Fringe beginnings
After an intense Edinburgh Fringe in 1998, being involved in four different shows a day and crippled by my fresh student debt, the then co-artistic director of the Etcetera Theatre Camden Town, invited me to bring my first solo show, Drag King, to her venue for a four week run. Suzannah Rosenthal saw something in the show and along with David Cottis, gave me stage. That lit the touch paper of my love affair with London and theatre-making. I learned so much and went on to create 17 shows as a performer and directing and writing many others.
As a part of News Revue at Canal Café and several other Fringe shows, I found myself nurtured and challenged my a community of like minded creatives. A community now, 27 years on, who are still my friends and colleagues.
Why the Fringe?
Fringe is the lifeblood of British theatre. Not only as a starting place for small ideas with potential to grow (such as Mischief Theatre’s The Play That Goes Wrong, which started life at The Old Red Lion and Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, in which we performed on top of other people’s sets at the King’s Head before winning an Olivier for our West End run), but as a place of intimate connection and conversation between artists and audiences.
By its constraints Fringe can be a place of ingenuity.
But we mustn’t see it as the poor cousin to subsidised or commercial theatre.
In fringe spaces we can take more risks, challenge and open our doors to different voices.
Fringe isn’t about the size of the venue of the geographical location either, it’s a mindset, a creative freedom and willingness to experiment, fail, fail better.
I spent 14 years working mostly on the Fringe before seeing my work in the West End and it is a place I will come back to again and again to explore new material without the pressure of perceived gatekeepers.
I have never had Arts Council funding for my own work. I have always dipped into the pocket of one show’s profit to pay for another’s creation. I have worked every part time money job I could to fund my work and I am grateful for every Fringe stage which allowed me to expand as a theatre-maker.
Fringe is where I have witnessed the most exciting new work and I’m delighted to see those people who make it happen, from producers and performers to cleaners and crew, celebrated by these awards.
Professional Work
Sarah-Louise is an actor, writer, director and acclaimed cabaret performer.
She has appeared in the West End with Julie Madly Deeply, La Soirée, Fascinating Aida and Olivier Award winning Showstopper! The Improvised Musical.
She has toured extensively with her own solo shows, (including An Evening Without Kate Bush, Cabaret Wh*re and The Silent Treatment) and enjoyed sold out runs from Off Broadway to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
She has been a creative consultant on numerous projects, ranging from solo stand-up shows to fully staged musicals. She is passionate about new writing and is drawn to facilitating work which is inclusive, innovative and immersive.
Directing credits include Jarman, Looking For Me Friend: The Music Of Victoria Wood, The Bobby Kennedy Experience, Gertrude Lawrence: A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening and Not Dead Yet, made with the late great Lynn Ruth Miller.
