Visiting the Edinburgh Fringe?

You'll have noticed by now that neither Hugh Hughes or Hoipolloi can be found at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In the years that we haven't performed, it often feels like a bit of a mixed blessing - I'm not having to worry about how many people are booked for today's show but also, I feel a little left out, missing that kind of daily adrenaline charge.

Last year I didn't even have a visit to the Fringe but I can't stay away for long and so last weekend I was pounding the cobbled streets looking to be entertained.

I thought I'd share some tips for the best stuff I saw. Oh, and by the way, I'm also heading back to the Fringe from 24 to 28 August so if you have any tips on what to see during that period, I'd love to hear them!

Right, here goes...

The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik (Underbelly, 18.00)

I'm going to start with the best show I saw during my three days because if you get bored of reading this blog post, I don't want you to miss out on a real gem!

The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer - Trailer from Tim Watts on Vimeo.

Delightful, magical, charming, irresistible - lots of adjectives that I'd use to describe this show. It's a beautiful love story mixing animation, puppetry and music and I'd defy you not to fall in love with it. I saw it on Saturday and have been raving about it to anyone I can find (including you now). I've noticed that in the last two days it's been sold out so definitely one to get booked in to in advance.

Shows with a Hoipolloi connection

As I've mentioned, we don't have a show of our own on this year. But if you're craving some form of Hoipolloi-related show, why not try the following...

3rd Ring Out (Pleasance, various times from 18 August)

This hasn't started yet but Steffi, our Associate Director, is performing as part of it once it opens. Taking place inside a container, you're immersed straight into disaster emergency planning and your responses will effect the future. I saw this piece last year at PULSE and it's a really thought-provoking piece on climate change and our ability to deal with a changing world.

To Avoid Precipice Cling To Rock (Bedlam, 16.30 until 13 August only)

You've only got a few days left to catch this one and enjoy a bit of Hoipolloi history. Josie, Shon and Steffi's daughter making her Fringe performance debut! Josie is of course a Fringe veteran in many ways, having grown up spending August flyering for various Hoipolloi productions over the years. But it's great to see her taking to the stage as part of this fantastic ensemble of young female performers.

Show Me The World (Underbelly, 12.00)

This one's connected to me, as I've been mentoring the company for the last few months. Winners of IdeasTap's Edinburgh Award, this is a show written specially for and performed by a really exciting group of talented young performers. Some of the language in the show isn't for the faint-hearted but it really captures those late teenage moments of growing up and moving on. EDIT: they've just got a 4* review from Whatsonstage

Other gems that I enjoyed...

Vertigo (Bedlam, 15.25 until 13 August only)

Another show to catch if you can in the next few days. I really loved the charm and wit of the two performers and towards the end, a delightfully emotional twist caught me by surprise.

Cloud Man (Hill St Theatre, 11.00 until 24 August only)

A really enchanting piece for young audiences about the search for the elusive Cloud Man. Worth catching even if you don't have any children to take, I adored the detailed puppetry in this.

2401 Objects (Pleasance Courtyard, 16.40)

I first saw Analogue's work in 2007, receiving a Fringe First on the same day as Hugh Hughes (for Story of a Rabbit). I've enjoyed following their development over the last few years and I was so excited by this piece. It's fantastically confident and assured, capturing beautiful fragments of a fascinating true story.

Hoipolloi's interns storm Fringe Festivals!

I'm really excited that two ex-Hoipolloi interns are also performing on the Fringe this year -although only one is on in Edinburgh, the other is performing in London as part in Camden Fringe.

You can catch Sara (who worked with us in 2007/08) in Sold at Pleasance Courtyard at 11.10 and David (who worked with us in 2008/09) in Hamster Town at the Camden People's Theatre until 17 Aug.

Right, I think that's all for now. If you see any of these, I hope you enjoy them and looking forward to hearing your tips for what to catch when I return to Edinburgh at the end of August.

Posted by Simon Bedford (Executive Producer, Hoipolloi)

With thanks to the Edinburgh Blog for the photo

Hugh speaks... Monday morning

Monday morning! My brother would doubtless sing the classic Boomtown Rats hit I Don’t Like Mondays if he was reading this now. He has got a really good voice too. In fact, his impression of Blondie is the best I have ever heard. When you open your eyes and see him, your mind cannot accept it. And that is a bit like the experience I had last night in Durham. Artichoke were in the city with a wide variety of artists, illuminating the city. When I woke up this morning, it was like seeing my brother, not Blondie, there out of the window. Durham had been wonderfully and magically transformed by the imaginations of these fabulous artists. And my brother and Blondie weren’t involved at all. The whole thing was dreamlike.

It made my journey south on the train this morning more colourful. First of all I heard this conversation: Tall Boy to Small Boy, “You will never know what it is like to be this size, but I know what it is like to be your size.” Small Boy to Tall Boy, “But you will never know what it is like to be this size as well as I do.” Then I saw an owl-like tree overlooking a cabbage-filled field and unused warehouses holding clouds hostage, issuing ransom fees to the farmers on tractors.

Getting off the train and onto this computer to write this blog was like waking up properly for the first time in a while. I feel like I’ve done an all-nighter…

Home alone...

Its been a busy, jet-setting week for many of the Hoipolloi team; Hugh's in Edinburgh performing Story of a Rabbit, and Simon is in London being important and inspiring (he's giving a talk to drama students). Of course someone's got to hold the fort back in Cambridge so I'm today's official 'fort-holder-upper' - a very technical term for an extremely vital post, you understand.

The exact job description is malleable, but today I have defined it as follows:

-Some routine 'quality control of refreshments': testing the new teas on the famous Hoipolloi tea shelf. It was a close battle, but after great deliberation I have reached a final decision. Green tea with mint is the new favourite, although Raspberry and Echinacea comes a close second.

-Replying to all of the lovely people who have emailed to say they've seen Story of a Rabbit. Thank you for getting in touch. We're always thrilled to hear from people who have enjoyed the shows.

-Looking wistfully out of the window at the puddle coloured clouds and fierce rain droplets beating against the windows, pondering whether to write some poetry with a melancholic tinge as I muse deep philosphical thoughts...*

-* these include - what to have for lunch. How wet I am likely to get on the cycle ride back home. And whether to see Bright Star, Fantastic Mr Fox or The Hurt Locker at the cinema this weekend.

-Being on the look out for any supernatural events. This was a last minute adidtion to today's 'to do' list which slipped on when I realised that today is Friday 13th (cue scary music for dramatic effect).

So that's what I'm up to. But if you are free tonight or tomorrow, and either in Edinburgh, or keen to visit Edinburgh - and you really should as it's a lovely city - then do go and say 'Hello' to Hugh at the Traverse Theatre.

Have a good weekend!

Thank you to iamthepinkcupcake for this lovely atmospheric photo

Hugh speaks... travelling to Edinburgh

Hello! I am very happy to write this blog. We have embarked on a short tour of STORY OF A RABBIT in the UK, five months after our tour in the USA. It is really good to be performing this show again. I really do enjoy it. Aled said, "it’s like visiting an old friend."

We'd like to say a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who has joined us so far – in Eastleigh and Cambridge - and to say we are very much looking forward to meeting our audience in Edinburgh, Leicester and Plymouth later this month.

Right now I’m travelling to Edinburgh by train. My favourite kind of transport. We’ve been through gentle rising fog and blinding bursts of sunshine. It’s remarkable to think how this ball of a planet is enveloped in so many weathers. My brother once left a leather football in the garden throughout the whole winter – when my father found it in the spring, it was deflated, sagging and discoloured. "Luckily this planet is not made of leather," Aled said and we all laughed and then imagined we were part of a giant’s game of football in Brazil. Then Tom said, "In a way, Pele is a giant."

I haven’t been to Edinburgh outside of festival time. Neither has Aled. "It’ll be the same but different," he said. "It’ll be wearing it’s winter coat," he said as he looked out of the window at Newcastle. "While Sydney is putting it’s shorts on, Edinburgh is pulling on a thick jumper," said Tom. Then he said, "I wonder if we could knit a giant jumper for Pele and present it to him as a gift at the next World Cup. A nice golden yellow one trimmed with green." Aled said we probably could but he’d be unlikely to wear it because the World Cup was taking place in South Africa and it’d be too hot.

As we get ever closer to Edinburgh I’d like to use this opportunity to say another "thank you’ to the Sydney Festival for inviting me to present 360 in January. I’m really looking forward to it.
Goodbye for now.

Hugh Hughes

[I found this lovely photo on Flickr by laurencea taken during a London to Edinburgh train journey. I'm guessing it was during the snow we had in January this year. Thought it illustrated Hugh's blog nicely. Simon]

[pps. we've just had this lovely review come in for Story of a Rabbit]

Hugh learns to Tweet and is off down under... again!

With Story of a Rabbit out on tour, there's plenty going on at the moment. And we have lots of exciting news to report as well!

First up, for those of you who follow us on Twitter, you'll have noticed that in the last 24hours a brand new voice has been joining in the conversation, our very own Hugh Hughes.

Now that he's the (very) proud owner of an iPhone (other phones are available), I've taught Hugh how it all works and he spent his journey up to Edinburgh today sharing his thoughts on the world around him.

As there will now be multiple voices sharing the Hoipolloi account, we'll try and reduce confusion by signing off each tweet with who we are! Hugh's been busy doing that today and from now onwards, I'll be adding 'SB' to the end of my tweets so you can tell whose voice is whose!

I've also taught Hugh the simplicity of audioboo and he's promised to make a least one boo during his time at the Traverse this week. I'll repost it here when he does.

Which reminds me to plug this week's performances of Story of a Rabbit. Hugh and Aled are at the Traverse from tonight (11th) until Saturday (14 Nov). Tickets can be booked by calling 0131 228 1404 or via their website.

Perhaps our most exciting news is that Hugh will be returning to Australia to perform 360 as part of the presitigous Sydney Festival from 22 to 30 January 2010.

A copy of the brochure landed in the office this morning and we'll be joined by some illustrious company from the UK... Edinburgh Comedy Award-winner Tim Key, Isy Suttie (from Peep Show), a charming family show from Oxford Playhouse and Rupert Goold's acclaimed Six Characters in Search of an Author.

I've heard via Twitter that tickets are already flying out the door for Hugh's limited season (just 8 perfs) so if you're in Sydney or know someone there who should go, get them to the box office swiftly!

Details of how to book and the full festival programme can be found by clicking here.

And my final plea, if you've been to see Story of a Rabbit, why not share your thoughts by commenting here on the blog, visiting our Facebook groups (Hoipolloi or Hugh Hughes) or via the delights of a tweet. Thank you!

Posted by Simon Bedford (Producer, Hoipolloi)

Selling Out, Adding In

Things are about to get spectacularly busy here at Hoipolloi. Hugh will be commencing his latest Story of a Rabbit UK tour next Monday and there's plenty of other activity to report on too!

We mentioned back in September about our forthcoming Master Class at The Junction, here in Cambridge, on Sat 12 December. This has now officially SOLD OUT! Thank you to everyone who's booked themselves in.

However, don't be too disappointed if you intended to book but didn't get a chance! We're giving you a second chance to come along. We have now added a further master class the following day on Sunday 13 December. This time it runs from 12noon until 7pm and is once again at The Junction.

There was already a waiting list for Saturday places so if you'd like to come along, I'd get yourself booked in for the Sunday pretty quick. Places cost £35 and are available by calling 01223 511 511.

And if you're in Cambridge next week, don't forget that Hugh will be performing his award-winning hit, Story of a Rabbit at Cambridge Arts Theatre on Wednesday & Thursday (4 & 5 Nov). Get your tickets here!

If you can't make it to Cambridge, he's also heading to Eastleigh (2 & 3 Nov), Edinburgh (11 to 14 Nov) and Leicester (18 to 21 Nov). To round the tour off, Hugh will be performing new show, 360, in the Drum Theatre Plymouth from 24 to 28 Nov.

Right, sales pitch over! Although from the outside it's been pretty quiet here at Hoipolloi since our return from Edinburgh, I can promise you we've been extra busy planning an exciting 2010.

I have some exciting news to announce in a couple of weeks (it's currently embargoed so I'm afraid no amount of bribery will make me spill the beans). And then we'll be drip-feeding you further announcements as we head into the new year!

I'm hoping that Hugh will be able to provide some updates on his tour over the next few weeks but in the meantime, here's a quick reminder of Story of a Rabbit...

The first post...

We're back! Sorry about the recent silence on the blog ...poor Simon was abandoned after Edinburgh as David moved on to pastures new (Paris - very jealous), and I took a couple of weeks to recover from the Fringe, move house, attempt to fit all of my belongings into a very small new room (like a fun spatial awareness game, with less 'fun' and more 'almost crushing myself with stacks of books') and prepare to officially join the Hoipolloi team. Today is my very first day on the job and I am trying to overcome my fear of technology and learn more advanced computer skills than writing something in Word and sending the odd email. I have been given clear instructions on 'how to do a blog entry' but there is still every chance things could go a little crazy, so apologies if the entry goes a bit haywire at some point.

Aside from getting stuck into the office's fantastic array of herbal teas, I have spent most of my first day sorting through actors' cvs. This has presented plenty of exciting learning experiences: which printer to use, filing, adding people to the database, and flexing my new email address have all been tackled. I was struck by many of the actors' 'skills' sections on their CVs, and am most intrigued by 'skin work'. I have yet to discover what this is, so if anyone knows, I would be very interested to find out.

I've also been sending emails to people about our very exciting Masterclass at The Junction. It's on Saturday 12th December and will be a great way to find out about how Hoipolloi create work. Tickets cost £35 and you can book your place by ringing The Junction's box office on 01223 511 511. Hopefully see you there!

A fantastic review from The Scotsman

Ok, so that's not strictly the truth. We got a 2 star review from The Scotsman for The Doubtful Guest. But bizarrely, it's made me very happy. In fact, it's given me so much energy that I've forgotten about my aching back*

The review can be found in full here. You'll need to skip through the first half to find the bit about us (unless you want to read about Inspector Sands's If That's All There Is).

I'll also share my favourite line of the review with you:
"The idea that this sort of middlebrow tosh has any serious role in the future of theatre is ridiculous and ought to be knocked on the head, right now."

Reviews are a funny thing. It's always a delight to receive praise for the shows you work on and often it's hard to swallow the negative comments.

But The Doubtful Guest seems to be one of those shows that divides it's audiences (as a look through the reviews on EdFringe website will demonstrate) and I'm pleased that we're causing strong reviews amongst people who see the work.

I'd like to thank Joyce MacMillan for her words. That final sentiment she expressed will be something that inspires me to work against it for many years to come (I'm looking forward to enlarging it and sticking it over my desk).

I personally think Joyce is wrong (but that's my job) and I know many of you do too. And if you've not seen the show already, why not book some tickets and make up your own mind.

Oh, and thank you to @cmfwood for her head's up that Joyce didn't enjoy the show. I've never seen a reviewer being reviewed, whilst reviewing the show. But having read...

"Just sat through Joyce MacMillan sighing and tutting all the way through The Doubtful Guest"

I've been prepared for this news for a week now!

And finally, I met someone yesterday who personally requested a new video from the double act that is David and I (see this video for our earlier work!). We haven't made one for ages so watch this space!

*I slipped over in the bath on Saturday morning and after a 2 hour stint at Casualty, I was discharged with a very sore back (although no broken bones). I ran out of painkillers this morning but Joyce's review has certainly kept me smiling and happy all day.

No problem, monkey socks

Obviously we're not paying our actors enough! Ben Frimston, who has performed in Hoipolloi's last five ensemble shows, most recently playing Charlie in The Doubtful Guest, has burst onto our TV screens with a starring role in a Rowntree's Randoms advert. And a very fine performance it is too.

We like to think he learned everything he knows about nonsense whilst performing in My Uncle Arly. And I'd like to take this opportunity to warn him that we'll be calling him 'Monkey Socks' forever more.

Tragically, our Doubtful Guest posters and flyers had been printed by the time the ad came out. Had we been able to include 'Starring Ben Frimston, Star of the Rowntree's Randoms advert' it would have sent our ticket sales through the roof.

But you can still see him for yourself in The Doubtful Guest at the Traverse from 18 to 30 August (with no performance on the 24th; click here for full performance details and to book.)

Of course, we wouldn't normally use the blog to carry adverts. But for Ben, we'll make an exception. Enjoy!

And if you're off to Latitude this weekend, come and find us with Hugh Hughes in the Theatre Tent on Sunday at 12.10pm...

360 down to 30

The countdown has begun and it's now just under a month to go before Hugh Hughes opens his brand new show, 360, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

One of the first stages of his preparation, a preview gig at the Museum of London, took place last week. A huge thank you to Laughterinoddplaces for inviting Hugh and everyone who joined us in a pretty hot and sweaty Medieval London section to hear a 25 minute excerpt.

Some lovely people have posted photos of the event on Flickr, view them by clicking here.

Hugh's taking a well-earned break this week and has returned to his native Anglesey to spend some quality time with his Mum and other friends and family.

Back here in the Hoipolloi office, preparations continue apace for the Fringe. Our accommodation is booked, we're just sorting out our travel plans and, of course, making sure as many people as possible know we'll be performing!

There will be quite a Hoipolloi presence in Edinburgh during August and if you spend any time at either the Traverse or the Pleasance Courtyard, I'm sure you'll bump into one of us!

Thank you to everyone who's already bought their tickets! To get hold of your tickets, please click here to book for Hugh Hughes in... 360 and click here for your tickets for The Doubtful Guest.

We'll continue to keep you updated on how things are progressing over the next few weeks and look forward to seeing you in Edinburgh!

Shift Happened

On Tuesday, I was honoured to speak at the Shift Happens conference in York. It was great to meet so many people who are interested in what we're up to, thank you for being such an appreciative audience!

For those that weren't there, I cheated a little and presented a video that edits together all the video diaries I've made since February, which have been posted here individually before.

This was actually my second "conference cheat" where I don't actually speak live but play in my presentation by video (following my AmbITion presentation back in April). This time however I did actually go to the conference venue in York, thanks to my lovely hosts at Pilot Theatre.

If you're reading this having seen me at the conference, you can see the full diaries by clicking this link, which will bring up all the archived videos plus a bonus video of my Ambition talk! And if you want to ask any questions, please feel free to drop me an email.

For those of you who didn't make it along to the conference or would prefer to watch the edited version (!), I'm hoping that it'll find a home somewhere on the web in the not too distant future. Follow us on Twitter and I'll spread news about it's appearance through that channel.

Any, the real point of this blog was to admit that I never got round to posting the final video I made a few weeks ago, so here it is in all it's glory to complete the set:



As I've quite enjoyed this process of documenting our journey with the website and various social media tools, I think I may well create a few more to finish off the story as we go into the Edinburgh Fringe... please click back in a few months to see what we've been up to!

Finally, if you ever need a hotel in York, I'd thoroughly recommend the Dean Court Hotel. It was fab and had a brilliant view of the Minster!

Hitting the Top 100

Good morning on this sunny Saturday. It's a particularly exciting morning as I've discovered that the Scotsman's Top 100 shows at the Fringe includes BOTH Hugh Hughes in... 360 and The Doubtful Guest.

This is fantastic news and makes a great start to the weekend. The Scotsman is such an important paper during the Fringe and I'm excited that out of 2098 shows to choose from, they've picked both of ours to make their list of safe bets to book for!

You can read the full list for yourself by clicking here (Hugh Hughes is near the top, the Doubtful Guest is near the bottom!).

Or, if you just want to go ahead and book your tickets, click here for Hugh Hughes and click here for The Doubtful Guest.

Finally, for some vaguely interesting blog/tweet trivia!

I've just realised that my 200th Hoipolloi tweet was all about making the top 100. Funny how numbers stack up like this! And having just looked back at things, my 100th tweet was a link to a video diary for Shift Happens which takes place on Monday and Tuesday this coming week. Bizarre!

Time to let the cat out of the bag...

So, it's time to let the cat out of the bag (and provide myself with a terrible excuse for a semi-cute animal picture!)...

We're off to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe!

As it's our fifteenth birthday this year, we thought we'd really push the boat out and have decided to take two shows up to the Festival.

We're really excited that The Doubtful Guest will be playing a strictly limited season at the prestigious Traverse Theatre. This darkly comic tale, inspired by Edward Gorey's fantastic book, will run from 18 to 30 August at varying times.

And Hugh Hughes is heading back to his regular haunt at the Pleasance Courtyard to premiere his brand new show, Hugh Hughes in...360. This time he'll be found in the Comedy section, with shows at 7.05pm from 5 to 31 August.

Full schedules for both shows can be found here.

We'll be pushing the boat out with our blog, our tweets and various podcasts, videos and photos from our time in Edinburgh and you'll be able to find all the latest news and gossip via our homepage.

Can't wait to see you up at the Fringe!

Thanks to Mava for the photo!