Squires

Before there were knights, there were idiots who thought swinging a sword and being a hero were pretty much interchangeable.

Squires is a historical workplace comedy turned comedy of errors as a group of unlikely friends come together under a common goal: not to be accused of murder. By taking a well-established and loved genre and giving it a modern twist, Squires looks at pressing issues like ‘how crappy is a first job exactly’ and ‘can you speed-run inventing the concept of gravity in a single afternoon’. The answer to both is ‘yes’. Monty Python and the Holy Grail meets Twelfth Night in a story of crossdressing, bisexual panic, and dragons.

OUR HERO'S JOURNEY (A MESSAGE FROM WRITER/DIRECTOR HANNAH BRECHER)

Squires was born out of three things: My love for Monty Python, a childhood spent at Shakespeare camp (somehow this exists) and my deep, existential fear of getting a job out of university. Squires is, first and foremost, intended to make the audience laugh, but it is also here to ask questions. Questions like "Did I put my crush on a semi-unrealistic pedestal?", "How do I turn my passions into money making opportunities?", and "What if we murder flowers every time we pick one? Oh God, am I a murderer? I'm probably a murderer! I'm too young to be a murderer! What the hell do I do with my life now?!"

Squires' performed at Cambridge University's Corpus Playroom in May to sold out audiences and received rave reviews. 'An absolute delight to watch...Their chemistry is outstanding, and the dialogues are superb, filled with brilliant one-liners and hilarious remarks. The humor throughout is genuine and well-crafted, never feeling forced or out of place' (The Tab).

The Squires are thrilled to make their Fringe debut and pay homage to all the cardboard dragons and hobby horse steeds that came before them.

YE OLDE EXPENSES

Your support for this show will allow a group of young performers to participate in Edinburgh Fringe, and will allow us to pay the expenses required to bring Squires to the festival.

A breakdown of our current estimated budget is as follows:

• Venue Hire Cost: £4000
• Registration: £300
• Insurance: £100
• Publicity: £500
• Props/Set/Costumes: £50 (The Squires want to thank the ADC Theatre for loaning us props and costumes and The Fletcher Players for supporting our Cambridge run)
• Contingencies: £100
• Videography: £250
• Welfare: £100

TOTAL: £5400.00

FACTS AND FIGURES

Squires will be running from 2-24 August at theSpace @ Surgeon's Hall Theatre 1, just off the Royal Mile. A perfect way to start your day at the Fringe, Squires runs at 11:45am from 2-10 August, and 11:40am from 12-24 August. Tickets are £10 (£8.50 concession).

OUR PLAYERS

Hannah Brecher (Writer and Director): Hannah Brecher is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts' John Wells Division of Writing for Screen and Television. She holds degrees in Writing for Screen and Television, Comedy Writing and Folklore. Hannah is also a recent graduate of the University of Cambridge with an MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic. Combined this means that Hannah knows a lot about history, but has too much imagination to take any of it seriously (and that she makes an excellent dinner party guest). 

While at Cambridge, Hannah taught an introductory screenwriting class, performed improv with Comic Sans, got concussed while performing Jane Austen, and wrote SQUIRES, an historical comedy about the existential dread of trying to find a job that lets you pursue your passions. Hannah also developed the utmost respect for the UK’s expansive vocabulary of curse words.

Hannah writes about characters fighting to be themselves, despite their feelings of inadequacy. Her scripts - both features and pilots - have placed at the Austin Film Festival, Big Break Screenwriting Competition and Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship. 

Phoebe Tompkins (Phil): Phoebe is a first year English student at Newnham College, Cambridge and has performed in and choreographed for previous productions both there and at home. Having done theatre growing up at an all-girls school, much like Phil, they are no stranger to pretending to be a man when the situation calls for it.

Kavi Noonan (Lance): Kavi is a recent Modern Languages graduate and is playing Lance. He got a taste for comedy and acting in his final year at uni and now is determined to make it everyone's problem, and he's utterly thrilled for his very first time performing at the Fringe. When not acting, Kavi can be found in London writing sketches and playing the piano (not simultaneously) and keeping his Spanish from going rusty. None of these skills are applicable to Lance, who has no employable skills, but they are both equally hopeless at fighting, and Kavi hopes his years of perfecting the eyes-closed-hands-swotting technique will help him deliver a truly dazzling performance this August.

Alex Thompson (Dari): Alex is a first-year Linguistics student at Cambridge. He has enjoyed acting across numerous shows, and is ready to bring Dari's eccentric and manic energy to Edinburgh!

Greg Worden (Fred): Greg is a first-year Theology student who has been involved in a number of shows so far in Cambridge. Having previously worked as a full-time musician, he knows something about what it takes to be a bard, and studying religion he understands Fred's apprehension to Darian's frightening rationalising worldview!

Judah Brecher (Otto & Anaphylaxis): Judah Brecher has been surrounded by all things theatre since he was young (somewhat against his will, due to his relationship with our beloved director/writer/his older sister!). However, this has fostered his continued passion for creativity and acting. Like Otto, Judah shares the higher philosophical thoughts that come with great height and is excited to find the answer to the question of whether the Mid-Atlantic American accent will play well in Edinburgh. Judah has most recently played Gus, Homer Simpson, and Side Show Bob in Choate Rosemary Hall’s fall 2022 performance of Mr. Burns - A Post Electric Play and other assorted shows. He also supports SQUIRES as a member of the marketing team.

Christina Randazzo (Tiffany, Plague Cart Man & Town Crier): Christina is thrilled to be a part of this production of Squires! In 2023, she graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame, where she majored in Film, Television, & Theatre and Psychology, and minored in Sustainability. Now, she is an MPhil candidate in Psychology and Education at the University of Cambridge where she has loved being a part of the vibrant theatre community! Christina has a great love of Shakespeare and has previously played Caius Cassius in Julius Caesar, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Perdita in The Winter's Tale, Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, and Hamlet in Hamlet. She has also enjoyed getting involved with new works at Cambridge, where she has played Jack in Beyond Today, Cassandra in Emma, and helped to produce the Squires Cambridge run! She is so excited to help bring this hilarious and heartwarming show to life in Edinburgh, this time as both an actor and a producer!

Matilda Barker (Assistant Director): Matilda, much like Hannah, spent the formative years of her life at an all-girls school. However, she enjoyed the experience! Or at least spent long enough there that it molded her personality. So much so that she is now a second year English student at Newnham College Cambridge, with very strong opinions about the presentation of women in fiction. Thanks to this, and her love of directing comedy, 'Squires' - and its revelations on the potential personhood of women - was exactly the play for her.

Jasper Harris (Lighting Design & Technician)

Olivia Hughes (Artist): Olivia Hughes is an illustrator based out of Dallas, TX, who graduated from the University of Southern California with a BFA in Fine Arts. She regularly creates illustrations for LAist and has a background in stop-motion puppet making for the Apple TV+ show Shape Island. She is responsible for creating Squires' flyer and poster designs, including our infamous Have You Seen this Wench poster.

Olympia Koursarou (Art Director and Stage Manager): Olympia is an undergraduate student at Cambridge University studying English. This is her first time at Edinburgh Fringe, and she is excited to be involved in a show alongside an incredible team of talented students. Having previously directed and worked in lighting and stage management for productions around Cambridge, she is thrilled to bring the vibrant medieval world of Squires to the stage.

Barash Tunahan (Producer): Barash is a final-year student at Cambridge. After producing plays such as Caryl Churhchill's 'Serious Money' and Larry Kramer's 'The Normal Heart' in his local amateur theatre, Barash is looking forward to going bigger and better at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.