Bridget Purdy from Gumball Machine shared with us what their Edinburgh Fringe show, Hurricane Party, is all about.
“In the heart of Louisiana where hurricane parties are a way of life, three high school friends, a decade after graduation, find themselves in their hometown as a hurricane rolls in.
What follows is a night of revelry and revelations as they navigate the storm both outside and within.”
Where: The Annexe at Paradise in The Vault
When: 18 – 22 Aug
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/hurricane-party
So, what exactly is a hurricane party, and how did it turn into this show?
A hurricane party is a Southern tradition where friends and family gather to ride out an approaching storm together, usually when the hurricane isn’t intense enough to require evacuation, but just strong enough to shut everything else down.
These parties often involve food, drinks, games, and a sense of chaos that’s hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t experienced one. What happens at a hurricane party stays at a hurricane party.
Growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana, I’ve had to deal with my fair share of hurricanes. While living in Los Angeles, I realized how many people had never heard of a hurricane party before, which inspired me to write this play.
I wanted to capture the experience of what enduring hurricanes was like, but tell it through a comedic lens. So, I decided to embody the hurricane myself.
Yes, I play the hurricane hoping to bring a little chaos, humor, and Southern spirit to the Edinburgh Fringe stage this year.
Your show has moments of improvisation in every show, What might audiences expect?
I have one question for you, Truth or Dare? When audience members arrive, they will have an opportunity to write down their own dare ideas for our characters to perform in our show.
Anything can happen, and things get crazy. This gives every show a unique experience, and we love having the audience directly participate in our show.
Depending on the audience, you might expect some WILD dares.
How did you make a start as a performer? Do Fringe festivals inspire you?
Once I was walking and talking, the world became my stage.
I got serious about it in college while training at the Second City in Chicago. I graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a Comedy Writing and Performance degree. Yes, it’s a real degree if you can believe it.
Since living in LA, I have performed at many theaters and festivals such as the Upright Citizens Brigade, the Pack Theater, Improv Fest, and many more.
The Fringe Festival inspires me to not overthink myself as an artist. It’s often the case that creative people never think their work is good enough; therefore, their work is never seen.
I love that the Fringe Festival is so accepting and encouraging of all forms of performance art. Truly, anything can be art as long as you are passionate enough to perform it and believe in it.
What are you looking forward to the most in Edinburgh?
My whole cast is stoked to be immersed in the Fringe. It’s every theater kid’s dream! We’re so excited to perform for new audiences, and performing five shows at Paradise Green is a dream! We’re on at 16:15 from August 18 – 22, so don’t miss us!
What’s next for you and the show?
We’re excited to see what this show will do on an international stage after performing it for over a year and in multiple American cities.
We will simply leave it up to the fate of the Fringe if anything will happen with our show in the future. Hurricane Party, the movie!? I’d love to see this piece go as far as it possibly can.
For me, I have a few short film ideas in development that I’m ready to dive into when I’m back in LA. We can’t wait to meet, greet, thrill, chill, and go in as hard as we can on Fringe.
After all, anything can happen at Fringe!