POW! BIFF! SCHWING! And, of course, WALLOP!
From Superfan, Stuntman explores the relationship between violence and masculinity and the continued impact this has on our perceptions of men. Through personal stories of real encounters with violence from the performers’ lives, featuring over-the-top stunt fights, this is a show for everyone who enjoyed a violent action movie but felt a bit off about it.
Stuntman is a forcefully physical, humorous, but warm duet from two men wrestling with their connections to violence – both onscreen and off.
Would you mind giving us a brief insight into what your show is?
I’m Pete Lannon, I’m lead artist and director of our show Stuntman and I’m one of the co-artistic directors of SUPERFAN. SUPERFAN is a company based in Glasgow and Strathspey, and we make performance that is usually somewhere between devised theatre, dance, and circus, for lots of different audiences. Stuntman is a show about violence, both in media and real life, the horror, and the fun of it, and how it relates to the experience of being a man.
Tell us about the creative team and process involved?
The show has been in development for about 5 years! It began from wanting to explore the tension I felt between my fear and hatred of real-life violence, but also the attraction that it sometimes has and the enjoyment I get out of watching hyper-violent action movies or playing video games rooted in violence. The show began as a way to try and make sense of that and what it says about masculinity and the harm men inflict on ourselves and each other.
It’s gone through lots of iterations, but our friend and performer David Banks has always been a part of it – he’s a great artist in his own right and has a really unique relationship to violence as someone who has fought semi-professionally. We’re super lucky to have Sadiq Ali as our other performer (last seen at the Fringe with his show The Chosen Haram) who brings a really beautiful physicality and charm to the work, and the two performers have such brilliant chemistry onstage.
The creative team on the show is amazing. I am incredibly lucky to get to collaborate with folk like our scenographer Rachel O’Neill and lighting designer Michaella Fee, and composer/sound designer Richy Carey – who not only put together these incredibly detailed sound designs for all these ridiculous over-the-top fight scenes we have but also created stunning music for the show.
How does it feel to return to the Fringe?
Exciting, and a bit scary. We’re here as part of the Made in Scotland showcase which gives us a platform that we wouldn’t have otherwise, as well as makes it less of a risk – it wouldn’t be possible for us to come to the Fringe without that extra support. It’s such a different context to bring a show to compared to working in Scotland the rest of the year, and the scale can be really intimidating but it’s also an incredible chance to have our work seen by people who it wouldn’t otherwise reach.
There are over 3,000 shows at the Fringe. So, what sets your show apart?
Stuntman is raucous and silly and fun, but it’s also moving and thoughtful and tender. We’re exploring some big, complicated themes and we don’t come up with any easy answers, but I think it’s also a really fun night out! I think we have a weird and unique blend of heartfelt autobiographical storytelling, movement and high-octane stage combat. Plus we’re Scottish!
Is there anything specific you’re hoping for the audience to take away?
I hope the audience has a good time but leaves thinking a bit more deeply about their own relationship to violence and masculinity – either as a man or about the men in their lives. I hope it creates a conversation about how we work towards a version of masculinity that does less harm.
Your ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t there…?
I think my ideal audience is people who don’t usually go to the theatre but enjoy a good (or bad) action movie, especially young men. And maybe Keanu Reeves, I like to think he’d enjoy it.
It’s an intense month, so where you’re able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
I am actually about to become a parent for the first time just before the festival so I will be having my own kind of intense month!
For the performers, a sports massage is always good maintenance/relaxing. When I’m at the festival I really like sneaking off to the cinema on my own during the day, often to see a big blockbuster so I can just switch my brain off. It feels almost a bit cheeky to not be watching something live but I find it so much more relaxing.
In terms of shows that I really want to catch, Laura Murphy’s A Spectacle of Herself and Katrine Turner’s An Alternative Helpline for the End of the World are high on the list, along with Solène Weinachter’s After All.
In your ideal world, how can we improve the world of the Fringe, of performance, and the industry?
I think what would improve all of those and the wider world is a Universal Basic Income, along with stronger housing rights and protection for workers. I think a lot of the problems with the Fringe are microcosms of bigger problems we’re experiencing in general at the moment – the prioritisation of profits over people and the planet.
I think specifically for the Fringe we need to change how the festival works in connection with Edinburgh as a city. There has to be a way for the festival to be more sustainable and more financially equitable that doesn’t drive up rates in the city and reduce available housing in favour of ridiculously priced short-term lets.
