Cannibalism, werewolf trials, deceit and murder: Marie Hassenpflug and the Brothers Grimm are editing the darkness out of old stories. Little by little, the voices of the storytellers who created the tales are eroded away. What will be saved and what will be forgotten?
Would you mind giving us a brief insight into what your show is?
We are Some Kind of Theatre. Founded in 2015, we are Edinburgh’s literary theatre company. We create theatre about books and stories and the people who write and tell them and we stage these in theatre spaces and in unusual, loved spaces like community centres, libraries, care homes, gardens and living rooms.
Our show is The Grandmothers Grimm. It tells the tale of how women contributed wonderful, powerful stories to the Brothers Grimm anthology, and how these stories were watered down and the women’s names left out. Despite the solemn message, the show is packed with humour, macabre moments, and delightful storytelling.
We created the show for the Edinburgh Horror Festival in 2017 in just a few days and have been developing it, expanding it and touring it ever since (lockdowns aside!), receiving four and five star reviews from critics and acclaim from audiences. Most recently The Grandmothers Grimm was performed in the USA by Little Blue Cap Productions at the National Women’s Theatre Festival, where it won awards for Best Ensemble, Outstanding Visual Design and, excitingly, Most Imaginative Script.
Tell us about the creative team and process involved?
Written by Lyceum L20 artist Emily Ingram and co-directed by Ingram and award-winning theatre-maker Gerry Kielty (of Kielty Brothers fame), The Grandmothers Grimm has an experienced Fringe team behind it. The cast includes Justin Skelton (The Hobbit – West End) and RCS graduate Sophie Harris alongside Emily Ingram and Gerry Kielty, while the crew are completed by stage manager and stage combat extraordinaire Kirsty Vance.
The show is fast-paced with tonnes of physical comedy, character changes, propwork and slapstick humour. To make this look chaotic and dynamic onstage, the rehearsal process has to be very meticulous and collaborative – but we also discover new ways to tell the fairy tales of The Grandmothers Grimm every time we rehearse this play and work hard to balance these new discoveries against the solid bedrock of the show.
How does it feel coming to the Fringe?
It is always a joy to be back at the world’s biggest celebration of the arts. It’s a delight to be able to experience art from all across the globe and an honour to proudly present our own work as part of that melting pot.
There are over 3,000 shows at the Fringe. So, what sets your show apart?
Our show features women’s history, werewolf trials, and fierce feminist fairy tales and we guarantee that you absolutely won’t have heard the Little Red Riding Hood story told like this before.
Is there anything specific you’re hoping for the audience to take away?
We measure the success of The Grandmothers Grimm by how long audiences stay around in the bar afterwards talking about – or arguing over – the play’s final and second-to-final moments. We can’t wait to hear what this Fringe’s audiences make of them!
Your ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t there…
If your happy place is independent, intersectional feminist bookshops, this show is for you and will be a comfortable and enjoyable watch.
If the idea of intersectional feminism challenges you, we still want you at this show. We have a message to share with you and think you’ll find it interesting and engaging. Come along. We don’t bite, but the werewolf does.
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?
When we’re not onstage, we can be found leading five-star walking tours of Edinburgh with Some Kind of Tours but we’re also going to make time to see Godcatcher, and Edinburgh Horror Festival sell-out show The Rotting Hart.
In your ideal world, how can we improve the world of the Fringe, of performance, and the industry?
Additional national funding and investment in the arts. Or, failing that, a very artistic, well-choreographed revolution.
