginning (c) Claire Haigh
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The Beginning (c) Claire Haigh
As a result of previous appearances at the showcase, with The Post Show Party Show (2009) and The End (2011), my work has been invited to theatres and festivals in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Cologne, Dresden, Dublin and Utrecht. Often the invitations come later rather than sooner, and I am still in a period of reflecting on what happened in Edinburgh and how we can measure its success. We got some lovely audiences. Some lovely reviews. From the bombastic: "A stunningly crafted piece of theatre" (Fringe Review), to the poetic: "…like a precarious but perfectly crafted structure of spun sugar" (A Younger Theatre). We got a lot of interest from promoters. The Showcase is always such a melting pot of contacts, cultures and conversations that the experience feels like a dot dot dot not a full stop. So far we’ve had requests for further information from promoters in Bulgaria, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mexico. On leaving the theatre in Edinburgh, a French promoter told us we must bring the show to Paris (Serge Gainsbourg plays a part in our story) but we are still waiting to hear back from her. Maybe she is reading this.
the Showcase experience feels like a dot dot dot not a full stop
The Beginning is a love letter to the theatre. We dance to The Shirelles and we kiss. It is about the beginning of a relationship between the performers and the audience and, in some ways, the Showcase feels like the beginning of a conversation between the work and the industry. Sometimes the conversation leads to a relationship. Sometimes the relationship leads to an invitation. We performed The Middle at the Forest Fringe and it was great to show the piece to a wider international audience. Following the Showcase we were able to secure a London run and a national tour of The Trilogy (The Beginning, The Middle and The End) and we are now looking at ways of touring it more internationally. The aim has always been to retire when I perform The End for the final time but I am still touring, two years after we took it to the Showcase. Each time we perform I say it will be the last, but, as long as there are still conversations taking place then I will still tour. I am not ready to retire yet.
Michael Pinchbeck is touring The Trilogy (The Beginning, The Middle, The End) to Lincoln Performing Arts Centre and Curve Theatre in Spring 2014. The Middle will be shown as part of SICK! Festival in Brighton in March 2014. More dates to be announced soon. For more information please go to www.michaelpinchbeck.co.uk.
