Can love survive when someone dies? Can hope flourish amidst grief?
Heart-warming, raw, and brilliantly funny, this debut performance from actor and comedian Sophie Craig underpins a beautifully ugly story of grief, and the place love has within it. I Love You, Now What? opens a window to Ava and Theo’s lives, following the diagnosis and loss of her father, causing her world to crumble.
From director Toby Clark (director of Olivier-nominated Warheads) and produced by The REcreate agency, I Love You, Now What poses the fact that no one is ever ready for what happens to your love life when someone dies.
Would you mind giving us a brief insight into what your show is?
Of course 🙂 I’m Sophie Craig, I’m an actor, writer and comedian originally from the little working-class town Barrow in Furness (Ever so up North!)
Can love survive when someone dies?
‘No bastard ever warned me that your love life goes down the shitter when someone dies.’
I Love You, Now What? is brilliantly funny, fresh, heart-warming and raw. It’s a beautifully ugly story about grief and where love’s place lies within it. It opens a window into Ava and Theo’s lives, following the diagnosis and loss of her father. It’s a show about love and loss but ultimately hope. And it’s a take on grief I’ve never seen done before. You’ll have a bloody good laugh but also bring some tissues! Someone wrote a lovely quote about it which I think sums it up nicely ‘I wet myself laughing and soaked myself crying’ – which I just thought was lovely!
Tell us about the creative team and process involved?
The process has been so lovely. I wrote I Love You, Now What? After my Dad died so some of the show is pulled from my own experiences and that in itself was really cathartic although I didn’t realise it at the time! The music by Jack Edmonds was also pulled from his experience of losing his Dad and I think you can hear that so beautifully in the music. He is incredibly talented. Once we got it on its feet, Toby (our brilliant director) really allowed Andy, Sean and I to play, and I love as a writer and actor, using the text as a guideline until we find who the characters are. It’s been the most wonderful, surreal process! We have the most incredible team and I feel so lucky that everyone is on this crazy journey with me! It’s the most incredible feeling seeing your work come to life with people who are just so wonderful at what they do!
How does it feel to coming to the Fringe?
This is my first ever Fringe! I’m all the feelings! Haha! I’m incredibly excited, nervous, overwhelmed, anxious, but just incredibly happy and feel very lucky I have the chance to do something I didn’t even dare to dream of. I’ve always wanted to get my own show to the Fringe. It’s kind of bucket list stuff as an actor/writer. I came up on my own last year for a few days and loved it. I said to myself ‘Yep! I’m going to have a show here one day!’ Little did I know it would be the following year! Hopefully, people come along! I hadn’t planned on it initially, as I just didn’t think it was something I could ever do, but when the run at The Pleasance in London sold out so quickly, it was a conversation that came up and suddenly, here we are! I am so excited!
There are over 3,000 shows at the Fringe. So, what sets your show apart?
It’s new, it’s fresh and it’s just really bloody human. There’s no airs and graces about it. It’s working-class and it’s just raw and truthful. It’s about grief but done in a way I have never seen before. It looks at the impact it has on our most intimate relationships. It poses the question, can love survive when someone dies?
Is there anything specific you’re hoping for the audience to take away?
Hope.
There’s something every single soul can take from this. It’s for anyone who has loved anyone. It stares down the human condition. I hope people take away how important it is to cherish those we love. Grief, as horrific as it is, is a gift. It’s proof you loved. And loved hard. And that’s beautiful. It’s just the love you’re left with, with nowhere to go.
Your ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t there…
Oh gosh! That’s a hard question! Honestly, I’ll just be beyond happy if there are bums in seats! Haha! But Sean, who plays Dad/John, told me how his friend who did Fringe once performed to just one audience member, who turned out to be Sir Ian McKellen. Hopefully, there’s more than one person there but that’s a pretty cool story!
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’m a bit of a Nana! All about that calm life! Haha! I want to try and keep up a bit of routine. I love the gym! So I’ll hopefully find a place nearby to keep that up! Lots of walking and getting good rest to keep my mind and body in check throughout! I’ll miss my dogs for sure! Haha! My friend said she will teach me how to knit to relax! Haha! Oh my god! I actually am a nana! Who wants a scarf!?
We have a couple of days off and have been told to head to the coast so deffo will try and do that – I love the beach! But we have the most lovely team. Emily, who is my producer but also has her own show up there, said she bakes to relax so maybe we can eat cakes and knit and live our best Nan lives!
There’s sooo many shows I want to see up there! I caught quite a lot last year but never managed to catch Showstoppers and I can’t wait to see that – I have a full-on list on my phone I keep adding to! And to recommend of course it has to be Summer Camp for Broken People and Blueprints – both amazing shows by new female writers!
In your ideal world, how can we improve the world of the Fringe, of performance, and the industry?
Make it ‘fair’ in every single way there is. It’s never been fair. Everything needs to be fair, so everyone has their chance to shine. Regardless of money, class, who you know, where you’re from, ethnicity, gender, age etc. There are some seriously prehistoric systems/views that need to shift. We’ve come a long way, but there’s still a heck of a way to go.
