In our ongoing Edinburgh Fringe interview series, we are speaking to artists and creatives who are bringing their shows to the Scottish capital this summer.
In this interview, Suzy Crothers discusses their show Troubled.
What can you tell me in your words about your show?
Troubled is a 60 min semi autobiographical solo show about love, loss and human connection - told with tea and biscuits. Imagine sitting in your Ma’s living room and being told a story like an old friend.
Set against a backdrop of the Troubles in Belfast, Alice shares her journey from being a wee girl to being an adult living in England. It looks at growing up in a divided city, in a divided household, at a divided time and the impact on Alice’s psyche, her relationships and her family. In the present day Alice falls in love with Tim, but the shadows of the past keep getting in the way.
This is a story about letting go of the past so you can live in the present and be reasonably ok. Alice touches on some big topics; addiction, loss, love and the mental health impact of intergenerational trauma. These are held in a way that involves wit, warmth and honesty. The lows are low but the highs are very high. There’s a lot of me in it but there’s also room for some playful creative licence with the character of Alice.
Where did the inspiration for this piece come from?
Growing up during the Troubles was strange, the more time goes on I am struck by the surrealness of it. When I came to England to go to drama school I found it hard to believe that other people my age knew very little about this, or had not lived through something similar.
I began writing bits and pieces of text as a way to make sense of it and get my thoughts out. Then I fell in love, which is an amazing catalyst for creativity. The love and the processing of the past sort of clashed together in a creative way
During Covid I was living in East London and really felt a lot of similarities with what it felt like to grow up in the Troubles. A sense of ‘something bad being about to happen’ and a feeling of sadness and uncertainty. Helicopters overhead flying to the Nightingale Hospital. A kind of cognitive dissonance about the people who were dying because the human brain can’t process loss on that scale. I felt the need to address the division that I had grown up with, especially when this piece of very recent history is not really in the public consciousness on mainland Britain. Maybe if we acknowledged the past fully we would be able to fully move forwards together in a new and compassionate way….
How have you approached developing the show?
Haley McGee runs an amazing solo makers lab so that was a really supportive place to get going and get feedback on my bits of writing and I ran with it from there. I received public funding to develop the idea, which was super helpful. Because we are working in a team of people who are majority neurodivergent and/or have chronic illness, we have prioritised wellbeing for the team and put it at the heart of the process, so development has been slow and mindful. I am a theatremaker, and don’t see myself as a writer at all, so we do what we call ‘active scripting’ which is getting the bits and pieces of text and ideas up on their feet as soon as. It’s a solo performance, but there’s a big beautiful team behind me.
How would you describe the style of the show?
Full of Northern Irish gallows humour and full of heart. We use collaged found footage of Belfast and of the news from back in the day and which really helps to create the mood we are going for. The style is part storyteller, part tour guide, part having a cuppa in your Nan’s living room.
Can you describe the show in 3 words?
Heartfelt, exhilarating, funny
How do you mentally and physically prepare for a run like the Fringe?
I’ve worked out a plan with my support team, I'm so lucky to have them! Like many artists I’m Neurospicy and I also live with chronic illness so health and wellbeing is the most essential part of our process.
I started doing hot yoga over a year ago - not the sweaty fast one, but the one where I get to lie on the floor and have a great stretch. That has helped me to feel more grounded. I am getting out for walks every day at the minute (without my phone). My head can buzz with everything that needs doing so nature helps disperse that a bit. Meditation daily, journaling, wellbeing and therapeutic support, accountability practices around the stuff that needs to be done. And sometimes I just need a good dance out in my bedroom to shake out and bump up my mood.
Away from your show, what are you most looking forward to about being in Edinburgh?
Time spent by the sea in Musselburgh (where i’m staying) with my friend and her two lovely dogs. I feel very at home in Scotland, it’s a Celtic thing so it’s a comfy place for me.
Are there any other shows at the Fringe you’d like to recommend?
Skelpie Limmer – Anthem for Dissatisfaction @Summerhall. Love this lively company.
Amanda Verlaque – This Sh*t Happens All the time @Assembly George Sq – queer love story by a fantastic writer
Paines Plough – Consumed @traverse – winner of Women’s Prize for Playwriting
Haley McGee – Age is a Feeling, Tim Crouch – My Arm, James Rowland – Songs of the Heart Trilogy @shedinburgh – classic Edinburgh quality work
How to Win against History – produced by Francesca Moody, love Seiriol Davies and Matt Blake combo @underbelly
Eleanor Higgins – Wanted @Underbelly – she’s a really excited writer building on the success of In PurSuet – her first smash show.
The Queen is Mad – by Mc Grath and Tasker @Zoo Southside – a new musical that has tones of Six.
What was the first piece of theatre you saw which had a big impact on you?
The Christmas Clock at the Lyric Theatre Belfast. I was 4, it was my first time at a theatre and it felt like the most magic place in the world (cheesy perhaps, but true).
What do you hope an audience member takes away from seeing the show?
A feel of being looked after for an hour in the midst of the fringe madness, a renewed sense of hope for the future, a bicky.
Where and when can people see your show?Summerhall - Anatomy Lecture Theatre, 11:45am, 31st July - 25th August (except 11th and 18th).😕
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