Written by Ross MacKay, directed by Joe Douglas and produced by Scottish Theatre Producers, Cringe is presented at Edinburgh International Children’s Festival in association with Imaginate with support from OneRen.

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If you wouldn’t mind giving us an introduction to yourself, the creatives involved in the show, and the show itself.

My name is Ross MacKay, I am the writer of Cringe. I have been collaborating with Sarah Gray at Scottish Theatre Producers and director Joe Douglas on the development of the show. We are long term collaborators who have all worked with each other on multiple projects but this is our first time working as a trio. 

We have an incredible cast and creative team that includes:

Cast: Scott Fletcher, Kirsty McDuff and Scott Hoatson.
Set and Costume Designer: Sonya Smullen 
Lighting Designer: Kate Bonney
Sound Designer and Composer: Ben Fletcher
Prod Manager: Suzie Normand
Stage Manager: Valerie Rickis 

What first sparked the idea for this piece, and how did you shape it into something that speaks directly to young audiences without alienating?

The show is an adaptation of something that really happened to me. It’s a really specific and quite unique situation – one of my balls accidentally fell out of my shorts in a PE lesson, so hopefully something not a lot of people would be able to identify with.

I was intrigued by the idea of what happens after the worst thing in your life happens. It’s a story about shame and vulnerability. That is something I think lots of people from any age can identify with. As a kid, I had a lot of worries about how I was perceived by my peers. Sadly I think those anxieties are very, very common.

The details of the story might be unusual, but the emotional experience behind it is something most people recognise. That’s what hopefully allows this performance to connect with audiences without alienating them.

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Imaginate is often known for unique or bold visual storytelling — what creative choices became essential in bringing your world to life?

Since it is based on a true story, it is rooted in the 2000s because the events happened before social media. This really situated us in our theatrical world.

The show uses and references technology like over-head projectors and CDs. This gives us so many cool, fun and theatrical things to play with as it’s alien technology to what is used today. Before we do anything inventive with these things in the show we need to demonstrate them as what they are and how they were actually used. That’s become a fun challenge seeing how we can incorporate each element into the story.

Young People can be the most honest audiences. What reactions or moments of engagement have you already had, or are hoping they’ll take away from your performance?

Imaginate invited me to speak at the launch of the festival where I told a little snippet of the story. The launch was hosted by local school children. I could see their jaws drop at one point and I thought, if we manage to achieve something like that in the show, we will have got them.

The show has a couple of previews in Paisley and that is where we will see what the response will be. My aim with all shows is that they ignite imaginations. That is my big hope for this piece. 

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International Children’s Festival shows often cross borders in form and language. Does your production, or the teams, background or creative process shape the way this story is told?

100% I live with a mental health disability and although I didn’t call it that at the time, I recognise it was very present in my teenage years so it is infused into this story; running through it like words in a stick of rock.

In the rehearsal room we spent a long time sharing the school experiences of the whole team and I think we are working hard to capture the diaspora of experience that is reflected in the team and how our diverse identities shaped our formative years.

If you could describe your show in one image or feeling — the moment you hope stays with audiences long after they leave — what would it be, and why?

Gosh. good question. For me the key message is vulnerability can be a super power. I don’t want to give too much away but our protagonist manages to take the most humiliating moment of his life, flip it on its head and take ownership of it.

When I saw the performers read that moment in the script, I felt like punching the air, I’d love audiences to leave rooting for Reid — and maybe feeling that the things we’re most ashamed of don’t always have to define us negatively. Sometimes they can become the very things that connect us to other people.

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