Army musician Dougie Anderson, broadcaster Mark McKenzie and a stage crew of soldiers are making the final preparations for two fun variety nights at Army@TheFringe.
Live @ The Drill Hall will feature everything from stand up, folk song and improvised rap to queer spoken word and hula hoops – plus special surprise guests.
The two nights of fun, on 6 and 7 August, will be in-person and live streamed, so you can enjoy them wherever you are in the world.
It’s also a chance to see inside the historic Hepburn House drill hall and Army Reserve Centre in Edinburgh’s New Town, as it is temporarily transformed into a Fringe venue, staffed by Army personnel.
Mark, whose day job is broadcasting on BFBS, will be the master of ceremonies – introducing and chatting to guests.
Colour Sergeant Anderson, of the Lowland Band of the Royal Highland Regiment of Scotland (who audiences may have seen many times before playing at big ceremonial events of even in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo) will be joining Mark on stage.
The trombonist and guitar player (whose military service included serving in Iraq) will be playing in a house band featuring his wife Jo (the senior biologist for Forth Rivers Trust) and his son Calum who is studying at Napier University and is the front man for Sintide.
The Live @ The Drill Hall variety show line-ups include:
- MC Hammersmith – improvised rap
- Harry Harris – folk singer/songwriter
- Hoopology by Delighters – hula hoops
- Kate Ireland – queer spoken word
- Jay McAllister – stand-up comedy
- Lou McLean – singer/songwriter.
Harry Harris is a prolific songwriter who has established himself as one of the most exciting talents in his field. His last album I Feel Drunk All The Time was praised as “A work full of grace and a common sense of humanity” by Clash Magazine.
Hoopology by Delighters (Jusztina Hermann aka Tinka Sparks) combines high level circus skills with other artforms with her Edinburgh based company Delighters.
Jay McAllister is sought after for her satirical wit and is a regular face on BBC Scotland TV. Her on point BBC Breaking The News description of Theresa May’s catastrophic handling of the Brexit deal that saw her hit the front page of The New York Times. In 2019 Jay was crowned the Scottish Comedy Awards Best Compere.
Lou McLean is a unique voice from the Scottish underground scene. Blending acoustic guitar with sweet vocals, she and her sharply witty, catchy pop songs have often been featured on BBC Scotland.
MC Hammersmith (aka Will Naameh the tall skinny posh one from The Spontaneous Players and Men With Coconuts) is a freestyle rap improvisational comedian who performs improvised hip hop comedy inspired entirely by audience suggestions.
There will also be Page2Stage sessions presenting new work by emerging Edinburgh playwrights Izzy Gray and Charlotte Laidig.
COVID safety
Army@TheFringe looks forward to welcoming audiences back inside the historic Hepburn House drill hall in Edinburgh’s New Town. The venue, in East Claremont Street, is being adapted to create a COVID-safe environment.
- Tickets are available from Edfringe.com or www.armyatthefringe.org.
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Programme details
The Trick That Fooled – Kevin Quantum: A magic show inspired by tricks that fooled the smartest and most creative people ever to have lived. Exploring themes of wonder and escapism, the show travels back in time and experience recreating tricks that fooled Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Marie Curie and others. The show culminates with the trick that fooled the Nazis, when British magician Maskeleyne assisted the British forces to fool German commander Rommel during WW2 – apparently conjuring a tank battalion from thin air. 6-8 Aug, 1800; 10-22 Aug (not Mondays), 2015.
Tickbox – Lubna Kerr: A one woman storytelling show about identity from comedian and actress Lubna Kerr. Inspired by her parents journey from Pakistan to Scotland in the late 1960s, when her father came to do a PhD in Chemistry, the show explores Lubna’s mum’s life intertwined with her own growing up in Scotland. 17-22 Aug, 1800.
Tunnels – Further Theatre: A new play about two cousins attempting to tunnel their way to freedom at the height of the Cold War in East Germany. Based on accounts of escape stories from the Eastern Bloc, the play deals with life in a surveillance state. Featuring live music with some performances streamed from Hepburn House’s rifle range. Supported by Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch. 6-22 Aug (not Mondays), 1600.
Punch, with Johnny – The Arts Enigma: The story of two unlikely heroes from the slums of The Gorbals. Two “hard men” – both outcasts, winning the war and losing their freedom in the process … blow, by blow … Benny Lynch, World Flyweight Boxing Champion and “Gentleman” Johnny Ramensky, the infamous safe blower, meet in a prison cell. Benny – drunk and disorderly and detained for breach of the peace. Johnny – detained for burglary and breaking in. Two “Champions of the People” at war in life and love – both in search of victory, vindication and peace of mind when they confront their enemies … themselves. 20-22 Aug, 1400.
Dandelion – Creative Electric: In the centre of a busy city is a garden utopia. A small safe haven from missed connections and digital overload. A place to clear your thoughts, relax your mind and meet with those you’ve missed. The British Army currently have no record of how many forces children there are in the UK. A study found that 98% of forces children could not answer the question “where is home?” Dandelion explores separation anxiety through autonomous sensory meridian response and immersive theatre techniques to ask why in a digitally connected world we are more anxious than ever? 10-15 Aug, 1600 & 1800.
The Mind Is The Frontline – Rosie Kay: A series of conversations hosted by Rosie Kay (founder and artistic director of the Rosie Kay Dance Company) bringing together artists, thinkers, writers and academics along with experts from the military and security as well as young people in cyber security. These events provide a platform to think, talk and question where we are now, what value we place on our so called ‘civilisation’ and where we are going in the future. Following on from her series of podcasts, The Future Proof Artist, these talks are for the curious and the questioning. 10-11 Aug, various times.
Live @ The Drill Hall: A series of variety events hosted by Mark McKenzie, featuring an Army musician house band and a rotating line-up of comedy, theatre and provocation. Taking place across the launch weekend of the festival, Live @ The Drill Hall offers an evening of variety to celebrate the return of live entertainment. 6-7 Aug, 2015.
Duty Tour – They Eat Culture: Re-imagine the New Town’s East Claremont Street as a front line, where the military world meets the civilian, shaped through the eyes, ear and experiences of an army reservist as she returns to Hepburn House HQ and the city streets she loves. This is an experimental, rapid-response new-writing audio performance, exploring moments of exchange, opportunity and understandings when different characters, identities and duties collide.
Photo by Colin Hattersley.
Notes for editors
About Army@TheFringe
- Army@TheFringe was established to present a diverse programme of performances that tell stories of life in and out of uniform.
- It normally takes place at Hepburn House, an historic Army drill hall in Edinburgh’s New Town, which offers a variety of performance spaces.
- See www.armyatthefringe.org.
Facebook @Armyatthefringe
Twitter @ArmyatTheFringe
Website: www.Armyatthefringe.org
For media information about Army@TheFringe contact Matthew Shelley at SFPR on 07786704299 or [email protected].