Polly has to become a boy in a hurry. Cutting off her hair and wearing trousers is easy. Learning to fart and belch in public will take more time. And now she’s enlisted in the army. But there’s a war on. There’s always a war on. And Polly and her fellow recruits are suddenly in the thick of it without any training and the enemy is hunting them. And as they take the war to the heart of the enemy, they have to use all the resources of the Monstrous Regiment. Adapted by Stephen Briggs.
Would you mind giving us a brief insight into what your show/event/performance is?
After five successful Terry Pratchett productions in Edinburgh, we’re bringing Monstrous Regiment, adapted by Stephen Briggs, to the Fringe this year. We’ll be running for six nights, four in Edinburgh Academy Senior School, and then we’re very excited to have two sold-out performances in Craigmillar Castle.
Monstrous Regiment is a standalone story in Pratchett’s Discworld, set in a fantastical Napoleonic-style war. We follow a young woman named Polly as she cuts off her hair and signs up with the army, hoping to find her brother. Gradually she discovers that the other members of the regiment (who include a vampire, an Igor and a troll) are hiding their own secrets too. Think Mulan by way of Sharpe, with plenty of Pratchett’s signature satire mixed in. It’s anti-war, pro-gender diversity, and a lot of fun.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
While I’ve worked on several of our Pratchett productions as an actor, this is my first time directing a Pratchett. I directed our Fringe production last year, a dramatisation of the Wansee conference, and while the content of that play was very challenging, it was nowhere near as logistically complex as Monstrous Regiment. As a novel adaptation, the story isn’t structured as a typical play would be, and our actors have had to work hard as an ensemble to bring the regiment to life even when not speaking for long periods.
As the performances as Craigmillar Castle will have no technical apparatus for lighting or sound, we’ve had to get creative with scene transitions, and I’ve been lucky to have several musicians in the cast who have been very generous with their skills. Music was important to me from the conception of the project as a way to conjure that Napoleonic military feel, so I’m very grateful to Amber Lipman, Ray Finlayson and Nicholas Thorne for helping to bring this world to life.
How does it feel coming to the Fringe?
As an Edinburgh-based company, we’re very lucky to be able to bring shows to the Fringe most years, without the expense of travel, accommodation, etc, that many companies face. After becoming the number one group in Edinburgh for bringing Terry Pratchett’s Discworld to life,
with a devoted fan base, we are extremely excited to be performing for an international audience at the Fringe.
With shows from all over the world at the Fringe, what sets yours apart?
Unlike many companies at the Fringe, we’re locally based and focus on bringing theatre to the city all year round. Because of that, we’re able to call on a large company of actors, and discover venues outside the main buzz of the festival. While being limited in terms of actors and set drives a lot of creativity at the Fringe, it’s a fun change to be see a full two-act, ensemble play. We can also give you a break from the madness of George Square or Pleasance Courtyard, if you fancy seeing a bit of Edinburgh outside the central Fringe hubs!
Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?
Both Pratchett’s novel and the play are staunchly anti-war and anti-imperialist, a message that is always relevant, and even more than ever now. It’s also about gender in all its complexity, and how stupid and arbitrary many of our ideas of gender are. Ultimately, he’s saying that we should all have the choice to live and present however feels right to us. With so many injustices and problems in the world, why should we waste time policing what clothes people wear, or what’s underneath those clothes. I think Monstrous Regiment is a really joyful, varied celebration of the spectrum of gender at a time when trans lives and freedoms are under real threat in the UK.
Your Ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t…?
Sadly, Terry isn’t with us anymore, but we were lucky to meet his assistant of many years Rob Wilkins last year, and would love to get Rob or Terry’s daughter Rhianna along to one of the shows – we like to hope we’ve done their friend/father proud.
More generally, we hope to see a mix of our very loyal regular audience (many of whom have seen all of our Pratchett plays since Guards! Guards! in 2023), with the wider audience who come to Edinburgh for the festival. We often get comments on social media from people who would love to see the shows but are too far away to travel just for us, so we’d love to see some of them in the audience! As a standalone, Monstrous Regiment is also a good entry point for people who’ve never read a Discworld novel before, so we’re hoping to tempt some Pratchett newbies to give him a try!
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 I used to come to the Fringe as a student, I somehow managed to perform, party, and often see multiple other shows a day. This year, with several of us working at the Book Festival and International Festival, as well as the Fringe itself, the top priority will probably be getting enough sleep to power through.
In your ideal world, how can we improve the Fringe, performance, and the industry?
Funding! The most vital element for performing arts is funding. Without support, it’s virtually impossible for anyone without family wealth to get into this industry, unless they get incredibly lucky. It’s notoriously difficult to get jobs as an actor, and without appropriate support that option only stays open to those with the wealth to support long periods of unemployment, and pay for training at drama schools that churn out actors with often no consideration for their career prospects. I think the disappearance of Rep companies is one of the biggest losses in our industry. Rep functioned as a place for actors to get intense, on-the-job training while being paid, making acting a far more accessible career path for working class people. And is something we’d be keen to see make a resurgence.
Terry Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment
runs at Venue 70: Edinburgh Academy
Runs: August 11th – August 14th
Photo credit: Amy Sinead
Interested in being featured on our Have a Gander page? With many previews and Q&As lined up, we’re always happy to chat about including your show in future articles. Please do get in touch through the contact page to feature in an upcoming ‘Have A Gander’