Scottish playwright Davey Anderson was joined by yesterday by Dr Joe Mulhall of Hope not hate to highlight the growing threat of racism and fascism.
The event followed a performance of The Abode, his new Edinburgh Fringe play exploring how the extreme right seduces vulnerable and disenchanted young white working class men.
Presented by the double Fringe First award winning Pepperdine Scotland, it also asks if the bigotry, racism, misogyny, bullying and violence of the Far Right can be countered with persuasion and peaceful protest. Or do you fight fire with fire?
Yesterday’s event in Cowgate in Edinburgh saw Anderson speak about the importance of the arts, and festivals like the Edinburgh Fringe, in encouraging people to focus on the most pressing issues of the day.
He said: “This is a rising movement that’s attracting new members every day, people being attracted by the false flags raised by extremists which offer simplistic answers to complex realities.
“The things that fiction and drama can do is spend some time on the issues and in the minds of the people who are vulnerable this. It can help us understand why people are sucked into these views, and better help us work out strategies to pull them back.”
Anderson and Pepperdine Scotland are working with Hope not hate during the Fringe to highlight the growing presence of racist, fascist, sometimes violent, individuals and groups in this country.
Hope not hate has been working in communities to counter racism and was the chief witness in the recent court case that followed the uncovering of a plot to murder Rosie Cooper MP.
Dr Mulhall, senior researcher for Hope not hate, said that it is vitally important that action to oppose extremists takes place through cultural as well as political action.
He said:“This play is happening at a very important time. The clouds are gathering; it is dangerous and worrying. The pillars of liberal democracy are shaking.
“I think we can win, I think we will win, but one of the most important things we have to do is take action through the arts and at a cultural level. The Far Right is transnational now, so it is important to have work like this being presented at an international festival for audiences from all across the world.”
The Abodefollows Samuel, who tires of his empty life and dead end jobs, making him easy meat for extremists. He is drawn into The Abode, which offers camaraderie and a sense of purpose for a lost generation. Its credo is that white is right, women are trash and hate gives strength.
Only Samuel’s sister Wendy has sufficient belief in him to risk entering this retro-futurist labyrinth of toxic masculinity to retrieve him from the grip of its Troll King. Despite being a story of contemporary politics and society, The Abodesits firmly within a tradition stretching back to Orpheus in the Underworld.
The director is Cathy Thomas-Grant, Professor of Theatre, who has served as director of Pepperdine University’s endeavours in Scotland since 2000. In 2016 she directedPepperdine Scotland’s acclaimed Fringe production The Interference(★★★★★Broadway Baby, ★★★★★British Theatre Guide, ★★★★The Scotsman, ★★★★The List) which won a Fringe First and Broadway Baby Bobby Award and was later staged at the Hollywood Fringe.
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Notes for editors
Listings Details
- Venue: Underbelly Big Belly
- Dates: 2-16 August
- Time: 12:30pm (75 mins)
- Ticket prices: Preview £7.00. Concessions £9 and £10, full price £10 and £11
- Underbelly box office: underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/whats-on/the-abodeor 0844 545 8252
- Fringe box office: edfringe.com/whats-on/abode
- Advisory: Contains strong language and material that some people may find offensive.
About Davey Anderson
- Anderson is a writer, director and musician whose plays include Snuff, Wired, Rupture, Liar, Blackout, Clutter Keeps Company, Playback, Scavengersand The Static. His work with the National Theatre of Scotland includes To Begin, Enquirer, Peter Pan, Architecting, Be Near Me, Mixter Maxter, Black Watch,Home, and most recently (as writer and Associate Director), Anything That Gives Off Lightwhich was co-produced with the TEAM and premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival 2016.
- Adaptations include Dead Man Dyingby Estebán Navajas Cortés, Thieves and Boyby Hao Jingfang and The War Hasn’t Started Yet by Mikhail Durnenkov. In 2014 he co-created and performed How to Choose with Trigger and was co-writer of The Jean Jacques Rousseau Show, Demons and The Deficit Show for A Play, a Pint and a Pint at Oran Mor, Glasgow.
- His short plays for Theatre Uncut include True or Falseand Police State, a co-production with Theatre Dot, Istanbul.
- He has worked with many theatre companies across Scotland and the UK, including The Arches, Traverse, Tron, Citizens, 7:84, Grey Coast, Ankur, Birds of Paradise, Visible Fictions, ThickSkin, Donmar Warehouse and the National Theatre of Great Britain. Recent international collaborations have taken him to Limerick, Lisbon, São Paulo, Beijing and Montréal.
About Cathy Thomas-Grant
- Thomas-Grant heads the Pepperdine Scotland exchange and has served as director of Pepperdine’s endeavors in Scotland since 2000.
- Edinburgh Festival Fringe directing credits include Happiness/The Water Engine by David Mamet (2002), Eve Ensler’s Necessary Targets (2006) Robert Shenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle (2008), Karen Sunde’s The Fastest Woman Alive and Naomi Iizuka’s Language of Angels (2010), Why Do You Stand There In The Rain?(2012 Scotsman Fringe First Award winner), Forget Fire (2014), The Interference(2016 Scotsman Fringe First and Broadway Baby Bobby Award Winner) and Musical Direction for The Grapes of Wrath (2004).
About Pepperdine Scotland and Pepperdine University
- Pepperdine Scotland is a theatre company belonging to Pepperdine University in the USA. It has an outstanding track record of cultural exchange and collaboration with renowned Scottish theatre professionals to create award-winning productions.
- Pepperdine Scotland is the award-winning cultural and artistic exchange between Pepperdine University’s Department of Theatre and leading members of the Scottish Theatre Community.
- In 2016 Pepperdine Scotland presentedThe Interference, by Scottish playwright Linda Radley, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which later went on to be staged at the Hollywood Fringe.
- In 2012 Pepperdine Scotland’s inaugural project was a collaboration with playwright Peter Arnott and actor/musician John Kielty entitled Why Do You Stand There In The Rain? Which also won a Fringe First.
- Pepperdine has been performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 1985 and is proud to have expanded its presence in Scotland through the Pepperdine Scotland exchange.
- Pepperdine is a Christian university committed to the highest standards of academic excellence, where students are strengthened for lives of purpose, service, and leadership. To learn more about Pepperdine’s Department of Theatre or about the University in general please visit pepperdine.edu
- See pepperdinedrama.com
About HOPE not hate
hopenothate.org.uk | charity.hopenothate.org.uk | @hopenothate
HOPE not hate uses research, education and public engagement to challenge mistrust and racism, and helps to build communities that are inclusive, celebrate shared identities and are resilient to hate.
For media information contact Matthew Shelley at [email protected].