Draw your quills, sharpen your wits and polish your pickaxes for the knock-down, drag-out, take no prisoners, Great Shakespeare Showdown in Silver City.
The tale unfolds in the Fall of 1882 in Leadville, Colorado. And while the play is fictional, the setting is not. In the 19thcentury this real-life US silver mining community was so mad about Shakespeare that even the mines were named after his plays and characters.
Dennis Elkins’ new play takes place in the town’s Opera House where famed English thespian Charles Goodknight is tricked into an onstage duel of Bardic banter against the firebrand all-American actress Harriet Twelvetrees.
The management are so tickled pink to be staging the contest that they’ve even put out clean spittoons.
Come along to cheer on your favourite, the Brit or the American and hiss, boo or applaud along with the workers from Miranda Mine and other local claims. Test your own knowledge of Shakespeare as Master of Ceremonies, Billy the Miner, challenges our thespians, and you, to a duel of wit and word.
The Great Shakespeare Showdown, is the latest of many Edinburgh Fringe productions from Flying Solo! Presents and its second in collaboration with Elkins.
Flying Solo! Presents brings fresh work to the Fringe each year, including 2024’s acclaimed Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words ★★★★★ Theatre Weekly, ★★★★★ British Theatre Guide, ★★★★★ Corr Blimey.
The Great Shakespeare Showdown stars Kate Poling (Harriet) in her second Fringe project along with Mel Schaffer (Billy) and Dan Morrison (Charles) who are making their Edinburgh debuts.
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Pictures: Kate Poling (Harriet) in red, Dan Morrison (Charles), Mel Schaffer (Billy). Copyright Flying Solo! Presents
Creative team
- Performers: Mel Schaffer (Billy), Kate Poling (Harriet Twelvetrees), Dan Morrison (Charles Goodknight)
- Writer: Dennis Elkins
- Director: Penny Cole
- Producer: Penny Cole
- Company: Flying Solo! Presents. See www.flyingsolopresents.com
Listings details
The Great Shakespeare Showdown
- Venue: Haldane Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall (Venue 53)
- Time: 15:10
- Dates: Aug 7-8 (preview), 10-22
- Duration: 55 mins
- Prices: Concession £8, full price £10, preview £5 (plus £1.50 booking fee)
- Advisory: Audience participation. Recorded gunshot.
- Age: 8+
- Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com
About Mel Schaffer
Mel (they/them) has most recently been seen as Jo in Little Women, Sherlock in Miss Holmes, and A Chorus Line at Phamaly Theatre Company. Other recent credits include Coda with Mahlerfest; A Town Called Harris and Impossible Things at The Catamounts; Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really, and The Laramie Project at the Arvada Center. In addition, Mel guest starred in the video game Life is Strange: Reunion, has narrated four audiobooks and radio plays for Audible, and has appeared in several short films. Mel holds a BA (hons) from LAMDA.
About Kate Poling
Kate is a Colorado-based actor, director and writer. This will be her second project at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, after last performing in 2022 in Gertrude and Ophelia in Hell with And Toto too Theatre Company. Kate has a BFA in Acting from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, as well as a Certificate in Shakespeare Performance from RADA. Selected credits include: Puppet Julius Caesar (Puppet Shakespeare Players, New York); Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Colorado); Othello and Pride and Prejudice (Firehouse Theater, Colorado).
About Dan Morrison
Originally from Lake Tahoe, California, he was accepted to San Diego State University where he fell in love with performance. During his time in San Diego, he also attended an intensive acting programme at Balliol College, Oxford University. After finishing his undergraduate degrees Dan was accepted into The American Conservatory Theaterin San Francisco receiving his Master of Fine Arts in theater performance. Dan then moved to New York City shortly after graduating and has since had some wonderful success and plenty of life lessons. Dan has worked at theaters all over New York with his Broadway debut in No One Suspects A Butterfly with Anthony Rapp. Dan also performed in numerous regional and global theatres such as; The Idaho Shakespeare Festival, theaters in Colorado, San Francisco and the greater Bay Area, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Texas, San Diego, England, Italy and Japan where he performed in Harry Potter. In 2012 he founded a theater company, The New Collectives, with some fellow performers. You might have also seen Dan in some films such as; Weak Layers, Target List, Final Girl: Halloween, Dial it Back and coming soon, Love Me X3.
Social media
Facebook: Flying Solo Presents
Media contact: Matthew Shelley, SFPR, 07786 704299 Matthew@Scottishfestivalspr.org
