SHOW ME THE MONEY Opens at Edinburgh Fringe Next Week

After six years of austerity is it possible for an artist to make enough money for life's little luxuries - like bread?

A new show highlighting the financial plight of fellow performers is brought to the Fringe by writer, filmmaker and theatre maker Paula Varjack.

Show Me The Money opens at Bedlam Theatre next Wednesday, 2 August.

A funny, inspirational show by multimedia artist Paula Varjack, it looks at how artists manage to support their creative dreams. Using a blend of documentary-style interviews with live performance, Varjack playfully lifts the lid on what artists do to make ends meet. In doing so, Show Me The Money provides a painfully honest, yet ultimately optimistic portrait of life in contemporary Britain as government cuts and Brexit preparations bite.

Blending personal monologues, vigorous dance routines, music, sound bites and video of interviews with other artists, Varjack asks how artists can make a living from their art. Does their career involve more retail than Shakespeare? Are they still living with their parents? Do rich partners support their creative existence? Why do they get public funding, and what is it actually for? How does our society value art?

'A while back Bryony Kimmings started this brilliant conversation in the arts sector through her blog (http://thebryonykimmings.tumblr.com/post/67660917680/you-show-me-yours )' said Paula 'at the time, other than my arts practice, my CV was mostly hospitality and retail'.

'I decided to interview other artists, at different career levels, ages and art forms around the country, to find out how they made a living and what other work they did to support their work. I thought if I could take all these conversations and make them into a really fun entertaining show, I could engage with different people, and a lot more people than if I wrote a paper or organised a conference. Show Me The Money is the result of all those conversations, of the journey I made to get a realistic picture of the financial reality of being an artist right now in Great Britain.

'I hope the show adds to the current dialogue around artist's payment. Most artists and performers are freelancers with little or no job or financial security. They often have to take on other unrelated work to make ends meet and are continually asked to work for free - because it would be good for their career! Concern about the impact of government austerity policies on the arts and artists further puts the livelihood of the artist in jeopardy'.

In Show Me The Money, Paula Varjack addresses these issues in a confessional, frank, honest way that is refreshingly upbeat with a feel good vibe.

The focus is on artists but it also looks at how the dreams we all have as children are challenged by the realities of becoming an adult, how the current economic climate has made making a living harder for all of us.'

http://www.paulavarjack.com

Show Me The Money runs from 2 - 13 August (except 5 and 6) at Bedlam Theatre, 11 Bristo Pl, Edinburgh EH1 1EZ.

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/show-me-the-money

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