How Not to Make it in America sees performer James Smith embody twenty-eight distinct characters to tell a heartbreakingly funny story about chasing dreams in New York on the eve of 9/11. Ahead of the run, we spoke with playwright Emily Steele about their real-life experiences to life, capturing the collective memory of a world-changing event twenty-five years on, and the technical thrill of solo multi-character performance.

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Would you mind giving us an insight into what your show/event/performance is?

How Not to Make it in America is a funny, moving, one-man show about a naive, young Australian actor who moves to New York in 2001 to try and make it there – but then 9/11 happens and instead of finding fame he ends up working illegally in a video store. In the show, a single performer plays 28 characters, from that naive Aussie to a weary New York lawyer to a British compulsive liar to a very tall Frenchman (it’s important that he’s tall). I’m the playwright, Emily Steel, and the show is inspired by my own experiences – I was a naive, young Welsh actor in New York, and I didn’t make it there either. How Not to Make it in America is on at 9.20pm in the Former Gent’s Locker Room at Summerhall, 6-31 August.

Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?

It took me twenty years to write anything inspired by that time in my life. By that point I was living in Adelaide, South Australia. One day, I was talking with Corey McMahon, then Artistic Director of Theatre Republic, about those experiences in New York and he said, “D’you think there might be a play in that?” He commissioned How Not to Make it in America and with Corey as director and James Smith as performer we developed the show and it was first presented in Adelaide in 2021. Last year, I took over as Artistic Director of Theatre Republic, brought the show to the Adelaide Fringe with Jim returning to the role, and it won the House of Oz Purse Prize to bring it to Edinburgh Fringe. So much of the show is in the performance, with no set and very few props, supported by lighting design by Chris Petridis, sound design by Jason Sweeney and production design by Meg Wilson that pulls the audience back to the early 2000s. For the Edinburgh season, we’re joined by our fabulous understudy Jono Darby.

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How does it feel coming to (back to) the Fringe?

Exciting and nerve-wracking! We’re thrilled to be part of the House of Oz program, and to have a slot at Summerhall. Looking forward to telling this story to new audiences.

With shows from all over the world at the Fringe, what sets yours apart?

If anyone else has got a show inspired by their own experiences in New York on 9/11, I haven’t heard about it yet. If they do, they should get in touch, we can cross promote

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On that, is there anything in the production or production team’s backgrounds which influences the way the show is performed or told?

Before How Not to Make it in America, Jim performed in a play of mine set in a country town in South Australia and I learnt two things: one, that he could play multiple, very different characters, and two, that when he spoke the lines I’d written, he instinctively understood the rhythms in a way that took me by surprise. It’s kind of weird that the best person to play a fictionalised version of a young Welsh woman turned out to be an Aussie guy, but there you go. Knowing what Jim was capable of as a performer, I threw everything at him – which is how he came to be playing 28 characters from at least four different countries in a fragmented story that jumps timelines and comes round in a circle. And he makes it look easy.

Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?

In the rehearsal room, we’ve asked many times: is Matt delusional or resilient in pursuing his dreams? And the truth is, he’s both. It’s kind of crazy, to keep doing what he’s doing, to keep striving to succeed in the face of so many obstacles – but as Matt says, we’re all going to die one day, so maybe it’s just as crazy not to do the things you really want to do.

Your Ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t…?

I want at least one person in the audience each night who will laugh at the joke about the hentai section in the video store.

My parents probably won’t come up from Wales to see the show – they will almost certainly consider Scotland too far, even though it’s much much closer than Australia! But if they do, I would like to reassure them that the bits that include really bad/stupid/unsafe behaviour are entirely fictional (even if they’re the closest to the truth).

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 don’t relax very well. I think I have two modes: on and off. Off is asleep. So I plan to sometimes sleep.

I recommend the other House of Oz shows, including Fuccbois, which also won the Purse Prize this year, and Ten Thousand Hours by Gravity and Other Myths, a company with its roots in Adelaide. And also Meteors, which is by another group of Adelaide theatre-makers, on at Summerhall at about the same time as us – so obviously come and see us first, but see them the next night!

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