Helen Denning, producer and company manager at Black Bright Theatre Company, tells us about Birdwatching, a new folk horror play opening next month at Edinburgh Fringe.
“Black Bright are a Sheffield-based, female, queer and neurodivergent led company producing original, dark, story-driven theatre with complex female characters at the forefront of our new writings.
We’re proud to be partnering with the Strut Safe volunteer led phone line for Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. At the end of each show we will be collecting donations for Strut Safe to raise awareness around street safety and fund the line.”
Where: theSpace at Venue 45
When: 12-17, 19-24 Aug
Ticket link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/birdwatching
What are you looking forward to the most at Fringe?
After having such a wonderful time at the Fringe in 2023, we are excited to be back in the vibrant city of Edinburgh during the best arts festival in the world!
We’re excited to support other new writers putting on work at the festival, particularly queer or neurodivergent artists.
We also can’t wait to connect with artists from a variety of backgrounds that we wouldn’t normally have the chance to, like circus, clowning, and comedy acts.
It’s the place to be to have new experiences, meet like-minded people, and celebrate the diversity of the creative sector.
Tell me about Birdwatching. It’s a horror story set on a campsite with female, queer and neurodivergent perspectives centre stage. What should audiences expect?
Audiences should expect a setup familiar to the horror genre – a dark forest, a doomed camping trip, an unnamed threat in the trees – but with a fresh, subversive twist.
With female fear and friendships firmly at the centre of the play, ‘Birdwatching’ allegorises coming of age as a young woman in an uncertain, ever-watchful world.
Hating but loving other girls, wanting to be normal, the repercussions of trauma – the insecurities of young, queer and ND women prove just as frightening as supernatural threats.
Expect fiery, funny dialogue, complicated female characters, and an atmosphere that lingers long after the show has finished.
Your previous show, The Hunger, was well-received. Do you place yourself firmly in the horror genre when developing shows?
⁸At the moment, yes! Horror can be fresh, reflective and powerful as well as hugely entertaining.
A revival in folk horror and an influx of female-led horror in film has proved a massive source of inspiration for the writer, who has jumped at the chance to put folky, regional and unapologetically female horror onstage.
Commenting on contemporary socio-political issues from environmentalism to internalised misogyny, horror gives permission to express real, human issues in a way that is extreme, expressive, and liberating.
How did Black Bright Theatre Company start?
Originally meeting at Sheffield University Theatre Company in 2019 when Maddie auditioned for a show Helen was producing, we realised we both had seen a lot of work where the female characters were either over the top ‘strong women’, or were used solely as a plot device to further the journeys of the male characters.
We had a desire to create story-driven theatre with complex female characters at the forefront, offering an authentic and unique representation of under-represented regions and people in theatre.
We came together during the March 2020 lockdown to discuss producing a play that Maddie was writing, the result of which was The Hunger.
Following a sold-out debut run in June 2021, Black Bright Theatre Company was founded in August 2021. Maddie is the Artistic Director and Writer, and Helen is the Producer and Company manager.
What’s next after Birdwatching?
We plan to produce a longer run of Birdwatching at a theatre or multiple theatres post-fringe.
We are therefore keen for programmers to see the show and begin those discussions with them during or just after the festival.
We would also be interested in taking the show to other arts festivals. If anybody is interested in helping this happen, please do get in touch!
You can find us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, or email us at blackblacktheatre@gmail.com