Tell Us About Your Show Why should we go and see it?
The show is called The Gruffalo, the Giant and the Mermaid, with Julia Donaldson.
We are really excited about our brand-new show this year, as we have a brilliant team on and off stage who are bringing seven of my books to life. You’ll be transported to a circus, a farm, a stone-age cave, and of course to the Gruffalo’s deep dark wood. It will be a fun hour for the whole family and includes lots of songs and some amazing puppets which are being made especially for the show. There’s also a book stall at the venue and I’ll be doing a signing for an hour after each show if any families would like to say hello and add a new book to their collection.
Are you flying solo or are you part of a team?
We are a cast of five, and anyone who has been to one of our shows before will probably recognise the team as we’ve done one or two shows together before! They include my guitar-playing husband Malcolm, whose Fox (in The Gruffalo) has become a bit of a legend. In this show he also plays a cunning ringmaster and an endearing scarecrow. We’re joined by my sister Mary, and actors Joanna Hutt and James Huntington who, between them, play many characters including a singing mermaid, a kindly giant and a dastardly highway rat in this show
What are your hopes and dreams for the Fringe?
In 2018, our last show The Gruffalo, the Witch and the Warthog sold out, and it was wonderful seeing so many happy faces in the audience every day, so my hopes are that we can meet just as many families this year. I’m also really looking forward to doing some British Sign language in The Gruffalo (I act the Mouse), and to puppeteering the stand-offish Go-Away Bird.
What makes you laugh?
I prefer sketch shows to stand-up, and love gentle and observant comedy series like Mackenzie Crook’s Detectorists.
What is it that made you a performer?
When I was 12 I understudied the fairies in an Old Vic production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.The cast included a young Judi Dench and Tom Courtney. I got to go on five times and also enjoyed just sitting in the wings watching the play in a stage-struck trance. Although I’m better known as a writer I now probably spend more time preparing and performing in shows based on my books.
How will your audience think/feel differently after an hour in your company?
I hope that our audiences leave having had an hour of fun in our company! Hopefully we will introduce some new books to those who haven’t discovered them all yet, and fans of the stories will gain some extra insight into their favourite heroes and villains.
What’s the most useful piece of advice you’ve been given?
To take praise as well as criticism with a pinch of salt.
Do you have a favourite Fringe memory?
Watching the theatre company Scamp’s performance of Aesop’s Fables in 2006. It was one of those intimate and imaginative shows that made one’s hair stand on end. And it led eventually to us finding our great director, Peta Maurice.
Who is your showbiz/Fringe idol and why.
The Berlin-based Famile Flöz with their extraordinary puppet heads. You watch a vast array of characters – in a hotel or a ballet company or an old people-s home – and have to pinch yourself to realise that they’re being portrayed by only four or so actors.
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/gruffalo-the-giant-and-the-mermaid-with-julia-donaldson
The Gruffalo, the Giant and the Mermaid with Julia Donaldson
4-29 August at 11am
Underbelly George Square
