EDINBURGH FRINGE 2024
Interview
HAIRY
GODMOTHERS
THE
DIZNEY IN DRAG:
ONCE UPON A PARODY
Just the Tonic at The Mash House - Just the Bottle Room
CABARET / VARIETY /COMEDY / DRAG
Aug Aug 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24: TICKETS
VILLAINS:
A DIZNEY IN DRAG PARODY
Assembly George Square - Gordon Aikman Theatre
CABARET / VARIETY /COMEDY / DRAG
Aug 4-5, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 25: TICKETS
AUG 2, 2024
Disney in Drag: Once Upon a Parody: Take a magic carpet ride into an enchanted castle of adult fantasies and fairy tale follies. Dizney in Drag: Once Upon a Parody is a Whole New World you didn't know you needed! Follow some familiar characters and discover sides of them unbelievably yet to be revealed. If you have any reservation, just Let It Go. Be Our Guest and book a seat now!
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Villains: A Dizney in Drag Parody: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the evilest of them all? Well come find out for yourself in The Hairy Godmothers' new sinful sequel. What could be more devilishly delicious and tantalisingly twisted than a vivacious vaudeville of villains in drag? Come peer into this cave of wonders and find a treasure trove of misunderstood "outcasts" of society and the evils that shape the world. Featuring the hottest and darkest miscreants, scoundrels, reprobates this side of the elephant graveyard.
Hello hello hello, thank you for taking the time to talk with TNC ahead of the Fringe, how does it feel to heading back to the Fringe this summer?
It’s always an exciting time of year to be packing all the costumes, make-up case and heading up to Edinburgh! The city is so beautiful and mystical, adding the Fringe on top of it just gives it a buzz that’s so electric. This will be our second time back for Fringe, the first year was such a whirlwind, so we’re really looking forward to round 2.
Do you still get nerves ahead of a festival run?
Yes of course! I think nerves are an important part of acting and performing. There’s nerves about coming all the way over from Australia, nerves about debuting our new show to UK audiences, nerves about the huge venue we’re in this year and then there’s the pre-show excitement jitters. It’s always exciting to be on stage, we use those nerves to bring a fun, high energy performance to the stage.
What does Edinburgh Fringe means to you?
Edinburgh Fringe was always talked about as the Holy Grail of Fringe’s. Coming from Australia it was something that we talked about for 3yrs before we actually committed to coming over. We all quit our 9-5 jobs last year to come over to Edinburgh for the first time and tour the UK & Europe, now here we are a year later coming over again for round 2. Edinburgh reminds us of the courageous action to believe in our art and give it a go.
Can you tell me a little bit about how Dizney in Drag: Once Upon a Parody & VILLAINS: A Dizney in Drag Parody came about, and what can we expect from the shows?
About 5yrs ago, Owen, who plays The Hairy Godmother, sent out an email to like minded creative individuals that he wanted to work with. The email was simple, do you want to create a Fringe show? In reply to the email, 9 of us jumped on board, bringing our unique set of skills and experiences to the stage to write and produce our first show, Dizney in Drag: Once Upon a Parody. With most of us being born in and around the 90’s, we wanted to look at the childhood stories and fairytales that had shaped us and our perceptions of the world around us. We looked at the messaging that has served us and helped us grow our sense of self and the ones that had limited our perception of reality. From there we worked together to weave messages we were passionate about with stories, music and comedy.
We weren’t expecting the show to be as successful as what it was. The more people resonated with it the more that our confidence and belief in the show grew. To the point where we now get to tour with it, which really is a fairytale. The original show follows a hero’s journey to find their one true love. Love can be a huge theme in movies and fairytales so the protagonist was cast in a very naive, wide-eyed and bushy tailed way. After a couple of years of doing the show we realised that the Villains and villains story was another great avenue of investigation. Villains are often misunderstood and cast in a bad light, so we got curious about investigating the layers beneath the surface in Villains and their stories.
What was it you wanted to say with these shows and do you think you’ve achieved it?
Although we address a lot of themes in both shows, they each have an overarching theme. In Dizney in Drag: Once Upon a Parody the theme is finding love. We explore where we look for love and ultimately how to give love to ourselves. VILLAINS on the other hand looks at how we stereotype and judge a book by its cover. It invites us to be curious and learn about each individual, as well as create greater acceptance of ourselves. So both shows do ultimately look at our relationship to self, just in different ways.
Do you have a favourite ‘Dizney’ character and villain?
The Hairy Godmother is probably the most iconic character in the show. They are very down to earth, have good banter with the audience, are always making jokes and laughing, have a beer in hand and have the most wonderful outfits, including the biggest pink hair you’ve ever seen!
What was the first Disney film you saw and how much of an impact did this have on you?
I’m not sure what the first was but the one that made the greatest impact was The Lion King. I cried every time I saw Mufasa die! It was a great introduction to being able to talk about death and the circle of life with family though, especially when we had to put down family animals. It also created a huge obsession with Lion’s and nature. I’m pretty sure I tried talking to animals multiple times in the hope that they’d talk back to me, alas there was no luck there! I think the movie as a whole taught so many important themes around community, responsibility and inclusivity. Still my favourite Disney movie for sure!
If you could describe your shows in three words what would they be?
Dizney in Drag: Once Upon a Parody - playful, pantomime & provocative
VILLAINS - chaotic, charismatic & contemplative
What would you say have been the most interesting things you’ve discovered about yourselves as performers in the process of bringing these shows to the stage?
That it’s never too late to give it a go if there’s a collective vision! We all write, produce, direct, and perform the show as a group which people told us would be too many cooks in the kitchen. It’s very rare to find a group like us but we’ve learnt so much about communication and compromise along the way. We make all decisions as a group, so when others differ from your opinion it can be hard at first but you learn to take on others perspectives and respect them for their differences as well as their similarities. In the end when you’re all working towards making the show better you need to trust in others and be willing to see things from a different perspective. Acting is definitely a team sport, you need to listen to one another to make the team succeed.
How flexible are you with the show?
We have a lot of audience interaction in the shows which allows for a lot of flexibility! Each show is unique and sometimes we’ll go off script to interweave suggestions from the audience into the performance so that they know we’re doing it all on the spot. That’s the beauty of live theatre, it’s all happening in real time, it allows you to appreciate the movie and realise it’s a co-created experience. We couldn’t do it without the audience, it would be a very boring show!
"Sometimes the smallest crowds are the most enthusiastic and are really grateful for the work you do."
Do you have any routines or superstitious before you head our on stage?
No superstitions that I’m aware of but routines yes. As it’s all live singing we’ll do our vocal warm-ups out the back to make sure we take care of our vocal chords. The most important part of the routine though is our group check-in. We rotate between different cast members running it but essentially it’s a moment in time where we circle up, hold each other's hands, take some deep breaths together and reflect in gratitude about the show to come. There’s different themes each time, sometimes we’ll dedicate a show to someone in particular or use it to re-centre and remember that every show is a new opportunity. Although we may have done the show over 200 times, the people in the audience may be seeing it for the first time. That’s an important thing to remind ourselves of so we don’t get complacent!
Where did you passion for drag and performing come from?
I grew up around drag queens as a teenager! I danced and choreographed for local drags in Perth Western Australia from the age of 17, so was exposed to their mischief and brilliance young. Having iconic Australian movies like Priscilla Queen of the Desert also influenced us!
We’ve all had different roads to performance, I started very young in dancing and acting, whereas others had more experience in singing first, others in the group were science educators that swapped into creativity when we first got together as a group 5 yrs ago. It’s a nice reminder that there’s no right or wrong way to get into performance, if it excites you, go for it!
What, if any, advice would you offer anyone making their Fringe debut this summer?
Don’t be disheartened if you get a low number of audience members for a show. Sometimes you’ll have a full house but often you won’t even get to 50% sold. Sometimes the smallest crowds are the most enthusiastic and are really grateful for the work you do. If you are present and give each show 120% regardless of the size, then word will travel. Word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing when it comes to Fringe, so be present and purposeful with each show and just keep going! Remember to tell your audience members to spread the word as well. You shouldn’t be shy about asking for help. Practice your closing speech and be genuine with it. It is okay to be acknowledged for your art!
And finally, what would you like your 2024 Fringe audiences to take away from your shows?
We’d love them to have a deeper appreciation for themselves. To be curious about yourself, to love yourself and treat yourself with the care and respect that you search for in other people. If you are kind to yourself then it will be natural to be kind to others.