EDINBURGH 2018: Guest Blog - Tim Marriott

Tim Marriott blogs for BroadwayWorld about bringing Shell Shock, Mengele and All Change to the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Theatre began with the Greeks. When Thespis jumped on a cart and recited poetry he set in motion a genre further developed by such luminaries as Aeschylus and Sophocles, which we now know as theatre. The Ancient Greeks were serious about drama as a means to observe the world, to examine nature, fate, the power of the gods and what it meant to be human. Whether in the form of tragedy, comedy or satyr, drama offered an opportunity to question and provoke.

This is what my company Smokescreen sets out to do - to start conversations, engage an audience and encourage us all to see the complexities of the world beyond a 'reality' TV show or politician's sound byte.

In a previous life I was fortunate enough to enjoy a great time as an actor appearing in sitcoms, panto and 'whoops-vicar-where-me-trousers-gone' farces. Then came a 'career break' of 17 years in education. As a venue manager in education I found it harder and harder to find quality theatre that seeks to challenge and illuminate. Plenty of physical theatre comedy, devised and didactic work, but very little sub-textual drama or writing of literary ambition.

All Change

Combining theatre and education experience, working with new writers and theatre makers, Smokescreen Productions was born to roll the clock back a bit to the roots of theatre and try to make interesting issue based drama. A commission to adapt a brilliant, gutteral and authentic ex-squaddie's diary by Neil Blower resulted in Shell Shock and then another commission followed to create Mengele out of Philip Wharam's dark and atmospheric Holocaust themed novel Right to Live. A toe-in-the-water limited run at EdFringe last year resulted in a trip to New York as Fringe Encore winners and an invitation to the Adelaide Fringe. We are returning to Edinburgh with these two shows plus a new piece entitled All Change.

We are committed to producing work that starts conversations, all of which have an aspect of mental health at their heart. Mental health is an issue that some people find hard to talk about. We are willing to accept blips in our physical health, but not in our mental health.

Mengele

Shell Shock was commissioned as a stigma reduction project, an adaptation of an ex-squaddie's diary charting his descent into and through PTSD. The vehement denial of any weakness, his determination to appear strong touches on themes of toxic masculinity and exacerbates his fall as the cracks widen. But once he opens up, he really opens up. We say that it is like that group therapy session where no-one wants to talk first... well, Tommy is about to kick off and get that session going.

All Change addresses the fragility that age can bring, focussing on the relationship between father and daughter as he retreats into dementia and slips away from her. The difficulties of managing such a condition are highlighted through playful conversational exchanges between the two as crossed wires and changing tracks increase the confusion and past and present collide.

Both plays use humour to engage an audience and are followed by talk-backs, where others may share their own stories. So the conversation continues, talking about the things that we sometimes find hard to articulate.

The third play is darker in theme and content. Mengele places the notorious doctor of Auschwitz on the beach where he drowned in 1979. We imagine him questioned, cajoled and flattered by the woman he believes has saved him. In so doing we offer a "powerful expose a sociopathic narcissist" (Broadway World). We ask the audience to wake up and see through the political rhetoric we hear repeated today, to see these unrepentant manipulators for what they really are.

Three thematic plays offering a take on issues that affect many of us. A busy month performing three plays that are personal, emotional and physically demanding, and, hopefully, lots of connecting with like minds and enthusiastic international theatre makers.

Mengele by Philip Wharam is with Assembly at the Box, George Square, at 12.20 from Aug 2-8 and then alternating daily with All Change by Toby Harris Marriott until the 27th. Both are performed by Stefanie Rossi and Tim Marriott. Shell Shock by Neil Blower, adapted and performed by Tim Marriott, is on Aug 10-25 with Army@TheFringe at 17.30.

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