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, William Hannagan discusses their show OG Crush.
What can you tell me in your words about your show?
A riveting expose on the state of contemporary gay romance, with memes as the portal, and music, the vessel.
Where did the inspiration for this piece come from?
During Covid, I started a meme page on a whim that had some niche appeal in my home town, Melbourne. In the age of identity politics, it’s fun to be completely deidentified, as an anonymous admin, which brings its own enigmatic appeal, leading to strange parodical relationships in the DMs. Occasionally, these developed into real world flings, and these romances became the launching point for the show.
During Covid, I started a meme page on a whim that had some niche appeal in my home town, Melbourne. In the age of identity politics, it’s fun to be completely deidentified, as an anonymous admin, which brings its own enigmatic appeal, leading to strange parodical relationships in the DMs. Occasionally, these developed into real world flings, and these romances became the launching point for the show.
How have you approached developing the show?
In its initial run, the show was a catalogue of love stories I’d scoured the DMs to find — sequence of romantic vignettes from various followers. As it developed, I’ve focused more on my own love story to the point where I’ve actually binned the rest. The result is a desperately intimate and vulnerable piece which feels, at least to me while I’m performing it, both reveletatoy and defiant. The music does a lot of that work. I’ve written an album’s worth of material for the show and also recorded all the backing tracks with some incredible session musicians a few months back - so though it’s just me on the stage you do feel as though you are hit with a wall of sound.
In its initial run, the show was a catalogue of love stories I’d scoured the DMs to find — sequence of romantic vignettes from various followers. As it developed, I’ve focused more on my own love story to the point where I’ve actually binned the rest. The result is a desperately intimate and vulnerable piece which feels, at least to me while I’m performing it, both reveletatoy and defiant. The music does a lot of that work. I’ve written an album’s worth of material for the show and also recorded all the backing tracks with some incredible session musicians a few months back - so though it’s just me on the stage you do feel as though you are hit with a wall of sound.
How would you describe the style of the show?
It’s like if David Byrne was gay and couldn’t afford a band.
It’s like if David Byrne was gay and couldn’t afford a band.
Can you describe the show in 3 words?
Memes, men, music.
Memes, men, music.
How do you mentally and physically prepare for a run like the Fringe?
To be honest, I spent most of the last few months in a torturous state, working through successive rewrites and navigating the increasingly complex world of online marketing in the lead up. Now that I’m here I’m trying to lean into the fun of it all. There are so many deranged characters out on the street, the collective artistic desperation is a sight to behold and thrilling to be a part of. So that’s feeding me. The discipline now will be in having at least some early nights.
To be honest, I spent most of the last few months in a torturous state, working through successive rewrites and navigating the increasingly complex world of online marketing in the lead up. Now that I’m here I’m trying to lean into the fun of it all. There are so many deranged characters out on the street, the collective artistic desperation is a sight to behold and thrilling to be a part of. So that’s feeding me. The discipline now will be in having at least some early nights.
Away from your show, what are you most looking forward to about being in Edinburgh?
The whole city feels like a castle from a fairy tale so I guess I’m looking forward to letting down the hair I recently had transplanted in Turkey and seeing which prince wants to scale the tower walls for a kiss.
The whole city feels like a castle from a fairy tale so I guess I’m looking forward to letting down the hair I recently had transplanted in Turkey and seeing which prince wants to scale the tower walls for a kiss.
Are there any other shows at the Fringe you’d like to recommend?
Very much looking forward to Some Masterchef Shit, CVNT, and The Last Mad Man.
Very much looking forward to Some Masterchef Shit, CVNT, and The Last Mad Man.
What was the first piece of theatre you saw which had a big impact on you?
I remember seeing the Boy from Oz when I was about five and being completely wowed by it. It started a lifelong love of Peter Allen’s music, the yearning and brutal honesty of his lyrics, always drenched in kindness and heart, and melodies that cling to you years later. I was recently at the AIDs quilt in the Tate Modern Turbine Hall and upon seeing Peter Allen’s patch found myself irreconcilably sobbing. I remember too that at five, when I asked how Peter got sick, my mum told me he shared a shaving razor with another man. She was a nurse during the AIDs crisis and has always been a compassionate progressive so I should ask her one time why she decided to shield the truth from me. I guess I was five. I dunno what I would have said.
I remember seeing the Boy from Oz when I was about five and being completely wowed by it. It started a lifelong love of Peter Allen’s music, the yearning and brutal honesty of his lyrics, always drenched in kindness and heart, and melodies that cling to you years later. I was recently at the AIDs quilt in the Tate Modern Turbine Hall and upon seeing Peter Allen’s patch found myself irreconcilably sobbing. I remember too that at five, when I asked how Peter got sick, my mum told me he shared a shaving razor with another man. She was a nurse during the AIDs crisis and has always been a compassionate progressive so I should ask her one time why she decided to shield the truth from me. I guess I was five. I dunno what I would have said.
What do you hope an audience member takes away from seeing the show?
That it’s all right not to know, to be uncertain, and to sit in the mystery. In the age of reductive sloganism, I have tried my darnedest to avoid easy platitudes and instead leant into complexity, heart and contradiction. There is a steadfast resolve at the end of the show to continue to choose love at all costs, love as verb, while also acknowledging how treacherous such a decision can be. So to me I want to leave people in that nourishingly sore place, where you feel that the art has cut right to the bone of what it is to interrelate with others in this sick, sad, horny world.
That it’s all right not to know, to be uncertain, and to sit in the mystery. In the age of reductive sloganism, I have tried my darnedest to avoid easy platitudes and instead leant into complexity, heart and contradiction. There is a steadfast resolve at the end of the show to continue to choose love at all costs, love as verb, while also acknowledging how treacherous such a decision can be. So to me I want to leave people in that nourishingly sore place, where you feel that the art has cut right to the bone of what it is to interrelate with others in this sick, sad, horny world.
Where and when can people see your show?
9.50pm every night at Assembly rooms.
9.50pm every night at Assembly rooms.
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