- 4 months ago
The Scotsman Fringe First Awards - Week Two
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CreativityTranscript
00:00Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the second week of the Scotsman Fringe Firsts 2025.
00:11Congratulations for being here at 10 o'clock on a Friday morning in the second week of the Fringe.
00:21Every week, of course, our first thanks have to go to the Pleasance theatres here at the
00:27Pleasance Courtyard, who are our wonderful hosts for all our Fringe Firsts awards ceremonies
00:31and for our Big Scotsman Fringe Awards in the final week next week.
00:36So can we have a round of applause for Anthony and all the team here at the Courtyard?
00:43We also have to say huge thanks to our sponsors, without whom the Fringe Firsts wouldn't be happening.
00:49That's the wonderful Queen Margaret University, led by their principal, Paul Grice, who is here somewhere.
00:55Thank you very much.
00:56Queen Margaret University, which educates some of the finest people in Scottish theatre in theatre studies.
01:04So thank you to them.
01:06And also to Stagecoach buses, without which none of us people over 60 and many, many people younger than that
01:12would not be able to get anywhere around Scotland.
01:15So thank you to Stagecoach buses.
01:17As you know, I always have a fabulous star to help me to present the Fringe Firsts every week.
01:26And this week we have a woman who shot to fame a few years ago now in a wonderful television show called Smack the Pony,
01:36which everyone probably still remembers, but since then has had an astonishing career as a writer,
01:43a comedy writer, a stand-up performer, a legitimate stage actress, as it were, appearing at the National Theatre and also, of course, on film and television.
01:54She is the wonderful Dune McKechnen.
02:06Dune, it's great to see you.
02:08And tell us what you're doing up in Edinburgh this year, because it is the 40th anniversary of the Gilded Balloon.
02:16Karen Corrin in the front row here.
02:18Karen Corrin!
02:20And you're here partly to celebrate that, I think.
02:24Yeah, definitely to celebrate that, because Karen brought me up here when I was, well, 23,
02:3023, doing a show, an adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, and she just allowed me to come, like, with seven women and no money and my kids.
02:40Anyway, it was fabulous.
02:41So she's just started so many careers and been so generous and amazing.
02:45I'm here doing a show with Kieran Hodgson, a chat show about my career,
02:49and basically unleashing the monster that is Kathy White in Two Doors Down, doing a monologue,
02:54and I'm doing a Smack the Pony reunion for four days interview show with Kirstie Wark, plus some surprises.
03:02So, yeah, it's amazing.
03:02I've only just arrived, like, literally two days ago, so I haven't seen anything.
03:05Yeah, yeah.
03:06Have you come to the Fringe most years?
03:07Do you try and put in an appearance?
03:09Yeah, yeah.
03:10I mean, I've done, I did 10 years in the trot from sort of 25 to 35,
03:14and then there's been, and then I did the last show I won a Fringe first for was Prima Duna,
03:20about my son, who was in the hospital with cancer, and he's alive,
03:26and so I won a Fringe first.
03:29Yeah, I just wanted to make that so little, bring the mood down a bit.
03:33I do remember sort of my friends calling, actually it was pre-mobiles, it wasn't it?
03:38They just come and knocked on my door and went, you've won a Fringe first!
03:41So I remember just being so over the moon, so that's, I'm very happy to be here presenting the awards.
03:46Oh, that's great, Doon, and yeah, a big round of applause for Doon.
03:50Thank you for her Fringe first all those years ago, and also for the NHS, thanks to which it was a happy ending.
04:02Yes, yes, thank you NHS.
04:04Okay, let us plunge, without more ado, into this week's Fringe first awards.
04:10And the first show, sorry, I'm not talking about the NHS, but this is a show that touches on a health issue
04:16that is affecting more and more lives across the UK, but it does so much more than that.
04:23It is a magnificent and strange take on the idea of King Lear, Shakespeare's great tragedy, as a play about dementia.
04:32Now, that's an idea that has been widely explored over the last 20 years.
04:36Many great actors have played Lear in that way, and many productions have looked at the family relationships in Lear
04:44as a sort of reflection of what happens when someone begins to fade away in that particularly tragic and painful way
04:53that so many people have to deal with at some point in their lives, either personally or with a close family member.
05:00But this play, Lost Lear, by Dan Colley, from the Riverbank Arts Centre and the Mermaid Arts Centre in Ireland,
05:08is a truly magnificent theatrical exploration of that idea.
05:14It revolves around the figure of an ageing actress who, in her old age and in her dementia,
05:21one of the few things she can cling to is the kind of whole text of King Lear in which she once appeared.
05:28And so she keeps repeating it.
05:30And in her own mind, she is a young and beautiful woman, played in the production by a young and beautiful actress.
05:38And so you see this sort of version of her acting out various scenes from Lear,
05:43while the people around her, her doctor, her estranged son, whom she hasn't really brought up,
05:48she wasn't particularly interested in motherhood,
05:50and other characters revolve around her, trying to relate to her through this play,
05:57which she knows, you know, every detail of, and which they have to somehow acquaint themselves with
06:03in order to have any kind of communication with her at all.
06:06It's not a really brilliant idea, brilliantly acted, but it's also a beautiful production to look at.
06:11Superb design, fascinating soundscape, and really wonderful use of puppetry.
06:17So I hope the whole team from Lost Lear could come up to the stage to accept their award for this wonderful show.
06:23But sadly, they are on stage right this minute.
06:26They had a 10 a.m. performance at the Traverse,
06:31but I believe that the producer, Matthew, is here somewhere.
06:36I hope he can emerge from the crowd to accept the award for Lost Lear.
06:40I might actually get a video of all of you that I can send to the cast afterwards, is that alright?
07:01So I might just do that quickly.
07:04I'm sorry, I'm really trying.
07:04What do you want them to do?
07:05I accidentally sent that to my mum, but I'll send it on to them afterwards.
07:21Dan Colley is with our other show, A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, in Sydney at the moment.
07:26So he has sent on some words for me to read.
07:29This also marks the only time in history where it's raining in Sydney and sunny in Edinburgh.
07:36So the joke is firmly on him.
07:39But here's what he sent.
07:41Thank you to all the artists, designers, and technicians who contributed to Lost Lear over the years of its development,
07:47and each time it meets an audience.
07:49Thank you to the carers, the advocates, and the people with dementia who shared their stories,
07:53who told us what it was like and told us where we were going wrong.
07:56Thank you to the Scotsmen and the judges who have given us the honour of a lifetime.
08:02Thank you to my producer, my friend, Matt Smith, who is reading this now,
08:05and whose faith in me and sheer tenacity has got me through the many fogs of doubt and confusion.
08:11He has been the making of the making of this work.
08:13And Matt, you can insert a self-deprecating joke here.
08:18And then pause for laughter.
08:19Finally, thank you to the audiences who have come to see the show,
08:25who have given us their time, their attention, their money, and turned nothing into something.
08:30I'd also like to, as Matt, thank my amazing co-producer, Osh, the Consulate, Jerry,
08:37Ciarán Walsh, and all at Culture Ireland, including Sharon,
08:40our producers at Mermaid and Riverbank, everyone at Traverse,
08:45especially Linda, who really backed us,
08:47all the people who supported us, Fishamble,
08:50and the Dublin Theatre Festival, and the Arts Council who funded it initially.
08:55I have absolutely left some people out,
08:57but we're so grateful for everyone who has been with us through this journey.
09:01So thank you all, and thanks, Mel.
09:03Thank you so much.
09:04Thank you, Jerry.
09:05Thank you for having me.
09:15Wonderful.
09:16Now, we plunge now into a series of shows,
09:20all of our other awards, really,
09:22which have something to do with themes of conflict.
09:25Not, mind you, that there is no conflict in Lost Lear,
09:27because, of course, the storm scene and all that that represents
09:31in that wonderful metaphor, both in the play and in this take on it,
09:35is full of conflict and pain.
09:38But nonetheless, the big explicit political conflicts of our time
09:42feature in most of the rest of the plays that we're awarding today.
09:46Ed Edwards' Ordinary Decent Criminal at Summer Hall,
09:50performed by Mark Thomas, who is, of course, a huge fringe favourite,
09:54is a play about a man called Frankie,
09:58who finds himself in prison in Britain in around the turn of the millennium.
10:04Prison itself, of course, is a violent place,
10:07and through the prison in Manchester, where he finds himself,
10:10run all the currents of a society with problems
10:13which are often not as visible on the surface as they are
10:16in the dark underbelly, if you like, of the prison estate.
10:21And so the drugs issues, the constant drug trading
10:25and the various power plays that go along with that,
10:28the backwash of the long, slow war in Northern Ireland,
10:32which was just, you know, entering its last decade at that time,
10:37but still had left a backwash in the shape
10:40of a very frightening character called Belfast,
10:43Tony, who terrorises Frankie throughout his stay in the prison.
10:46Like all of Mark Thomas' shows,
10:48it has huge elements of humour, wit, observation,
10:51but it also, of course, deals with these really difficult underlying subjects.
10:57And behind all that, there is Frankie's previous backstory
11:00as a political activist, so disillusioned in the end
11:04by the failures of left politics in the 1980s and early 90s,
11:08that he has gone into a kind of long-term isolation and depression.
11:13He has a relationship which is troubled in various ways.
11:17He becomes a drug dealer, and although he aspires to be a writer,
11:21his struggle towards any kind of self-realisation is extremely difficult
11:26and clouded by this political failure in the background of his life,
11:30although his intimate knowledge of Northern Irish politics,
11:33culled from that time as an activist,
11:35does help him to deal with some of the situations in prison.
11:38So it's an extremely complex story,
11:40told with all the skill and wit and presence
11:43that you would expect of Mark Thomas
11:45and brilliantly written by Ed Edwards.
11:47Please, the team from Ordinary Decent Criminal,
11:50come up and accept your French press award.
11:52Thank you very much.
12:17First of all, hello to my mum who can't be here.
12:19She's filming it for me.
12:21So hello, mother.
12:23And then thank you to Payne's Plough
12:25and to Mark, obviously, the genius who brings it all to life,
12:30and Teane and Eleanor and Drummond
12:33and obviously the director, Charlotte.
12:37Have I forgotten anybody?
12:39Our brilliant dramaturg, actually, Neil from Synergy.
12:42Absolutely brilliant.
12:44Wouldn't have been possible, I think, to get the place sort of working
12:46because it, like, it was quite complicated.
12:48And can I just say, Belfast Tony's the good guy.
12:56Only you could turn an awards ceremony into Choccy Allah.
13:00And one other thing we've got to say is,
13:02everybody at the moment wants to put Palestine on the stage.
13:06I like that.
13:08Let's do it like that.
13:10It's hard to get it on stage, so here we are.
13:12And let's keep that going, if we can, to get it back up there.
13:20As Joyce eloquently explained,
13:22one of the things is the play is based upon Ed's life story
13:27and him getting arrested.
13:30And so I would...
13:32Which is a secret.
13:34It's really not.
13:35So I'd like to thank Ed for getting arrested
13:39and being the worst drug dealer ever
13:41so that we could end up with the play.
13:44And it's a delight.
13:45If Ed asked me to do a play about anything,
13:47I'd go, yeah, all right,
13:48because it's Ed and I love him.
13:50And thank you.
13:51And thanks to Tina as well,
13:52who is our brilliant tech person.
13:54So thank you very much indeed.
14:02Have I left it there?
14:03Well, great.
14:10And the prison theme continues
14:13with our number three award,
14:15which is for Rift,
14:17playing at the Traverse Theatre.
14:19Now, this is a really powerful play
14:23by...
14:24Now, I'm just going to squint at me.
14:26Gabriel Jason Dean,
14:28to get his three names right.
14:30But yeah, it's a powerful play
14:31by Gabriel Jason Dean
14:32based on his own real-life story
14:35of his relationship with his brother,
14:38who led a very different life from him.
14:40So in the play,
14:41there are these two brothers,
14:42the inside brother
14:43and the outside brother.
14:44One of them is in prison
14:45for a violent crime,
14:47which he says he...
14:48Well, a murder,
14:48which he says he didn't commit,
14:49although he admits he was
14:50on the scene at the time.
14:52And the other is a kind of very confused
14:55young liberal guy
14:57wrestling with drink and drugs,
14:59trying to get through university,
15:01but who does eventually emerge
15:03into a relatively successful life
15:05as a writer
15:07in the world
15:09that his brother, of course,
15:10is completely excluded from
15:11the outside world.
15:13So through a series of dialogues
15:15between these brothers,
15:17we see their relationship evolving
15:19like two kind of faces
15:20of the United States, really.
15:22The inside brother joins
15:24a far-right brotherhood,
15:25mainly really for protection
15:27against the sort of brutality
15:28that he's experiencing in prison
15:31and adopts some of their ideas
15:32in a kind of half-hearted way.
15:34His liberal brother tries
15:36to talk him out of it.
15:38And the relationship between them
15:40evolves in a very fascinating way,
15:42which also involves
15:44unfolding revelations
15:45about the abuse
15:46they both suffered as children
15:48and about their very,
15:50very different ways
15:51of dealing with it.
15:52It's a tremendously powerful play
15:55from Luna Theatre of New York.
15:58New York?
15:59No?
16:00New Jersey.
16:00New Jersey, yeah.
16:01Luna Theatre of New Jersey.
16:04And I'd love it for the team now
16:06to come up and accept
16:07their award for Rift.
16:09That's including the two performers
16:11who give such wonderful performances
16:12Matt Monaco as the inside brother
16:16and Blake Stadnick,
16:19yeah, I can't see the letters here.
16:22Blake Stadnick as the outside brother.
16:26So please come up
16:27and accept your award for Rift.
16:28Thank you, thank you.
16:29Thank you, thank you.
16:42Hello, everyone.
16:43I'm Richard Jordan.
16:44I'm the producer also with Luna of Rift.
16:47Thank you so much for this.
16:49This is Lucas, Blake, and Matt.
16:52Thank you, Travis Theatre,
16:54for believing in the play
16:55and for putting up with us
16:57when we started
16:58and we were eight minutes running over
16:59and they didn't tell us off.
17:00Thanks to our ushers
17:01who stopped everyone
17:02for walking across the set,
17:04which was also kind of
17:05really helpful to us
17:06with the show
17:06when we got started.
17:08Theatre comes out
17:08of a lot of different things.
17:10It comes out of having a great play
17:11and we were lucky with that
17:12with Gabriel's play,
17:13a wonderful director in Ari,
17:15and you create
17:15sort of a cultural collision on stage
17:17and you hope that all those things
17:18in some way
17:19are going to come together
17:20when you embark on an adventure
17:21and a journey
17:21and with Rift,
17:22it's wonderful
17:23that that magic came together
17:25and it most partly
17:26because of this wonderful
17:27band of brothers
17:27who are up here on the stage.
17:29So thank you so much.
17:30I did my first show
17:31at The Fringe in 1996.
17:33I first came in 1987
17:34and Edinburgh gave me my career
17:37and I'm so grateful
17:39to be here
17:40and to keep working
17:41and coming back
17:42and doing work at The Fringe.
17:43So thank you.
17:44Thank you, Richard.
17:45Do you want to say a few minutes?
17:47Yes.
17:52Just on behalf of myself
17:53and Matt and Lucas,
17:55I just want to say
17:55thank you to the Scotsmen,
17:57thank you to Edinburgh,
17:58this incredible city
17:59that has embraced us
18:01and thank you to Ari
18:03for our director
18:05for guiding us
18:08and tweaking these emotions
18:11out of us
18:11throughout the play
18:12and to Gabriel Dean
18:14for writing this.
18:17Every night,
18:17we are so grateful
18:18to tell this story.
18:19It is one of the most
18:20important stories
18:21we have told in our career
18:22and that wonderful experience
18:27is not lost on us.
18:27So thank you very much.
18:31Thank you, Richard.
18:31One of the great producers
18:40on the Edinburgh Fringe
18:41and thank you also
18:43to Matt and Blake
18:44for two of the most
18:44intense performances
18:45I think around this year
18:47and really drawing in audiences
18:49there at the Travers.
18:53The backdrop
18:54to the next play
18:55we're going to award
18:56is, well, the distant backdrop
18:58is the great conflict
19:00of the middle
19:01of the 20th century,
19:03the Second World War
19:04and the Holocaust
19:05of European Jews
19:06that accompanied it.
19:08The character
19:09at the centre
19:10of Beth Patterson's
19:12monologue,
19:12Nushia,
19:13is Beth herself,
19:14a young woman
19:15growing up in Australia
19:16with very limited knowledge
19:18of any Jewish heritage
19:19that she might have
19:21but with quite considerable knowledge
19:23of her very bad-tempered
19:24and grumpy grandmother Nushia
19:26who they go to visit
19:28once a week
19:28and who loves to hear
19:31Beth singing
19:32but otherwise
19:33tends to be pretty bad-tempered
19:35and making disparaging comments
19:36about members
19:37of her own family
19:38with a great freedom.
19:40However,
19:41as she grows older
19:42Beth begins to understand
19:44more about Nushia's story,
19:47about her history
19:48as a Holocaust survivor,
19:50about how she was
19:50a young woman
19:51in the Warsaw ghetto
19:52trying to train
19:53to be a doctor
19:54by correspondence course
19:57from Italy,
19:58how she was taken
19:59to Auschwitz,
20:00how she worked
20:00in the notorious hospital there
20:02run by Josef Mengele,
20:04how she survived
20:06and how she came
20:07to Australia
20:08and built a life there
20:09not only as a mother
20:10and a grandmother
20:11but as a businesswoman.
20:13And through all of that
20:15and through Beth's exploration
20:17of how she gradually
20:18uncovers all this
20:19family history
20:21which people have really
20:22for obvious reasons
20:23preferred not to talk
20:24about too much
20:25simply because of the
20:26huge levels of pain
20:27involved,
20:28how through that
20:29she comes to take pride
20:30in her inheritance
20:31from this long line
20:34of female survivors
20:36and how it makes her
20:37a more aware
20:37and powerful citizen
20:39of the world today
20:40to understand the huge
20:42impacts of such
20:43disruptions
20:44and genocides
20:45on human lives.
20:46It's a brilliant
20:47and very powerful monologue
20:48presented with terrific
20:50flair and a kind of joy
20:52which I think is important
20:53because these stories
20:54of discovering the truth
20:56about yourself
20:56and about the world
20:57do have a powerful element
20:59of joy in them
20:59despite all the pain
21:01that can sometimes
21:02be involved
21:02and that's very much
21:03embodied in Beth Paterson's
21:05beautiful performance
21:07of her own monologue
21:08Nusia.
21:09So please come up
21:10and accept your fringe first.
21:11Thank you so much.
21:28Oh my goodness.
21:29Thank you Kat.
21:32Hello everybody.
21:33Oh my goodness.
21:34What an unbelievable
21:36privilege this is.
21:37I'd like to thank
21:38Summer Hall,
21:39Sam and Tom
21:40what an incredible team.
21:41Thank you for believing
21:42us in us.
21:43The Scotsman my goodness
21:44thank you for your
21:45incredibly kind words
21:46to Chloe Nelkin Consulting.
21:48My incredible team.
21:50We are a team
21:51of very small
21:52Australian independent artists
21:53who have worked
21:54incredibly hard
21:55and we've come from
21:55really grassroots
21:56backgrounds
21:57so to be able
21:58to stand up here
21:59in such illustrious company
22:01has
22:01it's mind blowing.
22:04Nusia at its heart
22:05is incredibly
22:06anti-war.
22:07It speaks to pride
22:10and compassion
22:11and accountability.
22:12To be able to stand here
22:14amongst all of you
22:16is an unspeakable privilege.
22:18Thank you so much.
22:20Thank you Beth
22:30the writer,
22:31performer
22:31and co-creator
22:32of this work.
22:33My name is Kat Yates
22:33I'm the director
22:34and co-creator.
22:35This is beautiful
22:35Ryan Stewart
22:36and Tia Bullock
22:36our producer
22:38and then our production
22:39and stage manager.
22:40We came all the way
22:40from Australia.
22:41We also have our
22:41beautiful designers
22:42in Australia
22:43Sydney Unger,
22:44Jack Burmeister,
22:45Sam Hastings
22:46and our dramaturg
22:46George Lazarus
22:48that we all have to
22:49thank and acknowledge
22:49because we couldn't
22:50have made this work
22:51without them.
22:52We're also incredibly
22:53grateful for the fact
22:54that as Beth said
22:55we are grassroots.
22:56We started in Melbourne
22:57Fringe testing this work out.
22:59We won one award.
23:00People believed in us
23:01and it allowed us
23:02to then tour
23:02across regional Victoria
23:04to schools.
23:05We then took this work
23:05to Adelaide Fringe
23:06and a few more people
23:07believed in us
23:08and said
23:08you really should take
23:09this to Edinburgh.
23:10So this journey
23:11of a very small production
23:12and belief in a story
23:14that we kept telling
23:15to be here
23:17is just incredible
23:17and tells you
23:18what independent work
23:19can do.
23:20We're also so grateful
23:21for Queen Margaret University.
23:24Beth and I met
23:24at university.
23:25We are independent artists
23:26that started at university
23:28in our craft.
23:28We wouldn't be here
23:29without student theatre.
23:30So I would be remiss
23:31to thank the
23:32Yvonne Versic
23:34and Jason Lehane
23:35and Daniel Lamond
23:36who are our mentors
23:36who said
23:37you can make a career
23:38out of this.
23:39And we have.
23:40So thank you so much.
23:42Absolutely beautiful.
23:56And another monologue
23:58coming up
23:59equally powerful
24:00by a young woman.
24:02And this monologue
24:03arises in a sense
24:05uniquely difficult
24:07circumstances.
24:07It's a monologue
24:09about the recent history
24:11of Hong Kong
24:12a territory
24:16which was of course
24:17surrendered by
24:19the British
24:20under a treaty
24:20at the end
24:21of the 1990s
24:23and was absorbed
24:24into China
24:25on a promise
24:26that there would be
24:27one state
24:28but two systems
24:29which would give
24:30the Hong Kong people
24:31the kind of freedoms
24:32that they were
24:33traditionally used to
24:34as a British territory.
24:36Not perfect freedoms
24:36of course
24:37but generally
24:38more freedom
24:39of speech
24:39and expression
24:40in particular
24:40than exists in China.
24:42And that promise
24:43had been comprehensively
24:44broken
24:45as the authoritarian
24:46rule over Hong Kong
24:48has tightened
24:49over the last 20 years.
24:51Most people
24:51who watch the news
24:52will be aware
24:52that on occasions
24:53there have been
24:54huge protests
24:55and really millions
24:57almost well
24:57I mean certainly
24:58a million
24:59on the streets
25:00of Hong Kong
25:00protesting the loss
25:02of these freedoms
25:03protesting the loss
25:04of democracy
25:05and the increasing
25:06manipulation
25:07of the councils
25:07that represent Hong Kong
25:09so that they
25:09basically now represent
25:11the Beijing government.
25:12But in the midst
25:13of all that
25:13a whole generation
25:15of young Hong Kongers
25:16has been caught
25:17in a kind of tragedy
25:19the sort of loss
25:20of the land
25:21they grew up in
25:22horrible decisions
25:24about whether to leave
25:25or to stay
25:26and even those
25:28who leave
25:28and successfully come here
25:29and we have awarded
25:30companies of Hong Kongers
25:32in the past
25:33who have come here
25:34and successfully
25:34managed to make theatre
25:36about the situation
25:38that they left behind
25:40even if they managed
25:42to come here
25:42they still experience
25:44huge pressure
25:44on their families
25:45back in Hong Kong
25:46or China
25:47and so on
25:48and constant surveillance
25:49and difficulty.
25:50The last time
25:51we awarded
25:51a show from Hong Kong
25:53everyone who went
25:54into the show
25:54at the underbelly
25:55had to have
25:56their phone taken away
25:58or completely blinded
25:59so that we couldn't
26:00take pictures of the cast
26:02because it would have been
26:03dangerous for them
26:04to have been
26:04identified.
26:06Now all of this
26:07is brilliantly tackled
26:09from the point of view
26:10of a young English girl
26:12living in Hong Kong
26:13but who has spent
26:14most of her
26:14sort of later childhood
26:15and teens in Hong Kong
26:18in Mimi Martin's
26:21wonderful monologue
26:22Youth in Flames
26:23at the zoo playground.
26:26Mimi starts out
26:26frankly as a bit of an idiot
26:28and I'm sorry
26:29Mimi the character
26:30the playwright
26:31the playwright
26:32the playwright
26:33the playwright
26:34and performer
26:34is called Mimi
26:35the character
26:35is called Millie.
26:37Millie starts out
26:37frankly
26:38as a bit of a
26:39the kind of girl
26:41that would really annoy you
26:42if you were sitting
26:42near on a train
26:43you know
26:43sort of spouting on
26:45about how many drugs
26:46she's taken
26:47and how drunk she is
26:48and how you know
26:48and just obviously
26:49pretty rich
26:50and pretty much
26:51of a daft
26:53kind of girl
26:54and she does though
26:57have a boyfriend
26:57who's a Hong Kong
26:58Chinese guy
26:59that she is
27:00very passionate about
27:01and as he gradually
27:03gets drawn into
27:04the demonstrations
27:05and the activism
27:06around one of the
27:09sort of explosions
27:10of protest
27:11in Hong Kong
27:12she begins to grow up
27:14basically
27:15she begins to realise
27:16that this is
27:17serious business
27:18that her boyfriend
27:19is in serious trouble
27:20and that she has to
27:22begin to take on board
27:23one of the big
27:24political struggles
27:25of our time
27:27it's absolutely
27:28beautifully written
27:29and performed
27:30it's incredibly
27:31gripping
27:32and although it represents
27:34a European
27:35if you like
27:35or a European
27:36by origin
27:37perspective
27:38on what's going on
27:39in Hong Kong
27:40it also speaks
27:41to the fact
27:42that now
27:42at this moment
27:43it is very difficult
27:45for people of
27:46Hong Kong origin
27:47to speak out
27:48about this situation
27:49at all
27:49so please
27:50Mimi and your team
27:51please come up
27:52and accept your award
27:53for an exceptional
27:54monologue
27:54youth influence
27:55wow
27:58hi everyone
27:59hey I'm Mimi
28:00yeah wow
28:02I truly
28:03wouldn't have expected
28:04to be here
28:04if I'm being honest
28:05this is my
28:06first piece of writing
28:08this is Jessica's
28:10first time directing
28:11this is Jessica
28:12Jessica Wiley
28:13our director
28:14and Kira Moss
28:14a fantastic
28:15lighting designer
28:16who have truly
28:17you know
28:18we built the show
28:19together
28:20and
28:22yeah
28:23I wrote this
28:24play
28:25because
28:27I
28:27Hong Kong
28:28is my home
28:29I fell in love
28:29with Hong Kong
28:30and
28:31people always
28:32ask me
28:33what it was like
28:33growing up there
28:34but people
28:34never knew
28:36what happened
28:37after the protests
28:38and everybody
28:40as you said
28:40saw it in the
28:41British media
28:41and never followed up
28:42because
28:42you know
28:43the journalists
28:44were on our doorstep
28:45in the August of 2019
28:46and then left
28:47and nobody
28:47continued to know
28:48the fight
28:49that was still
28:49happening there
28:50Hong Kongers
28:51can't tell this story
28:52the audience
28:54that we've had
28:55has
28:55been Hong Kongers
28:57Taiwanese
28:58Ukrainians
28:58Palestinians
28:59who are recognizing
29:00that
29:01there is a right
29:04to protest
29:05that is now being
29:05revoked
29:06freedom of speech
29:07freedom of assembly
29:08and media censorship
29:09is a real thing
29:10but it's now being
29:10reflected
29:11in our world today
29:13not just in Hong Kong
29:14in Palestine
29:15in Ukraine
29:15but in Britain
29:16Britain's response
29:19to Palestine action
29:20I couldn't have called it
29:21when I wrote this play
29:22a year ago
29:22so I'm not only
29:24speaking for the Hong Kongers
29:25who can't tell this story
29:26but across the world
29:27for people
29:27who are
29:28having their cultures
29:29and identity
29:30removed
29:32and
29:33are being silenced
29:35and
29:36yeah
29:37I'd just like to
29:38thank everyone
29:38for coming
29:39and listening
29:39the Fringe experience
29:41has been
29:42truly emotional
29:44truly moving
29:44listening to the reasons
29:45why people have come
29:46to see the show
29:47James
29:48from Zoo
29:49thank you so much
29:50for believing
29:50in this project
29:51I'm
29:53self-producing this
29:55so again
29:55grassroots theater guys
29:56so this has been
29:58whoa
29:59yeah
30:00so thank you
30:00thank you so much
30:01everyone
30:02and
30:03yeah
30:03thank you
30:04applause
30:05and I can't believe
30:18we're at the last one
30:18is that right
30:19there's only one left
30:20they're brilliant
30:20because it's gone so quickly
30:22I can't believe
30:22there's only one left
30:23but
30:24our final show
30:26is a show
30:27that is both
30:27joyful
30:28and sobering
30:29and tragic
30:30to see
30:31it is
30:32Allah Shahada's show
30:33the horse of Janine
30:34playing at the
30:35Pleasance Dome
30:36and this is a show
30:38by a writer
30:39a comedian
30:40and an actor
30:41from the city
30:42of Janine
30:43which of course
30:44is in the west bank
30:45of Palestine
30:46and is at the center
30:47of the current
30:48attacks on the west bank
30:50and at the general
30:51slaughter
30:53of Palestinian culture
30:55which is going on
30:56in Gaza
30:56very nearby
30:57not obviously
30:58directly in the west bank
30:59but nearby
31:01however
31:02the story
31:03that Allah tells
31:04in the horse of Janine
31:05looks back
31:06to his childhood
31:07in the city
31:08of Janine
31:09and through the story
31:10of that childhood
31:11he both celebrates
31:13the richness
31:14and resilience
31:15of Palestinian culture
31:16and records
31:18the tragedy
31:18that is also
31:20being inflicted
31:21on it
31:22the horse of Janine
31:23was an artwork
31:24produced in Janine
31:25by a German artist
31:26after a previous
31:27round of violence
31:28in the early
31:292000s
31:30he took fragments
31:31of things
31:33that had been destroyed
31:34you know
31:34children's toys
31:35that had been blown up
31:37and bits of buildings
31:38bits of vehicles
31:39and so on
31:40and made this
31:4115 foot horse
31:43which became known
31:44as the horse
31:44of Janine
31:45and after a visit
31:46to Ramallah
31:47and a jaunt
31:48of which we see
31:49an entertaining film
31:50across the hills
31:52of Palestine
31:52it returned
31:53to a traffic roundabout
31:55in Janine
31:55where it became
31:56a kind of
31:56well known meeting point
31:58but in 2023
31:59it was simply
31:59bulldozed one day
32:00by the Israeli
32:02defence force
32:03and so the horse
32:04of Janine
32:04is an amazing
32:05symbol of memory
32:07of art
32:08of human creativity
32:09of how that creativity
32:11can be destroyed
32:12and attacked
32:12but of how
32:13it survives
32:14Allah is a graduate
32:16of course
32:16of the famous
32:17and award winning
32:18freedom theatre
32:19of Janine
32:20and it's an absolute
32:21pleasure
32:22and privilege
32:23now
32:24to invite him
32:25to come up
32:26and accept
32:26his fringe
32:27first award
32:28for an amazing
32:29funny
32:29joyful
32:30and tragic
32:31show
32:31the horse
32:32of Janine
32:32thank you
32:42thank you so much
32:43thank you
32:44thank you so much
32:47thank you
32:48thank you
32:51thank you
32:55thank you so much
32:55everyone
32:56wow
32:56thank you
32:57wow
32:57this is amazing
32:59Janine's people
33:00are here
33:00right now
33:01oh my god
33:03so
33:04first I would love
33:08to really thank
33:09the team
33:09Sam
33:10Kasim
33:11Thomas
33:12Catherine
33:13in Amsterdam
33:13Troub Courage
33:14and of course
33:15I would love to
33:16thank
33:16Martin
33:18and Sophia
33:18and please
33:20also Anthony
33:21from the Blizzins
33:22and Justin
33:23Butchers
33:23also for the support
33:24it's a great
33:25amazing chance
33:26to be here
33:27and celebrate
33:28the Palestinian
33:29art here
33:29in the middle
33:30of one of the
33:31biggest
33:31international theater
33:32festivals
33:33in the world
33:34so
33:35and of course
33:36I would love
33:36to thank my mother
33:37his mother features
33:40bigly
33:41yeah
33:41yeah
33:42I'm worried
33:44I'm worried
33:47to still hear
33:48about the word
33:49because she will
33:50then
33:50I'll be charged
33:52more transferring
33:53money
33:53so
33:56I'm keeping it
33:57down
33:58till the next month
33:59inshallah
34:00so
34:02I really would love
34:04to thank
34:05the people
34:06back home
34:07and I would love
34:08I really wish
34:08if everyone is here
34:09or if I can take it
34:10right now
34:11to Janine
34:11to show it
34:12to everyone
34:12in Janine
34:13and to show
34:13the people
34:14their resilience
34:15their resistance
34:16their existence
34:17because this is
34:18something that
34:19we are
34:19sometimes forget about
34:21and
34:22we
34:23are in a time
34:26that we feel
34:27hopeless
34:27in terms of
34:28some people
34:29or the world
34:30even seeing us
34:31or
34:31understanding
34:34what people
34:34are going through
34:35every day
34:35especially in Janine
34:36the West Bank
34:37in Janine camp
34:38where almost
34:3930,000 people
34:40are out of the camp
34:42right now
34:42the Freedom Theater
34:43the place I grew up
34:44is under the Israeli
34:46military occupation
34:47right now
34:47we don't know
34:48what's happening
34:49people are kicked
34:50out of their houses
34:51but people are still alive
34:52people are still living
34:53people still go to eat
34:55to feed their children
34:56and I think
34:58the story of the horse
34:59it shows the resilience
35:00of the power
35:01of people living
35:02under a daily
35:03military occupation
35:04and here is the power
35:05of theater
35:06comedy and arts
35:07is really to deliver
35:08people's
35:09courage
35:10people's emotions
35:11people's surviving
35:12days
35:13so thank you
35:15everyone
35:15and hopefully
35:16one day
35:17you all come
35:18to Palestine
35:18to the Freedom Theater
35:19and we celebrate
35:20with my mother
35:21thank you so much
35:23thank you
35:25free free
35:34thank you so much
35:39thank you much
35:41thank you
35:44thank you
35:48stay
35:48stay
35:48stay
35:49how was that
35:51for you
35:51I'm just very
35:52very emotional
35:53I'm just
35:53I'm overwhelmed
35:56just the stories
35:58just the stories
35:58that people are
35:58telling in this
35:59climate
35:59is so inspiring
36:01with less and less
36:02money and less
36:03and less freedom
36:04I'm just
36:04I'm blown away
36:05absolutely
36:05thank you so much
36:07for being with us
36:08today
36:08thank you
36:09thank you
36:10all the best
36:11to the rest of you
36:12oh well
36:19that was
36:20that was
36:20fantastic
36:21thank you so much
36:22and thank you
36:22for being with us
36:23Dune
36:24and apologies
36:25for my
36:26I don't
36:26I don't
36:26anyway
36:27but we do
36:29have our usual
36:30big list of
36:31thank yous
36:32to make
36:33at the end
36:34of this show
36:34once again
36:36thank you to the
36:36Pleasants for hosting us
36:38thank you to our
36:38fabulous sponsors
36:39without which
36:40nothing could happen
36:42in terms of the
36:43Fringe first
36:43so big round of
36:44applause for them
36:45thank you
36:46to our own team
36:48the critics
36:49who slog around
36:50the Fringe
36:51seeing all the shows
36:52and our team of judges
36:54who put a huge amount
36:55of energy
36:56and passion
36:56into doing this
36:57and our wonderful
36:58festival editor
36:59Andrew Eaton-Lewis
37:00and our wonderful
37:01arts editor
37:02Roger Cox
37:02big round of applause
37:03for my colleagues
37:04thank you
37:04huge round
37:14huge round
37:15of applause
37:15for our lovely
37:16guest star
37:17Dune McKichon
37:17who has given
37:18so much
37:19thank you
37:20thank you
37:23so much
37:24Dune
37:24for being with us
37:25thank you
37:26to the audience
37:27for being here
37:28this morning
37:28it's always
37:29absolutely wonderful
37:30to have so many
37:31friends with us
37:31to celebrate
37:32these awards
37:33both the winners
37:34and those who are
37:35simply here
37:35because they love
37:36the winners
37:36or because they love
37:37the Fringe
37:38it's wonderful
37:39to welcome you all
37:40so thank you
37:40for being here
37:41as our audience
37:42and finally
37:43of course
37:44the biggest
37:44thank you
37:45of all
37:46to the artists
37:47who make the Fringe
37:48not only our winners
37:49who are here
37:50with us today
37:51but all of the artists
37:52out there
37:52struggling to keep
37:53their shows going
37:54maybe not getting
37:55the audience
37:55as they hoped for
37:56maybe getting
37:57far more audience
37:58than they ever dreamed of
37:59but all of the artists
38:00who make this fabulous
38:02Fringe
38:02what it is
38:03thank you
38:04to all of them
38:05and please join us
38:06next week
38:06in the Pleasant's Grand
38:08for our
38:09Pleasant's Grand
38:10is that right
38:10Pleasant's Grand
38:11yeah I think it's
38:11the Pleasant's Grand
38:12in the Pleasant's Grand
38:13for our final
38:14Scotsman Fringe Awards
38:16ceremony
38:16of 2025
38:18which includes
38:19not only our last batch
38:20of Fringe Firsts
38:22but also many other awards
38:23enabling productions
38:24from this fringe
38:25to have a further life
38:27so please join us
38:28next week
38:28thank you so much
38:29for being here today
38:30and have a fabulous week
38:32on the Edinburgh
38:32programme
38:33performance
38:52thank you so much
38:52thank you
38:53you
38:53thank you
38:54to the floor
38:54I think I don't like you
38:56if I just called this
38:56through to the ground
38:56but you
38:58I probably like you
38:58to the floor
38:59and you
38:59I think I'll have audi
38:59I think I'll have a 우와
38:59build thatард's government
39:00I know you
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