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Get 'SAD' to Edinburgh Fringe 2023
Margate, Kent, United Kingdom
Aim
Help Brigitte Aphrodite & Quiet Boy take their new show SAD to Edinburgh Fringe! @Summerhall, 2nd - 13 August 2023.
What is SAD?
SAD is a powerful and poignant new show by acclaimed theatre-makers Brigitte Aphrodite and Quiet Boy.
After years of pioneering the 'Gig Theatre' genre and several nationally-platformed theatre shows (read more about them below!), Brigitte Aphrodite and Quiet Boy are returning to Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023 with SAD; a musically-driven experience which explores how life’s natural cycles and grief affects the human condition.
Using breath-taking visuals, original music, poetry and storytelling from Brigitte Aphrodite and Quiet Boy's unique style of theatre-making, the aim for the project is to take the audience on a deeply immersive, personal journey that offers comfort at its lowest points and absolute freedom, joy, and clarity when the light eventually floods in.
The show also features powerful voice recordings of real people's stories, which are interwoven between live music. Each voice recording is represented by a light bulb in the space.
Inspiration for SAD
Inspiration for the project came in Winter 2019 when composer Quiet Boy (Gaz Tomlinson) lost his Mum. This led Gaz & Brigitte to think about hibernation, light, cycles, leaves falling and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD); a type of depression related to changes in seasons.
Naturally they turned to music and creativity to help with grief and what was composed in this period is the foundation of the music performed in SAD.
Early versions of the show took place as an audio experience in cafes in Kent as Britain emerged from lockdown and people were looking for ways of dealing with their losses. Stories from these early audience members are embedded throughout the show.
Working with research from cognitive neuroscientists, Brigitte Aphrodite and Quiet Boy also wanted to develop a scientific understanding of how sound/music relates to the part of our brains that affect our chemical & hormone levels, alongside the use of SAD lamps, to make us feel more positive.
They also wanted to challenge these notions - what seems to work in our brains, and what doesn't? Is it all a placebo effect, or is there something genuine and tangible that changes our brain chemistry to help us to actually heal?
SAD explores these questions, and charts the journey from loss, to acceptance, to ultimately hope for the future.
Why is SAD important?
Over the years, we've all had people that we've loved and lost.
SAD provides a beautiful, hopeful space to acknowledge these emotions without pulling us completely under.
In the busy chaos of the everyday, it gives us a much-needed moment to slow down, to be held by music, to feel whatever you need to, and to leave feeling lighter, uplifted, even (gently) transformed.
"Grief and cycles is just something that we all share. We all have to go through it…it doesn’t mean that it has to be a lonely place".
- Quiet Boy
Why is your support so needed?
Our industry is suffering so much from the after effects of COVID, lack of funding and rising energy costs.
As neurodivergent artists and first-time parents, Brigitte and Quiet Boy make shows in a genre-crossing, status-quo defying, passionate way which is anti-hierarchical, free of pretension and accessible to all.
SAD deals with some dark themes (e.g. grief and loss) which resonate differently with individuals, and everyone's experiences and feelings need to be respected.
Brigitte and Quiet Boy know from their experience creating their show My Beautiful Black Dog (a punk, gig theatre musical exploring depression) that SAD similarly needs to be supported throughout the whole process, for the benefit of the creative team and the audience.
And having a respectful, accessible, safe space (in rehearsals or on stage), as well as being paid for your art is crucial to help this show evolve and thrive.
The current economic climate has put venues in an impossible position to take risks on the kind of alternative new work that Brigitte Aphrodite and Quiet Boy make.
But this project is worth the risk. It's a poignant, surprising show that's really raw, with a lot of heart. And it deserves a space to shine.
Finally, logistically, SAD will benefit more than ever from a Fringe audience and reviewers, because it will essentially build the show's momentum and reputation before approaching venues for national and international touring.
Where will your money go?
Your contribution will help us to fund:
- Venue costs
- Marketing, publicity, and advertising
- Print costs
- Tech and operator fees
- Actor/creative team fees
- Childcare
- 2 weeks making/rehearsing the show in July
- Accommodation
- Travel
Any donation, of any size, would be warmly appreciated and to thank our backers, we've created a list of reward tiers you can choose from.
The Lead Artists:
Brigitte Aphrodite & Quiet Boy
Brigitte Aphrodite (she/her) is a neurodivergent punk poet, gig theatre-maker & intersectional feminist show-woman from Margate. Quiet Boy (he/him) is a neurodivergent alternative theatre composer, songwriter, sound designer and performer, also based in Margate. They have a beautiful toddler, called Sappho!
Since 2015, Brigitte Aphrodite & Quiet Boy have created highly-acclaimed theatre shows together, including My Beautiful Black Dog (2014/5), Parakeet (2019), and The Christmas Goblin (2021).
My Beautiful Black Dog is regarded as a landmark in British Theatre and one of the original innovators for the ‘Gig Theatre’ genre in the UK.
In the past, their shows sold out Edinburgh Fringe, Southbank Centre, Roundhouse, Hackney Showrooms & many more. They've been supported by Arts Council England and the Wellcome Trust, toured nationally, and featured in the Guardian, Elle magazine, Exeunt, BBC 6 music and on the BBC news. Together, the work Brigitte Aphrodite & Quiet Boy make is:
A glitter-explosive, joyous, shoulder-shimmering kick back against the injustices and inequalities of marginalised societies.
The SAD Team
Directed by Kirsty Housley (Extinct for Theatre Royal Stratford East, Riz Ahmed's The Long Goodbye, Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran at Sundance Film Festival, Tao of Glass, The Encounter).
Designer Jade Spranklen, of award-winning Studio Spranks, will be animating illustrations, taking us on a hopeful journey of grief, cycles, endings and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression related to changes in seasons.
Production Manager, lighting & sound design by Simon Froud (The Dan Daw Show, Lucy McCormick's Life: LIVE!, Bristol Old Vic's OUTLIER, Moxie Brawl's Punk Alley, Brian Lobel's 24 Italian Songs and Arias, SecondHand Dance's We Touch We play We Dance, Bryony Kimmings' I'm a Phoenix, Bitch.)
Researcher & Access Support by award-winning poet Neelam Saredia-Brayley. She provided access support for Brigitte Aphrodite and Quiet Boy's The Christmas Goblin and Living Legends (And Dead Ones Too), and Moxie Brawl’s Punk Alley and The Nutcracker. Neelam’s debut poetry collection RANI was published in October 2022.
Nick Trepka will be the sound designer for SAD.
He's a producer and co-writer, and also a house engineer at the Cowshed Studio, regularly recording to tape, and with artists including Boy George, Pee Wee Ellis, and Kav (ex Happy Mondays). Nick has also run sessions at Miloco Square, Westpoint and Red Room (formerly Engine Room); The Crypt, Snap!, Goldsmiths, Jacket Studios, and many others.
Thank you so much for your support. See you in August!
Photo thanks to Alex Brenner
This project successfully funded on 24th July 2023