Welcome to the Suspicious Minds – Edinburgh Fringe 2017 crowdfunding page
Hello! Thank you for checking out our crowd funding page.
Suspicious Minds is the full-length debut from writer and director Tom Fowler. Our team have an amazing opportunity to take this brand new piece of theatre to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017. We hope that you will help us make it happen.
Find the show on Twitter, Facebook and on Instagram.
About Suspicious Minds
It’s been a particularly tough year for Mark and Fran. Mark’s Dad died of cardiac arrest whilst playing squash. Fran f*cked someone.
In a last-ditch attempt to fix their relationship, they book a commercial time-travel holiday. Spanning from Ancient Rome to an Elvis Concert in Hawaii, this is an honest and dark romantic comedy about wrestling with the past and working on the future. In the style of radio-theatre, the cast create live soundscapes through onstage foley sound effects and music.
Suspicious Minds has been in development for the last year, with sections performed at new writing nights and ‘scratch’ nights across London.
In February 2017, a 10 minute extract of Suspicious Minds was performed as part of the Pleasance Theatre’s Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund try-outs. Although we didn’t win the fund, this was the official start of our Edinburgh journey - as we were offered a place at the Edinburgh Fringe 2017 through a co-production with that festival powerhouse, The Pleasance.
We have the opportunity to perform Suspicious Minds for 26 days nonstop (Oh alright, it’s once a day at 5.30pm and the cast get two days off, but you get the gist) at the biggest ever arts festival on an international scale! This is a chance to share Mark and Fran’s (totally fictional, definitely not inspired by real events or bad dates) story with audiences from across the world.
We think the script is pretty bloody special. It’s funny but dark. Relatable, but bonkers. You know that moment, when you’re with the person you love, or maybe you don’t love them right now, or anymore, or you’re not really sure, but anyway. You’re on holiday and the person you may or may not be in love with wants you to put sun cream on their shoulders because they’re getting burnt and they also really just want you to touch them again but you’re not listening to a word they’re saying because you’re too busy watching some poor slave get his head lopped off because you’re at the Colosseum and its 46BC.
You know that moment?
No?
Well then, if you help us get Suspicious Minds to Edinburgh - and come and see it, of course - then you’ll know that moment.
Influenced by the work of artists and companies such as Daniel Kitson, Forced Entertainment and Tim Crouch, the story is told by four performers, with four microphones, sat at the table, with a suitcase of props and sound effects. Through direct address, dialogue, sound effects, and music, snapshots from history are recreated in front of an audience every night.
In autumn the show will return to the stage for a week’s run in London. We’re not stopping there, we want to take Suspicious Minds on tour across the UK… but for now, let’s meet the team.
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The team
We’re a group of artists, based in London but bred across the UK, working on our first major project together. We met through working in theatre, studying theatre, performing theatre. Basically, we really love theatre. And to prove it, here’s a bit about the team behind Suspicious Minds:
Tom Fowler is a writer and director, his short play Roman Candle was performed in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs as part of Open Court 2016 at the Royal Court Theatre, and he is currently under commission to write the Royal Court Youth Theatre show.
Our producer is Rachael Smith, whose previous projects include mischievous adventures around urban areas (The Secret Geography of: Kennington, Sh’Bang Theatre) and lairy, lascivious, late night cabaret (Wunderfinger, Finger in the Pie).
The fantastic cast includes Zoë Lambrakis (currently performing in Snapshot at the Hope Theatre, like right now), Abby Cassidy (you may have seen her onstage at the National or the Theatre Royal Haymarket, we’re serious), Andrew Turner (stalwart of the Warwick arts scene, also known for making music or bringing puppets to life) and Tom Wright (associate artist of the amazing and award winning Breach Theatre. He’s a proper poet and everything).
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Why do we need your help?
Taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe is a rite of passage, a chance to perform alongside thousands of artists, from all over the world. It is an unmissable opportunity, but it does not come cheap.
As this is the first project we have worked on together, there wasn’t a pot of money to start from. Everything has been from scratch: we have applied for grants, bursaries, and put our own money into the show. We are collaborating with talented artists, willing to donate their time and skills, and now we’re relying on the generosity of others to meet our goal.
We have received an incredible level of support from our co-producers The Pleasance, who have not only programmed this brand new piece of theatre, but also provided us with mentorship, rehearsal space and a fantastic venue in which to premiere Suspicious Minds. Earlier this year the Battersea Arts Centre gave use rehearsal space, and we’re looking forward to trying out new ideas at the Old Vic Labs next month.
The Fringe is a huge risk for any artist, but we truly believe that Suspicious Minds is a show worth making.
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Where will the money go?
Every donation will go directly to supporting the company as we make, transport, tech, perform and safely bring home the show. The three main areas we’re focusing on for this campaign are:
Accommodation
Every August, thousands of people descend on Edinburgh in search of culture, entertainment and a place to rest at the end of those long festival days. This makes affordable, comfortable accommodation tough to find. Your donation will go towards ensuring the cast have a place to call home during the Fringe, a space to unwind after each show to get ready for the next day’s flyering.
Marketing
Trying to make any show stand out can be tricky, but amongst the sea of shows at the Fringe, we really have our work cut out for us. Luckily, we’re working with the incredible Mary Howell (graphic designer) and Ben Ransley (filmmaker) to create memorable marketing materials. We’ll be printing posters and flyers, and pushing them into the hands of as many lovely people as we can at the Fringe. It is important to us that these are printed on good quality, and sustainably sourced paper. To help save trees while spreading our message, we’ll be circulating e-flyers, sharing our trailer and creating interesting and amusing online content throughout the Fringe.
Tech
The show may look straightforward, but it’s down to the clever technical elements that allow the cast to create the incredible foley effects and soundscapes. Some of the donations will help us cover the costs of renting equipment from Pleasance, buying specialist pieces, and securing the necessary insurance to keep our technical elements and our cast covered.
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Thank you!
If you’re still reading, we’re already grateful. We understand that there are lots of projects looking for support (especially at this time of year) so anything you can donate to help Suspicious Minds is greatly appreciated. And it isn’t just about money. Please help us spread the word, share this campaign and help us reach a wider audience.
Check out Suspicious Minds on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
And don’t forget, tickets are available for the Fringe HERE.
And if you can’t make it to Edinburgh, we’re doing a one night only preview in London on July 19th. Tickets for that are here
See you at the Fringe!
Tom, Rachael, Abby, Andrew, Tom W and Zoë x