There was a time when Edinburgh Festival sat atop a pedestal so high that all other Fringe festivals paled in significance. However, in recent years, there has been a steady increase in the number of competitors to the crown. A newbie to the race, at only three years old, is Henley Fringe. Joining in the fun and frolics in the lovely Oxfordshire parish will be RoguePlay’s Lorna Meehan – who not only appears in one production, but rather three… The Kaje managed to catch up with the rather busy lady in a brief break from her line learning to find out more…
Why did you choose this festival?
It gave us an opportunity to do several of our pieces here as there are so many different spaces and it’s our first tour so we wanted to try some work out at a growing performance festival to give us a good footing. Henley’s a really nice place too, so I think the festival will have a really good atmosphere.
What pieces are you performing?
The highlight of the festival is our promenade adaption of Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure”, we do a circuit around different spaces in the centre of Henley, using a restaurant, and church yard and jetty on the river. We’re performing that at 2.30/5.30 and 8pm from the 22nd-24th. We also have a physical theatre show suitable for all the family called “Not Just A Suitcase” at the Henley Youth Centre, same dates at 12.20. We’re also making the most of our time there and doing our comedy sketch show about the joys of life on the stage-“Portrait of an Actress” at Hotel Du Vin on the 22nd and 23rd, 10pm.
What other festivals are you performing at?
We’ve just taken “Not Just a Suitcase” to Buxton Festival Fringe and will be taking it to Camden Fringe on the 7th and 8th of August at The Roundhouse at 6pm.
What else do RoguePlay do?
We write and devise original performance with a strong emphasis on physical theatre and breaking convention. We also run workshops for young actors and go into schools and the community, as well as running regular Poetry, Music and Comedy events.
What are your plans for the future?
We’ve just taken over a new space-The Old Fire Station in Moseley, which has a theatre space as well as various other offices and studios and we’re going to turn into a creative hub which local theatre companies and creative practitioners can hire. We’ve got lots of ideas for performances and events to do there so the building will inform our creative practice in a lot of different ways.
Where can people find out more information about RoguePlay?
Our website is www.rogueplay.co.uk, where you can also join our mailing list. Follow us on Twitter/RoguePlay09 or our RoguePlay group on Facebook, and we have a rehearsal blog on rogueplay.blogspot.com
The Kaje 