So I mentioned on a different thread that I wrote a play: here's where I talk a bit more about that!
In February my debut play,
Can't Wait To Leave, had a short run at a central London theatre. Taking place entirely inside a hospital waiting room, it's told from the point of view of a young man reflecting on the dark turn his life has taken over the past few months following the departure of his older brother. Over the course of his monologue themes of loneliness, family estrangement, and sexual trauma are explored as various revelations come to light, and he begins to question what the future holds for him.
The production received a strongly positive reaction from critics and reviewers, which was - obviously - fantastic for me on a personal level; the script's handling of serious topics was particularly praised, as was the performance of our (fantastic) lead actor, who's still incredibly early on in his career. Several reviewers also commented upon the play's positive and nuanced depiction of bisexuality, something still sadly underrepresented in modern media.
The play's strong reaction led to us subsequently being offered a slot at this year's Edinburgh Festival to perform the show again! For those not in the UK or who don't follow the arts, the Edinburgh Fringe is a massive platform (perhaps the biggest) for artists to get their work "out there". We're thrilled to have secured the slot as it would be a huge professional opportunity for everyone involved. Unfortunately, however, we're facing problems getting it there.
Most projects of this nature require some form of subsidy to happen at all; staging the initial run of the show cost a huge amount of money (all of which I fronted) but taking it to Edinburgh is likely going to end up costing even more. Our costs are less than they might otherwise be as the set and costume required for this show is minimal, but the organisational costs alone are way beyond what we can raise. I applied for a grant which would have helped enormously but devastatingly, we just got the news that we were turned down which was pretty crushing as it would have been such a massive help. We're now left questioning whether we will be able to do this at all.
Our final hope is that we can raise money by crowdfunding, so I've listed the show on the Fringe's official crowdfunding platform. No pressure whatsoever on anyone to donate (I know how annoying e-begging can be so I'm not going to bombard this forum with requests) but if you've ever enjoyed anything I've posted on Smogon and feel like acknowledging that, any contribution you could make would help us massively and I would appreciate it more than I can put into words. If you're in the UK, we have various reward tiers available you can choose from to express our thanks.
https://crowdfund.edfringe.com/p/cant-wait-to-leave-edinburgh-fringe
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