Norwich Fringe Focus

Join Molly as this week she chats to Kiara Hawker. Kiara had her work, The Happisburgh Hominids,  showcased at this year's Norwich Fringe Festival as part of the finale event 'Not The End'.  They delve into the topic of Social Prescribing, why Kiara bases the games Death would be good at on the ones her boyfriend is skilled at and the practicalities of snacking in rural areas. 

Since training at Kingston University and The Rose Theatre Kingston, Kiara has acted mainly on the stage. Her work includes: outdoor Shakespeare; regional tours with Stuff of Dreams Theatre Company in The Bricks of Burston, The Poisoners’ Pact and Forgotten; site-specific work with the National Trust in Edith - in the Beginning; Stage Award nominated physical theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; performance art with the French company Vivarium Studio; the English premiere of the Irish two-person play Walking the Road; immersive theatre in Dining with Alice with Artichoke; family theatre in a two-hander version of A Christmas Carol with Keeper's Daughter. 

Kiara acts, writes and directs for her own theatre company, Fine Time Theatre. The company has produced three new plays inspired by the history of, and performed within, East Anglia.

Georgi Bessey is a Suffolk-based actor, writer and producer. As well as a busy career as a jobbing actor, Georgi is the self-described ‘big boss of’ Blonde Boss Theatre Company, an all-female East Anglian company that has created work for the Norwich and Camden Fringes, most recently the debut of ‘Mawther,’ an project made in development with queer women across the Eastern region. Sam talks to Georgi about this project and much more, along with Fringe Focuses standard 10 questions.

Chat to Georgi on Twitter @Georgibessey
Find Blonde Boss Theatre @blondetheatre

Find the Norwich Fringe @hinorwichfringe on Twitter/Instagram, and @norwichfringe on Facebook.

This week Molly chats to Abbie Neale. Come for the insightful discussion about working as a multidisciplinary artist and stay for Abbie's love of muffins.

Abbie Neale is a writer, artist and actor. Since graduating from Warwick University with a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing, her work has featured widely in literary magazines across the UK. In 2019, she won the New Poets Prize run by The Poetry Business and her book Threadbare was published with Smith|Doorstop last year.   

 While living in the Netherlands, Abbie won the International Prize in the York Mix Poetry Competition for her poem Can you draw him for us and received a commendation for her poem Painting my mother. She has recently performed her work at the Sheaf Digital Poetry Festival, on the podcast Poetry Non-Stop, and for BBC Radio Norfolk.   

 Abbie was also the Writing Coordinator and Acting Coach for Warwick Rep Theatre Company. She’s now appearing in her first short films, commercials, and music videos, while continuing to attend theatre workshops with Shakespeare Nation and the National Youth Theatre. Having spent an intercalated year in Australia studying Acting and Scriptwriting at Monash, she's currently judging short film scripts for Visability Film Festival.  

Her debut project as an emerging playwright, titled The Father, the Son and the Owl of Death, was produced by Norwich Fringe for their March 2021 Festival. 

Twitter: AbbieeNeale 
Instagram: abbie.neale.art and abbie.neale

This time Sam & Molly join forces to interview the Diva of Norfolk, Queen of East Anglia, and Friend of the Fringe Titania Trust!

We had a blast and hope you do to.

Shirley Day is a BAfta-nominated writer, director and producer. Working in film, theatre, prose and now audio drama, Shirley Day is a creative whose reach extends beyond any 1 art form into the realm of ideas and stories in their purest expression. She runs a production company, Passion Productions, as well as teaching and mentoring other writers, as she puts it, “from script to screen, stage or bookshelf.”

Full of insight, wisdom and a deep understanding of how to make the most of her available resources, I had an absolutely joyous time talking to Shirley about all things creative.

Opening and Closing music taken from "Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You Mr. Rosewater"

Kerry Curl is a photographic artist operating in Norwich. Her creative practice intersects portraiture, fashion and documentary. She was awarded a seed commission from the Norwich Fringe to create new work for this year's Festival. 

In this episode, Kerry talks to Molly about her non-linear path to freelancing, why the charity shops and vintage sellers of Norwich allow her to make the work in the volume she does and confidently claims she'd thrash Death in a freelance dance battle which we can entirely agree with. 

Recommendations from this podcast feature: Golden Wonder Ringos and World Disco Dance Championships. Enjoy!

Kerry Curl

Instagram: @kerrycurl

Website: www.kerrycurl.com

Email:  [email protected]

Red Mar is a 5 piece band from Norwich, variously describes as noise-rock, experimental, alternative, drone, and my personal favourite ‘post-rock’
 Using long form improvisations and a wide range of instrumentation, Red Mar seem to be screaming with every bit of blasted feedback that they don’t give a fuck what you think, but carefully craft their music and their tone in a way that is dauntingly impressive for a just-out-of-college group of musicians. I had a great time talking to 3 of their members, and hope you enjoy the conversation too

For full Fringe Festival listings and tickets, head to norwichfringe.org.uk

Intro/Outro music by Red Mar

TW: This podcast contains references to rape. 

Molly talks to Katie-anna Whiting from The Whiting’s On The Wall. They talk about Kate’s whacky experiences in Romania on set for a commercial, why Norfolk is such an important place for Kate as a creative and share their love for Michaela Coel. 

Music featured: Janelle Monae’s BaBopByeYa

James Ducker and Haley Evenett, who are Writers, Actors and all round creatives as individuals, working across a broad range of mediums and genres, and who together form Red Duck Produck-tions, a fantastic local theatre company that combines high brow with low, the terrifying with the absurd. 

Most recently their show ‘Minister’s Of Grace: the Unauthorised Shakespearean Parody of Ghostbusters’ toured Britain and indeed the world, and the duo have continued their trend of combining the paranormal with the nonsensical (yes they are different) with their newest show ‘Parasights,’ an homage to the. ghost hunting tv shows of old set to premiere at this years Norwich Fringe Festival. 

Molly talks to Mark Finbow from The Keepers Daughter. They discuss how Mark started out, the styles of work that he’s pursuing under The Keepers Daughter in Suffolk and rural areas and where he thinks the theatre industry could benefit from some shaking up. 

Keep up with Mark on Twitter: @MRMRFINBOW

Keep up with The Keepers Daughter: @keepersdaughter https://www.keepersdaughter.com