EDINBURGH 2016: BWW Q&A - Life According To Saki

BWW speaks to Jessica Lazar director of Life According to Saki ahead of its run at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

What can you tell us about Life According to Saki?
It's a new play inspired by the life and short stories of Hector Hugh Munro, better known as Saki.

Our play encounters Saki at the battle of the Somme - where he died a hundred years ago - but it doesn't stay there. Instead it takes us - or, rather, Saki takes us - on a journey through his stories, which provide a raucous, colourful foil to the reality in which he was living at the time.

Who was Saki?
Saki wrote wickedly funny and at times bittersweet short stories, which in many ways reflect his own life and upbringing. When he was very young, his mother was killed by a runaway cow - an incident that could be said to have been the tragic, mundane, ridiculous, fabulous, disturbing, humorous typeset of his life-long style. He was subsequently brought up by two warring and difficult maiden aunts, dark echoes of whom you see in his stories. Saki's early life was spent in Burma but it was once he returned to Britain that he sharpened his pen and made a name for himself (although he has never been as well known as he deserves to be). His quick perception of socially accepted falsehoods - and even quicker wit - is one of the reasons he's often compared to Oscar Wilde. Saki volunteered to fight in the First World War, and was killed by a sniper in November 1916.

Why did you decide to tell these stories?
Quite simply, because Saki's stories deserve a wider audience and, more selfishly, because we wanted to have fun with them. Saki liked to turn the world on its head - or at least remind us that it's often already upside down - so his stories translate well into theatre. They serve as reminders that order can be overturned at any time.

How are the stories brought to life?
The play was developed by author Katherine Rundell (Rooftoppers; Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms/The Girl Savage; The Wolf Wilder) and director Jessica Lazar. Katherine adapted Saki's stories for the stage and then used elements of his biography to frame and fuse them together. The director and ensemble of six experimented with the style of performance and staging in the rehearsal room.

Who would you recommend comes to see Life According to Saki?
Everyone! It doesn't matter whether you're familiar with Saki's work or whether you've yet to discover him, and the show is intended for both adult and family audiences.

Timings and ticket information for Life According to Saki are available on the edfringe website.