Interview: Tell Me A Secret

We caught up with the brains behind the novel and daunting new theatre piece under-wraps within some drama students


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Seen the boxes decorated with writing dotted around campus? Have you even written something and put something in there? It’s all for a new Edinburgh fringe show and a bit of a social experiment at the same time.

Sounds interesting? The Tab caught up with the organisers: Claire O’shea, Chris Holmes, George Howard and Alice Loney about it all and to see what to expect. 

The Tab: How did the idea come about?

Claire: I wanted to take a play up to Edinburgh and I read about PostSecret [a community art project] and thought “we could make a performance out of that”.

The Tab: Have you worked together before?

George: Yes, on separate occasions.

Alice: We all have theatre in our degrees –

George: Theatre in our blood!

Claire: DON’T PUT THAT IN. (Sorry…)

George: Adding an extra person to the group shifts everything so much. I’m very hung-over. Don’t put that in! (Sorry…)

Alice: We’ve all been involved in shows in Edinburgh before.

The Tab: What sort of secrets are you looking for?

Chris: Anything.

Alice: We want the tension of the serious ones, but also some light relief.

George: We’re looking at how far people will go.

Chris: And what they define as a secret.

 

George: We don’t care if it’s a joke, it’s whatever you feel is appropriate.

The Tab: Will you use all of them?

All: No!

Claire: There’s one that says “Eat shit”.

George: Please don’t quote that! (Sorry…)

Alice: We’ll sift through them – that’ll provide the narrative of the piece.

George: Whatever is donated shifts the whole dynamic of a show that thousands will see.

 

The Tab: No pressure then… Is there a message/moral you’re trying to portray?

George: I’ll say the quote: (dramatic pause) “There are two types of secrets: the ones we hide from others, and the ones we hide from ourselves”. We wanted to explore the emotional depths people would go to when they had the chance to express themselves anonymously.

The Tab: Is it aimed primarily at uni students?

 

Alice: No, we don’t think we’re limiting it by putting the boxes around campus. Everyone comes from different backgrounds. There’s also a mixture of ages – there’re adults banging around…

The Tab: Anything else?

Claire: Post your secrets!

Alice: It’s a collaborative piece – it’s not just us directing, everyone has an input.

Chris: You’ll need to be available for the whole of July and August.

George: Don’t fret about the process… I’m not making much sense – I’m incredibly hung over.

Claire: You’ve said that twice now, you’re SUCH a student!

George: Come and audition!

 

Post boxes can be found: at the union help desk, in the common room, on level 8 of EddyB, in Old Bar

Auditions: 29th-30th April, G11A Clothworkers.