In just a couple of days time we go back into the rehearsal room to prepare for a Scottish tour so thought it would be good time to reflect a little on what it feels like to be coming back to the show and taking it out again.
The process of creating Sanitise was both hugely fun, deeply frustrating and tremendous hard work but our rigor paid off and we created a show that was completely our own and that we were very proud of. All this was topped by a successful run and really warm reception at the Edinburgh Fringe, despite (or perhaps because of) the shows unusual themes and style.
However, the Edinburgh Fringe is a very particular environment, the audiences are unique and the whole experience completely unlike most other theatre contexts. So, as we prepare to take the show on the road, will it become a different show? Does having won an award like the Fringe First change the way people will watch the show and the expectations the audiences have? Will our quirky world be as easily accepted amongst the other shows in the spring programmes of the venues on our tour? Do we need to think about changing the show in order to make the most of the Scottish touring context?
Obviously there are practical things we need to think about but artistically although I know there will be things we will want to rethink, I think we need to be true to the original work and not loose faith in it. In the original process we spent a lot of time thinking about the audience and surely having a different audience in mind will influence the choices we make? I can’t imagine Mel and I will be able to get this new potential audience out of our head as we rework the show. Sanitise is a very precise show- we spent ours figuring out the details of single looks and eyebrow raises! How can we possibly recreate it exactly after such a long time? So it’s bound to be different, that’s the point of live performance, but how much we are influenced by the new context, I think we will have to wait and see….
Caitlin Skinner - Director
The process of creating Sanitise was both hugely fun, deeply frustrating and tremendous hard work but our rigor paid off and we created a show that was completely our own and that we were very proud of. All this was topped by a successful run and really warm reception at the Edinburgh Fringe, despite (or perhaps because of) the shows unusual themes and style.
However, the Edinburgh Fringe is a very particular environment, the audiences are unique and the whole experience completely unlike most other theatre contexts. So, as we prepare to take the show on the road, will it become a different show? Does having won an award like the Fringe First change the way people will watch the show and the expectations the audiences have? Will our quirky world be as easily accepted amongst the other shows in the spring programmes of the venues on our tour? Do we need to think about changing the show in order to make the most of the Scottish touring context?
Obviously there are practical things we need to think about but artistically although I know there will be things we will want to rethink, I think we need to be true to the original work and not loose faith in it. In the original process we spent a lot of time thinking about the audience and surely having a different audience in mind will influence the choices we make? I can’t imagine Mel and I will be able to get this new potential audience out of our head as we rework the show. Sanitise is a very precise show- we spent ours figuring out the details of single looks and eyebrow raises! How can we possibly recreate it exactly after such a long time? So it’s bound to be different, that’s the point of live performance, but how much we are influenced by the new context, I think we will have to wait and see….
Caitlin Skinner - Director