Camden Fringe preview: SpaceEater

Kraken Theatre bring their show, SpaceEater, to Camden Fringe this summer.

“Experience this unsettling journey and the relentless pursuit for the meaning of human existence, while prodding the boundaries of our knowledge in this cosmic odessey. The journey awaits.”

Where: Courtyard Theatre

When: 18-19 Aug

Ticket link: https://camdenfringe.com/events/spaceeater/

Writer/director Emma Kopf tells us more about the show.

What are you looking forward to the most at Camden Fringe?

We are very excited to debut our company to a larger audience. We had successes in Colchester and around Essex, so naturally, we thought stepping up to London was the next best thing to do.

We also can’t wait to meet other creatives and watch their shows, the fringe is an amazing opportunity to get inspired by this community that we are glad to be a part of now.

We are also looking forward to enjoying all the other activities that can be had around Camden, too. 

SpaceEater is about a lone astronaut and some mysterious travellers on a space ship. Very interesting! Tell me more.

The amazing thing about SpaceEater that so far everyone who watched it has seen something different in it.

Only I (the director and writer) and the cast have a shared interpretation of it, which makes it easier for us to work together, but this is not something we discuss with our audience.

We are more than happy to have a conversation about what they have thought and what are their interpretations of the show.

It still amazes me how many answers there are to the questions “Why are we here?” or “Why are we STILL here?”.

The ship is our reality and the Astronaut is humanity.

The mysterious travellers with him are anything the audience wishes them to be, though they have clearly established roles between each other and do not cross certain lines, giving each of them a unique personality and set of rules to follow.

As a writer, they all represent something to me, but yet again hearing from audience members others often come to a different conclusion as to why these characters acted the way they did. 

You act as writer and director – has it been an easy task to juggle the roles?

I think being a director and writer at the same time can be a curse and a blessing too.

While writing SpaceEater I already knew I would direct it too, and you obviously can’t help yourself and build an image in your head while writing about the show, be that costume, set or even actors, that can easily limit you when you get to the directing stage.

This is something I had to learn to let go of in order for the show to improve. And it really came a long way since June 2023!

Also, I have a rule on not being a director and writer at the same time in a room. I’m either present as a writer or I direct people.

No crossing between the lines, and sometimes I find myself making notes for Writer Emma while Director Emma is working, so when I get home I can switch modes and work on the text if I need to.

Writing is a process for me and my keyboard, I’m very much in my head.

Directing has to be open, I have to be present with the actors, and I can’t disappear into my own thoughts because these people count on me to put this show on stage to the best of my abilities. 

You are playing at the Courtyard Theatre – has this venue been useful for developing SpaceEater?

This venue definitely inspired us to revisit certain scenes and blocking, not only to fit the Courtyard better but to fit our company better compared to how we were a year before.

We recently visited the Courtyard and met the lovely people working there, it was exciting to see the space we will perform in.

We know it can be potentially turned into an ‘in the round’ stage, which is an idea we’ve been playing with for a while.

I’m interested to see how the new space will alter the atmosphere of the play. 

What’s next for you?

We have two upcoming plays at the Colchester Fringe in October which we are looking forward to.

Both are completely new and being developed alongside each other, one is an adaptation of The Little Prince, and the other is a newly written piece by Emma Kopf called The Creator is Present.

We would definitely like to tour one of our plays at one point, to expand our company and take new people in.

We probably won’t stop producing original work any time soon!