Dallas Critic Elaine Liner Turns Playwright with SWEATER CURSE at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Now thru Aug 26
"It's not that I always dreamed of being onstage," says Dallas, Texas, theater critic and playwright Elaine Liner. "But I'm a storyteller and this is my story."
Liner's one-act solo comedy Sweater Curse: A Yarn about Love debuts at this summer's Edinburgh Festival Fringe at 1:15 p.m. daily, today, August 1-26, at Sweet/Grassmarket International 4 (Venue 18).
In the show Liner interweaves stories, some funny, some bittersweet, about her loves of knitting, great literature (that mentions knitting, like The Odysseyand Macbeth), old movies (in which Bette Davis knits) and men worth knitting for (or not).
After nearly 30 years of full-time journalism (she's still the theater critic at the Dallas Observer), Liner dealt with newspaper staff downsizing and salary cuts in 2012 by turning to her favorite hobby for stress relief: Knitting. The idea for Sweater Curse came during a Google search for free sweater patterns. The term "sweater curse" popped up. Definition: The old wives' tale that says you never should knit for one you love. He (or she) will leave before you finish the project.
"I instantly thought of all the times I'd tried to knit for boyfriends," says Liner. "I have a lot of lumpy wads of unfinished knitting. All symbols of lumpy, finished relationships."
Inspired by the writing of Nora Ephron and Dorothy Parker, and the self-deprecating comedy of British actor-writer Miranda Hart, Elaine Liner finished her one-act in 2012 with the goal of producing and performing it herself in the 2013 Fringe. The EdFringe, as it's hashtagged this year, is the biggest arts festival in the world. Started in 1947, it has grown to include more than 200 venues, featuring more than 2000 performances over the 25-day event.
"People ask if I'm afraid of bad reviews," says Liner, who's reviewed more than 3,000 stage productions herself. "I'm not. I know from personal experience that sometimes a review reflects a critic's mood. A bad review might mean he or she just needs a nap and a sandwich."
Liner earned her degree in theater from Trinity University, with a master's from Southern Methodist University. She has been a professional journalist, specializing in arts and media criticism, since the 1980s, writing for The New York Times, Village Voice and dozens of other publications. She was the James Thurber Playwright-in-Residence at Ohio State University and a critic fellow at the Eugene O'Neill Critics Institute.
Follow Elaine Liner's road to the Edinburgh Festival on her play's Tumblr page (sweatercurse.tumblr.com) or on Twitter at @TheSweaterPlay.
Tickets for Sweater Curse: A Yarn about Love are ?8 (discounts available) at the door or in advance at http://www.sweetvenues.com/event/sweater-curse-a-yarn-about-love/. Twofers, August 5-6.
Pictured: Elaine Liner in Sweater Curse: A Yarn about Love. Photo by Daylon Walton.
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