In our ongoing Edinburgh Fringe 2026 interview series, we are speaking to artists and creatives who are bringing their shows to the Scottish capital this summer.
In this interview, we speak with Charlotte Mooney about her show Collaborator.
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| Photo by Jamie Dennis |
What can you tell me about your show?
Collaborator is a circus theatre show featuring me and Alex Harvey. We’ve been together for 25 years as a couple and as partnership performing and directing circus. This show is about that experience : the joys, missteps and scrambles of building a life together.
Collaborator is a circus theatre show featuring me and Alex Harvey. We’ve been together for 25 years as a couple and as partnership performing and directing circus. This show is about that experience : the joys, missteps and scrambles of building a life together.
How would you describe the style of your show to anyone who has never seen you before?
People often say it’s unlike anything they’ve seen before. It’s a beautiful mash up of moving in the air, physical theatre and telling stories. Parts are ridiculous and funny, parts moving and vulnerable. The images should always be unusual and interesting. At one point we fill the stage with swinging pendulums to explain the dynamics of when you chime with someone and when you fall into chaos. The word most often used to describe us is mesmerising.
What was the lightbulb moment that led to the creation of this piece?
We had been directing more than performing in the last 5 years and someone asked us if we had retired from performing. It made us think whoa! - we might have. We might never hold each other’s weight in the air again. We hadn’t formally decided to stop : it just happened. So we decided to make one last show together about that experience of looking back and forward and what it means to build something with someone.
We had been directing more than performing in the last 5 years and someone asked us if we had retired from performing. It made us think whoa! - we might have. We might never hold each other’s weight in the air again. We hadn’t formally decided to stop : it just happened. So we decided to make one last show together about that experience of looking back and forward and what it means to build something with someone.
What makes 2026 the perfect year for this specific story or performance?
In 2026 people are fascinated by personal stories, by getting a glimpse inside someone else’s dynamic. That could be seen as prurient but I reckon it’s really healthy and as old as time to look into someone else’s life to wonder about your own. We are all wondering - am I normal? Lots of audiences have said that they really related with the show - saw their own lives in it and for that reason found our struggles sometimes darkly hilarious as they recognised them or really moving.
In 2026 people are fascinated by personal stories, by getting a glimpse inside someone else’s dynamic. That could be seen as prurient but I reckon it’s really healthy and as old as time to look into someone else’s life to wonder about your own. We are all wondering - am I normal? Lots of audiences have said that they really related with the show - saw their own lives in it and for that reason found our struggles sometimes darkly hilarious as they recognised them or really moving.
How will you mentally and physically prepare for a run at the Fringe?
Oooof - this is a very physical show so we have been physically preparing for it for months. The show opens with us hanging from a frame for a ridiculously long time and half way through there is an 8 minute sprint. So yes lots of weight training and running has been happening. Mentally I just try and remember that the goal is connect with whoever turns up and not stress too much about audience numbers and all that jazz.
Oooof - this is a very physical show so we have been physically preparing for it for months. The show opens with us hanging from a frame for a ridiculously long time and half way through there is an 8 minute sprint. So yes lots of weight training and running has been happening. Mentally I just try and remember that the goal is connect with whoever turns up and not stress too much about audience numbers and all that jazz.
If you couldn’t use a flyer to attract audiences, what ridiculous object would you hand out to people to get them into your show?
Hmmm. To be relevant I would hand out little golden pendulums but I think if I really wanted people to come I’d hand out calippos.
What is the one item in your Fringe Survival Kit that you can’t live without this month?
Post show calippos. I bloody love calippos.
Post show calippos. I bloody love calippos.
What would you deem as success at the end of the Fringe?
I should definitely say winning awards, selling out each show, blanket 5 star reviews and an international tour but honestly the things that stay with you are smaller. The conversations with audiences after and hearing that you have really connected with someone. I’m pretty happy with that.
I should definitely say winning awards, selling out each show, blanket 5 star reviews and an international tour but honestly the things that stay with you are smaller. The conversations with audiences after and hearing that you have really connected with someone. I’m pretty happy with that.
Other than your own show, are there any other shows you would recommend at the Fringe this year?
I would recommend some circus pals - Sadiq Ali Tell Me and Kook Ensemble Sand.
I would recommend some circus pals - Sadiq Ali Tell Me and Kook Ensemble Sand.
What is one Edinburgh spot that you would recommend people to visit when they’re not watching performances?
I would recommend the Commonwealth Swimming Pool - best goddamned pool in the world. If you are touring with kids (as I always am), they do a wonderful morning session where they fill the pool with floats and we all pile on.
I would recommend the Commonwealth Swimming Pool - best goddamned pool in the world. If you are touring with kids (as I always am), they do a wonderful morning session where they fill the pool with floats and we all pile on.
Can you describe the show in 5 words?
Funny, moving, mesmerising circus theatre.
Funny, moving, mesmerising circus theatre.
What keeps you inspired?
Being in the creation room. I always think I’ll run out of ideas and something always shows up.
What would you hope someone takes away from seeing the show?
Someone came to see it and after came up to me in the bar and said it made him wish he would always be kinder to his wife. I’ll take that.
When and where can people see the show?
6th - 22nd August - Pentland Theatre, Pleasance at the EICC.
Tickets for Collaborator are available from https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/collaborator
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| Photo by Jamie Dennis. |
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