Edinburgh Fringe 2022
Interview
Tinted
Theatre
Bathroom Confession
Venue 186: ZOO Playground - Playground 3
Aug 10-13, 19:40 / Tickets
Aug 10, 2022
Have you ever read the secret confessions written on the walls of a toilet stall? If so, you know you are in for a treat! Bathroom Confession follows four young women embarking out into the real world... has school prepared them for the harsh realities of adulthood? From gossip to daunting decisions, there are no secrets when it comes to conversations held between Catholic school toilet stalls! Bold and thought-provoking, this original piece of new writing by Solveig Paulsen is the debuting show of Tinted Theatre, a new feminist theatre company coming out of Liverpool.
Hi Belén, Bobbi, Jenna and Solveig, thank you for taking the time to talk with The New Current, how does it feel to be heading to Edinburgh Fringe & ZOO Playground this summer?
Hi there, thank you for having us. We are just really excited to be heading to the Edinburgh fringe, it has always been a dream for us. And to be working with a really cool venue has just been the icing on top of the cake. Some of us have never been to Scotland, so having our first time visiting the beautiful Edinburgh when we are debuting our first original show is extremely scary but exhilarating!
This is Tinted Theatre’s debut production, will there be many nerves ahead of the fringe?
I think if you’re not nervous you’re doing something wrong, but I think a lot of those nerves get mixed in with my excitement and so I don’t know which is which ahaha. We have been working on this play for months now so we hope all our hard work comes to fruition and we hope audiences enjoy this little world we have created as much as us.
What does Edinburgh Fringe mean to you and what have been the most challenging aspect of bringing Bathroom Confessions to the festival?
To be taking our own show to Fringe after dreaming about it since we were children is a very big ‘pinch me’ moment. It feels surreal. In all honesty, the most stressful thing about coming to the fringe was organising so many things at once, but thankfully we have each other for support.
You’re all LIPA MA Acting graduates, was has your experience been like at the school and what has been your biggest take away from it?
We believe the biggest takeaway from the course is our company! Without the course we wouldn’t have met, so that has been pretty life-changing. We are so grateful for receiving such support from LIPA but I would agree that the best thing that the course has given us is each-other. Thinking back, we were one of the first companies that emerged from our class because we had an instant connection on what type of theatre we wanted to create and what we all wanted to say as women growing up in society.
Can you tell me how Bathroom Confessions came about, what was the inspiration behind your play?
We wanted to create a new intersectional play reflecting on the experience of young women growing up and leaving school - themes many of us can relate to - while also highlighting individual experiences. The topics discussed in the play were inspired by the conversations we had amongst the members of Tinted Theatre, our own experiences and things that we thought deserved more attention. It was important that each of our voices were being heard equally.
In the writing process did you find it hard not to draw from your own lives and experience or did you find this helpful?
With Bathroom Confession being a play about the experiences of young women, it is also inspired by our own experiences. More than drawing from specific events, it is about making emotional connections. We probably all felt overwhelmed, excited, betrayed or vulnerable before. Each of these emotions can be used to create a variety of scenes.
Will you give yourselves much flexibility with your play once it’s running at the fringe or are you going to stick to what you’ve planned?
As we perform every night we discover new and exciting things every performance. Although we have rehearsed and rehearsed the play front to back, it is always so fun and refreshing to discover new connections and chemistry between us as characters, making every performance unique.That’s one of the exciting things about theatre. That it can’t be reproduced and each performance is different. That’s what makes it so much fun.
"Through that we found acting, and as we love to talk so much…figuring out from a young age that we could talk and be heard on stage only fuelled the fire even more!"
What does Bathroom Confessions say about you as a company?
It says that we are here to tell women’s/ girl’s stories and we see it as an invitation for everyone to come and join us. Either to laugh or cry or both! It is our say as women, our way to contribute and hopefully inspire all generations to TALK ABOUT ourselves, our sexuality and so on. Now more than ever after all that has been happening recently with, for example, the overturning of Roe V. Wade, women should speak up as this affects ALL of us.
Have you always had a passion for theatre?
Most of us started dancing and singing when really young and just fell in love with being on stage. Through that we found acting, and as we love to talk so much…figuring out from a young age that we could talk and be heard on stage only fuelled the fire even more!
How important is it for you as a company to use your platform to tell and create stories that portray the experience of young women?
It’s the whole reason we made our company. We draw a lot from our own experiences as women and when we first started, it dawned on us how universal our experiences were. Yet, these experiences are not often talked about publicly and that just leads to things getting swept under the rug and nothing changes. We want to use our platform to help be the change.
Are there any other themes or subjects you’re looking forward to exploring with future productions?
We are currently working on the second play for Tinted Theatre. It’s a different genre, a different time period and very different circumstances. It is about women fighting for power, to be heard. Women have always been creating change. And in so many different ways. Loud and demanding or quiet and barely noticeable from the outside, but just as powerful.That is an interesting dynamic to explore.
Do you have any advice, tips or suggestions you would offer anyone wanting to get into theatre?
As cliche as it sounds, just try your hardest to believe in yourself. It can be tough but if we didn’t believe in ourselves, then we wouldn’t be in the position we are today. And ASK QUESTIONS. Get yourself out there. Theatre is more than just acting, it’s about building connections and working as a team, it’s an industry where people are all on the same boat and working as a team and ultimately, it’s about embracing your creative side.
Stay true to yourself.
And finally, what do you want your fringe audiences to take away from Bathroom Confessions?
That’s such an interesting question because we personally would love mixed reactions. We want some people to relate and I want some people to be curious and want to learn more. Honestly, if only one woman leaves our show feeling like she’s being heard and represented, we have achieved our mission.