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drinks Monday 3 November 08
EVERYTHING ABOUT RIBBON
by Lucy Traube
It's Edinburgh 03. But how does the magic get here? We asked Lucy - she's done it before.
Lucy Traube's show this year is the powerful Again. Last year it was the delightful Ribbon. This is Ribbon's story ...
Edinburgh 02 was great. We got there, we played, we shared a flat, everything went fine until the last day, but more of that in a moment. First, right from the start.
My name is Lucy Traube and I went to Dance College. If this sounds like an AA meeting, it isn't, but it's a confession just the same.
I had to write Ribbon, because going to dance college slightly pole-axed me. It had, let's say, a not brilliant effect on my confidence - if that doesn't sound too self-indulgent. Anyhow, it's the past now, and all's repaired.
Well - that's how the play started. Rather than writing something dull, I set out to construct an entertainment, see the funny side. Hope if you saw it, you liked it!
We got to Edinburgh and rented a flat. Sorry, I'm ahead of myself again. Right from the start.
Writing Ribbon, I wanted to use my own experience to stitch the story together, but present it as an inspirational piece, and fun. In technique, I wanted to weave movement and dance with how the actors tell the story.
Actors. Two, not one. There'd be a protagonist, based a bit on me, and a lot more on the experiences other people had told me. And a boy who'd have to do every other part. I found Thomas Edwards, and we worked on the characteristics and idiosyncrasies for each of his characters.
We tried Ribbon out before Edinburgh, for two nights at the Lakeside Theatre in Colchester. It went down well - which was great. The local reviewer who had reviewed my first play was impressed; my tutors came along - they liked it too; and family and friends. It surrounded Ribbon with a positive buzz which made me much more confident for Edinburgh.
Big plays may have staff, our staff was me. I suddenly realised the enormity of what I'd taken on. Money, for example.
To start raising cash for the project, I organised a fund-raising party. I wrote to a squillion companies and funding bodies. Five sponsors generously materialised, and gave about £300 in total. For the majority of the money I took out a personal loan. When I'm 95, most likely I'll still be paying it off.
Finally - hurrah! - we got to Edinburgh. Thomas Edwards and I shared a 2-bedroom flat I'd rented from a college friend. Flat sharing with Thomas went fine - until the last day (more later).
We flew to Scotland (no expense spared). The set was to travel up separately by courier. I felt distinctly edgy on arrival because of this - waiting for a box containing everything, including the flyers, set, costumes, and even bed linen. It arrived an hour after us, which was great. Panic over.
Ribbon was at The Underbelly, a relatively new venue, carved out of stone vaults on 3 storeys next to George IV Bridge. The Underbelly started 3 days before most venues, and I wasn't expecting anyone for the first performance.
So it was a nice surprise to have an audience of 2. One of them was Dr Phil Hammond, whose very successful show, 59 minutes to save the NHS, ran at The Pleasance. Phil spoke to me afterwards and was very complementary. A great start.
The festival was a lot harder than I imagined. At first, I was anxious about people enjoying the play. But after a few days the problem wasn’t the enjoyment factor. It was getting people to take a chance on a new writing and come to the venue.
The audience varied in size throughout the festival. On some days, the show had to be cancelled because of no audience at all. I was prepared for this as I'd been involved in a show last year. It was different for Thomas, and at first he took it personally. I found it really hard at times to be encouraging when I felt down-hearted as well. But it was good experience to keep the show going, and establish a daily routine.
Daily routine? Well, you'll know that well, I'm sure - does flyering sound familiar? Flyering, performing, emailing the press and - you've got it - flyering again. Anyhow, it helped us to have a focus each day.
Lots of nice things came out of the Festival. Several people kindly gave invaluable advice. There's an article coming out soon for the East England Arts magazine. They also have a plan for next year's Festival, which may include me. Going to Edinburgh has made me determined to carry on what I'm doing. I've learnt a lot about the Festival itself, and the kind of audience that goes there. And what I'll do differently in future.
The last performance didn't actually happen: we didn't have an audience. That made us smile, because the real battle was always filling the seats. We got a great response from people who came. Anyhow, we spent the rest of the last day lapping up all the drinks offers at The Underbelly and watching plays - GREAT.
The last day was also our one major Flat Incident. We locked ourselves out. Thomas and I each had a set of keys. We left them both in the flat.
One and a half hours later, we'd built a wire coat-hanger device to put through the letter box - to try and pick up the keys which were staring at us from the hall table. Our neighbour came out. Thomas suddenly thought he was Spider Man. He went to our neighbour's flat and climbed from the bathroom window. He set off along the roof towards our kitchen window.
What would happen (I wondered) if Thomas fell from the roof? The Ribbon flat was 4 floors up, in the attic. As the director, should I be allowing this? I decided, yes. Mission accomplished, and Thomas opened the front door.
I'd like to do a showcase evening at the beginning of next year to show East England Arts what I've done. I'd like to write more and maybe add something new for it. I'm looking forward to the graduation ceremony in December for my master's degree.
There's something so independent and free about being at the Festival, so it was sad to leave Edinburgh. What happens next? Immediately, I need to get a job! Reviews? We had a great one, and a not great one. Human nature makes one believe the bad. Optimism kicks this out the door and allows me to prefer the good. I think maybe I should become a reviewer ...
END
(c) Lucy Traube - 2 October 02
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008
