Wales Arts International Has Announced Details of the Recipients THIS IS WALES In Edinburgh 2022 Showcase Fund

Wales Arts International has announced further details of the recipients of their 'This is Wales in Edinburgh 2022' showcase fund. Selected by an expert industry panel including Dawn Walton and Claire Verlet.

Performances selected are Common Wealth's Payday Party, Jo Fong and George Orange's The Rest of Our Lives and Dirty Protest's Double Drop. The showcase features world class work which has a unique Welsh quality that resonates globally.

Alongside the 'This is Wales in Edinburgh' showcase, the Seeding for the Future programme offers an opportunity for Wales' emerging and established artists and producers who have attended Edinburgh Festival Fringe to realise their future showcasing potential. Further information on the Seeding for The Future recipients will be announced in due course.

Maggie Dunning, Project Manager, This is Wales in Edinburgh Showcase, said: "We're delighted to be returning to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe after the two-year break, with such a bold and inspiring showcase offering. These three high quality, uniquely Welsh productions, chosen by an industry panel, demonstrate the breadth, talent and highly skilled performers and companies creating work in Wales."

Phil George, Chair of the Arts Council of Wales, said: "Wales in Edinburgh is a great opportunity to showcase the vibrancy, the edge and the provocation which are strong features of our performing arts scene in Wales. I'm sure that the three selected shows will grab attention in that crowded Festival! And I'm thrilled to see the continuation of the Seeding for the Future programme for artists and producers who have not taken shows to the Festival before. The connections and alliances they make at Edinburgh will provide new stimulus to their creative careers."

Jo Fong and George Orange's celebratory, hilarious The Rest of Our Lives is a cabaret of life and near death, a joyful morning dose of dance, circus and games. The performance features two middle-aged lives in an eclectic, spontaneous, predictable and random decline. Jo is an old dancer, George an old clown. They are International Artists with 100 years of life experience between them, armed with a soundtrack of floor-fillers, a book of raffle tickets and a sprinkling of eco-friendly optimism.

Common Wealth's Payday Party is the most glamorous legal political party you will go to. Six artists share their real-life stories and talents in the hope of getting paid by the audience. Song, dance, rap, spoken word and live music are thrown into the cauldron of despair to cook up a survival cake Marie Antoinette would be proud of. Exploring what it means to be Welsh, working class and in the arts, Payday Party directly addresses our times, giving a voice to those rarely platformed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and beyond. The bold new work tackles racism, elitism and class, touching on the cost of living crisis, austerity and the conclusion of the investigation into the Westminster lockdown party scandal.

Dirty Protest Theatre's Double Drop is based on experiences of growing up in traditional Welsh culture in mid nineties North Wales. This new play with music is about coming to terms with your shame by creating your own culture. The play sees the rites and ceremonies of the Eisteddfod (traditional Welsh speaking festival) collide with the communion and transcendence of a rave. Double Drop is by the critically acclaimed Welsh new writing company and writer, performer, founder and lead vocalist of folk band 9Bach, Lisa Jên Brown (National Theatre Wales, Sherman Theatre, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru). This hilarious, mind-bending, and charming work was originally created as a 20 minute audio play during the first pandemic lockdown for audiences to enjoy on their daily walk. Through the third lockdown in 2021, a pared-back development production was created in two weeks especially for the MultiStory open-air hub at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021. After sold out audiences and acclaim, the team have now developed the play into a brand new, fully realised production.

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