Beyond Borders bring writer/performer Zuzana Spacirova’s debut play, Runaway, to the Camden Fringe at the end of this month, then at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Zuzana tells us more about this semi-biographical story, “wrapped in a generous coat of unapologetic humour … a play about endless searching for the place that feels right. “
Camden Fringe:
Where: Rosemary Branch Theatre
When: 31 Jul-1 Aug
Ticket link: https://camdenfringe.com/events/?search=Runaway
Edinburgh Fringe:
Where: The Space @ Surgeons Hall
When: 4-12 Aug, 14-26 Aug
Ticket link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/runaway
What’s special about being part of the Camden Fringe?
The atmosphere. I performed at the Fringe in the past, and the atmosphere is so welcoming and encouraging, when it comes to the venues, other performers or the audiences.
Camden manages to create a safe, inclusive place and the team is so supportive, especially if you are performing for the first time or working on your first solo show.
If you don’t feel up for Edinburgh, Camden is definitely the best choice, less hectic, definitely cheaper, and basically on your doorstep (if you happen to live in London).
Runaway is a one-woman play about finding who you are and moving abroad. Was it important to create a show from your own experience?
I have always felt like there aren’t enough stories told from the perspective of foreigners in the UK.
Writing a show based on my own life experiences was something I have always felt a need to create. One day, my good friend Tom sent me a link to a playwriting course, and well, here we are now!
Also, as an actor, I have always struggled to find work in theatre and mainly played Russian spies and victims of the Holocaust.
That is all great, but I really wanted to create just an everyday character, someone who you might see on the street as you’re passing by, someone relatable to the time and place we currently live in.
Your blurb mentions the show is for lunatics, risk-takers, lost ones, weirdos and dreamers. It sounds interesting: what should audiences expect?
Exactly that! Our heroine, who’s journey we follow through the piece, is a bit of a lunatic and a risk-taker. And I think we all have a little piece of that in ourselves.
After Camden (where you play the Rosemary Branch Theatre), you are off to Edinburgh. Was it important to do both festivals, and what do you think of fringe theatre generally?
First of all, the story takes place in London, so it made sense to open in London, as some form of a weird love letter, I guess.
Secondly, I wanted to bring Runaway in front of as many audiences as possible. I am aware of the financial cost of Edinburgh and that not everyone will be able to come up (unless they are already doing a show).
Also, it will be interesting to see the difference of performing for the London audience, formed mainly by locals, and the Edinburgh audience formed by people from all over the country and even the world!
What’s next after August for Runaway?
We have just confirmed Clapham Fringe, so Runaway will definitely be back in London this autumn! After? – who knows. But it’s definitely not the end.
There is Vaults and Brighton Fringe next year that we hope to get into, and maybe even our own run for a week or two in a cosy pub theatre around Islington.
There are other plans, too, but I like to keep them to myself, I am a little superstitious 🙂
ᐧ