So, here it is, Project #2. We are planning to take The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019!!
The big question has been, are we going to have open auditions for Project #2? Before I knew what the project would be, the answer was yes. The only reason I didn't have open auditions for Earnest was because I needed to know there was a solid cast before I could put everything else in motion. And because so much was riding on that first show, I needed to know that it was people I could trust and had worked with before.
But we're not having open auditions for Discord, because the play kind of just fell into my lap ... pre-made.
Well actually, when I say Discord fell into my lap, that's not entirely true. It's more like I elbowed my way into a conversation that had nothing to do with me, and now here we are. A bit of background: whilst at a friend's party, I overheard (eavesdropping) two friends, Luke (Jefferson) and Claudia (director) talking about a play Luke wanted to take to Fringe. But he had never taken a show to Fringe before, and neither had she. At this moment, I slid over to their side of the couch, mentioned that I had (to Toronto Fringe), and if they needed a company to take Discord to Edinburgh, White Rabbit could, before sliding back to the other side of the couch (this story makes the couch seem a lot larger than it was).
Luke talked it over with Ciaran (Dickens) and Tomi (Tolstoy) before coming back to me and deciding that yes, actually they wanted to go to Fringe and they wanted White Rabbit to help them get there. We then plied Claudia with wine and convinced her to direct this Fringe project (she didn't require much convincing).
So, here we are, at the beginning of a journey that will take the better part of 12 months to come to fruition. If you're going to be in Edinburgh in August 2019, then definitely come and see the show. If you're not going to be there, fear not! For we have a few plans in the works for allowing our Swiss audience to see it both before and after.
Finally, here are some things you can do to help us along:
- We remain incredibly grateful for all the funding help we received for Earnest and we certainly would not have been able to achieve what we did without that level of support. If you are at all able to help out - no donation is too small (or too big!!) - we would much appreciate if you go to our donate page or check out our GoFundMe campaign.
- Subscribe to the blog so you can get up-to-date news of how we're going. Now that I (kind of) know how things go when at the helm of a production, and now that I don't also have to be thinking about acting, I intend to keep everyone regularly informed with lots of photos and videos and news. You can subscribe on the homepage.
- We have some fresh new pages here on the website (up at the top, in the menu, marked "Fringe 2019"). Check them out! You can read about the Fringe Festival itself, a synopsis of the play, who the Discord team is and more!
- Spread the word. Word of mouth is so powerful and we're going to need as much as we can over the coming months. If you know someone who might be interested in helping us out, please tell them about us, share the Facebook and blog posts. Share the GoFundMe website. Please, share!
- Finally, go see some theatre. Our theatre, other theatre, any theatre. Go see some theatre.
*As always, thank you to Oli at Polar Studios for the above design (and on such short notice, too!!)