Joshua Welch brings his show, Wildcat’s Last Waltz, to Brighton this month in advance of a run in Edinburgh later in the summer.
Join in as the Wildcat welcomes the audience into her Sheffield home, makes everyone a cuppa, hands around the biscuits, and tells her story of love, grief, dust, water infections and strength.
Where: The Rotunda Theatre: Bubble
When: 18-21 May, 9pm
Ticket link: https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/wildcats-last-waltz/
Read on to find out more about Wildcat’s Last Waltz from writer/performer Josh and director Kelly Hunter.
What’s the best thing about being part of the Brighton Fringe?
JOSH (WRITER AND PERFORMER) : The dolphin derby on the pier? I haven’t performed at the Brighton Fringe before, so I’m yet to find out.
But I’m really forward to it, especially get the chance to be in two shows at the same time. Wildcat one week and then Pericles with Flute Theatre at Caravanseri the next!
Wildcat’s Last Waltz is Northern, comedy, and drag. Tell me more about why people should come and see the show!
KELLY HUNTER (DIRECTOR): “A 28-year-old man dressed as his grandmother, leaping like a starfish, chatting to us, giving us tea, making us cry, making us laugh, revealing how his grandmother’ fanny fell out, how her heart broke and perils of being alone. This hour doesn’t fit one “theatre category, it fit’s em all”
The show heads to Brighton following a run in London, where it’s been received well as filthy, naughty, and wickedly funny. Do you have a particular inspiration for your character?
JOSH: I wrote the play after being inspired by long drives with my grandmother in my clapped-out VW polo. I lost my Mum when I was 10 years, 10 years later she lost her husband, my grandad. we shared stories of each other grieves and became an unbreakable bound because it.
This play is my tribute to her and all the other strong, loving, and wildly fierce mothers I have met along my way. I’m so pleased I get to throw on the platinum wig, put on the lippy, and bring this incredible force of nature to both the Brighton and Edinburgh fringe festivals this year.
I can’t wait to tell you her story.
The North is known for its humour and resilience. Was this an important part to fit into Wildcat’s Last Waltz?
JOSH: I was born and raised in Sheffield. It my home, and even though I now live in London it’s in everything I do. Once a Northerner, Always a Northerner.
Yes, northerners are resilient and funny, and although this play is set in Sheffield, I believe it actually celebrates the humour and resilience of the working class.
Do you think the drag scene is in a good place at the moment? What’s the best and worst things about it?
JOSH: I’m my massive fan of Lilly Savage and Paul O’Grady, he’s big inspiration for this character. I was so upset when he died recently.
I love the drag scene at the moment and it’s quite right that it’s more mainstream than used to be, but I would give anything to go back in time and be in Vauxhall Tavern the on the first outings of Lilly Savage.