“Fox-Light is Barnaby Tobias’s (Netflix, Theatre Royal Windsor, The Kings Head) debut play directed by Simon Usher (RSC, National, Royal Court), which follows two young painters as they dissolve into their own souls in order to explore the sticky dark mess of love. Prepare to wince, laugh and cry at this rough, heart-felt, punchy reflection on the chaos that love brings.”
Writer/performer Barnaby Tobias brings his show to the Camden Fringe (5-7 August, Hope Theatre) – read on for more details!
Tickets – https://camden.ssboxoffice.com/performances/fox-light/ or https://www.thehopetheatre.com/productions/fox-light/
Tell me about your Camden Fringe show! What’s it all about?
The story follows two painters, one an obsessive realist, the other an abstract expressionist, who crash together and form a deeply intense and erotic relationship. They use sex as a symbol for love or as a replacement for real love. I think what it’s really about is the madness of this world; what it drives people to do when success and materialistic goals are at the heart of our will and thinking. It’s funny as well.
What’s the best thing about being part of a festival like this?
Everyone is jumping in and many people haven’t done this before, like myself. It’s chaos, it’s madness. This show could be a huge flop, it could be very good, and it’s the same for everyone else. It’s all a massive risk and that for me is more exciting than seeing something ‘safe’ on the West End. The festival offers raw, uncut and risky theatre. In other words; it has a beating heart.
What has your company been up to over the past year of theatre recovery?
We aren’t a company as such, just three individuals who have come together to create Fox-Light. Simon Usher (director) and I have collaborated before, since then (2021) he has been directing a few shows and working with his own company, Presence Theatre. Martina Rossi (Tess) finished her training and has/is touring Shakespeare around England with her own theatre company, and I’ve been working in various theatres and focussing on my writing.
Do you have further plans for the show after the Camden Fringe? Or other shows in other spaces?
Yes. Ideally, I would like to have another run with all the glitz and glam either at The Hope or somewhere else. Because of the nature of the Fringe, everything is slightly quicker and rougher than it would be normally, which I love, but it’s also good to breathe. So yes, a three-week run where someone else can take the reins and I can just focus on the writing/acting would be great! I also have another play in the pipeline, Bound, which I’ll be aiming to get on towards the end of the year/ early next year.
Let’s finish on a one liner. Why should I come to see Fox-Light?
It’s raw, funny, exposing, explicit, truthful and potentially will get me cancelled.