Edinburgh Fringe Q&A: Plenty of Fish in the Sea

Tell us about your show. What can audiences expect?

Plenty of Fish in the Sea is a poetic, ridiculous, and absolutely one-of-a-kind piece of theatre about a lost soul who gets hooked out of the ocean by a demented nun, and initiated into a bizarre, ritualistic world of fishing and sybaritic excess, brought to life by a trio of dextrous physical performers. It’s dreamlike, absurd, a little bit sexy and sometimes disturbing!

Can you talk about some of the creative team involved?

Madeline Baghust, Emily Ayoub and Christopher Carrol – the three performers – are all trained at the School of Jacques Lecoq. When creating new work with our company Clockfire Theatre Company we are constantly referencing permanent values and ways of creating proposed by this school. We were really guided by our pleasure in making this piece and a sense of play and physicality. Plenty of Fish in the Sea is a good example of Lecoq’s style, delighting in a high level of physical technique, and unbounded imagination. For this piece, we were inspired by the modern societal pressures of 'hook-up' culture. We decided to draw on fishing metaphors linked to finding companionship to find the world of the piece. When we think of hook-up culture/dating we don’t necessarily think of a nun in a monastery, but we allow the work to take us where it will!

What would you like audiences to take away from seeing this production at the Fringe?

We hope the show sparks joy! It’s a highly physical and visual performance and uses minimal tech elements. It’s cheeky and a bit dark. We want audiences to feel inspired by the work and the way it’s made. You will experience pure delight, and a suspicion that the world is a brighter, fizzier place than you once thought.

What show are you most looking forward to seeing in August, and why?

We’ll try and see a lot of physical theatre and work from non-English speaking countries, especially Asia. To be honest I haven’t started to fill in my excel sheet yet with the actual shows. But if there was one show, I always recommend it’s Reuben Kaye – obviously NOT physical theatre. A great Australian entertainer who embodies what performance truly is – a powerhouse of talent!

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give a performer coming to Edinburgh for the first time?

Get a great pair of comfortable shoes (the cobble stones can be a killer!), a raincoat that can be squished into a bag; be prepared to do at least an hour of flyering every day (it’s a great way to meet people too); don’t be afraid to strike up random conversations – everyone in Edinburgh is part of your tribe! See as much as you can, keep a list and jot down a thought about each show – it’s a terrific reminder in years to come!