Would you mind giving us an insight into what your show/event/performance is?
FLAMENC OH!! is our attempt to look at flamenco through Yllana’s eyes.
It’s the story of a very traditional flamenco family whose world is turned upside down when someone new arrives with different ideas. The result is a mixture of live flamenco, physical comedy and family chaos.
We’ve tried to make a show that celebrates flamenco while allowing it to laugh at itself from time to time.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
Yllana has been creating visual comedy for more than 35 years, but flamenco was new territory for us.
The process became a conversation between two worlds. On one side, our way of telling stories without words; on the other, artists who have devoted their lives to flamenco. We learnt from each other constantly. Sometimes we pushed them towards comedy, and sometimes they reminded us why certain traditions exist in the first place.
The show grew from that dialogue.
How does it feel coming to (back to) the Fringe?
This will be our eighth Fringe, so it genuinely feels like coming home.
What makes Edinburgh special is not just the audiences—although they’re extraordinary—but the fact that the whole city seems to exist for theatre. During the Fringe you spend as much time discovering other artists as performing your own work. Every year you leave with new ideas… and usually a very long list of shows you wish you’d had time to see.
With shows from all over the world at the Fringe, what sets yours apart?
We’re not trying to reinvent flamenco.
We’re simply looking at it from a different angle.
The flamenco in the show is completely genuine. The comedy is unmistakably Yllana. Somewhere between those two things we found a language that belongs to both
On that, is there anything in the production or production team’s backgrounds which influences the way the show is performed or told?
Absolutely.
As a company, we’ve always enjoyed stepping into worlds that already have their own rules—opera, classical music, sport—and asking ourselves where the comedy might be hiding.
This time, however, we were working alongside artists who carry flamenco in their everyday lives. That changed everything. The show isn’t built on clichés but on conversations, rehearsals and a genuine curiosity about the people behind the art form.
Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?
Hopefully they’ll leave smiling.
But I’d also like them to leave feeling that traditions don’t become smaller when they evolve. They stay alive because every generation finds a new way to make them their own.
If someone leaves the theatre wanting to listen to more flamenco, we’ve done something right.
Your Ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t…?
The ideal audience is a curious one.
It doesn’t matter whether you know everything about flamenco or absolutely nothing.
If you’re an expert, you’ll recognise the references and enjoy seeing the rules gently turned upside down.
If you’ve never heard a soleá in your life, you’ll simply meet an eccentric family whose problems are surprisingly familiar
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 not sure “relax” is the right word for Edinburgh.
The best way to spend a day off is exactly the same as everyone else does: walking into theatres. I especially enjoy international visual theatre because language disappears and you’re reminded how many different ways there are to tell a story.
I’d encourage people to take a chance on something they know nothing about. Those are usually the shows you remember years later.
Hamlet (an experience) runs at Venue 30, George Mackay Brown Library at Scottish Storytelling Centre
Runs: 7th – 17th August at 14:15pm
Photo credit – Javier Naval & Pablo Orente
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’