| “There Are No Reviews for This Show" |
Wales at Edinburgh Fringe in the 2020s |
| Payday Party- Common Wealth & Darren Pritchard , Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh , September 8, 2022 |
“Payday Party” was one of three productions to appear at the Fringe courtesy of public funding. The others were Jo Fong and George Orange with “The Rest of Our Lives” and Dirty Protest's “Double Drop.” Audience and critical feedback were reported 5th September and 2nd September below.“I’m sure that the three selected shows will grab attention in that crowded Festival!” ran a promotional line from a financial backer. In the event "Payday Party" earned a single line of audience comment “What a weird show. Don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t this!” The Edinburgh Fringe website collects some, not all, of the reviews from the many established outlets like Three Weeks, Broadway Baby and the List. The subject matter for "Payday Party" was distinctive but unusually Common Wealth at the Fringe left a record “There Are No Reviews for This Show.” The Stage of 11th August took a look at the impossible melee, and the thrill, that is the Fringe. "Short runs don't allow you to build an audience through word of mouth”, wrote Lyn Gardner who has seen a show or two. “The opening weekend is crucial, when word-of-mouth begins to build”. Importantly, she added, “good reviews don't just drive ticket sales; they also drive programmers and producers to take a sniff.” “Payday Party” turned up on the last Wednesday, 23rd August, of the Festival. A Welsh establishment choice it managed to do all of five performances. Look at the many productions that have gone before which have hit the emotions of audiences in their different ways. None has performed with such brevity as this show. The subtext from Wales Arts International, and the Arts Council of Wales, is not untypical- audiences do not matter that much. “Payday Party” is not a wholly new production. It derives from “Rent Party”, which was commissioned by Homotopia. It was supported through Javaad Alipoor as part of his Changemaker stint at Sheffield Crucible. Touring in 2021 by the Moving Roots Network it was seen at Rumney Conservative Club 29th September to 2nd October 2021. The Moving Roots Touring Network is made up of Battersea Arts Centre, Lyrici Arts in Medway, Jumped Up Theatre in Peterborough, Common Wealth in Bradford and the Old Courts in Wigan. The director, a Mancunian, has recast his show with a number of Welsh performers, but it is in essence a product import. Its skimpy appearance at the Fringe gets its Cardiff Bay status, it must be imagined, for a reason. Theatre in Cardiff lags behind not just London but Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow in diversity. That is the status quo, and so the status quo will remain. The citizens of Butetown and Grangetown do not go to any theatre because nothing is put on to attract them. There is not a public body, neither a funder nor a producer, in Cardiff that addresses this. An article that does appeared during the last lockdown, 16th April 2021, on this site in the sequence “Theatre in Wales: Comment”. It admitted “This is a large topic and not an easy one.” The article “Looking at the Gap” at: http://www.theatre-wales.co.uk/reviews/reviews_details.asp?offset=75&reviewID=4892 It attempts to look at a topic of seriousness and in doing so breaks with a core rule of journalism in Wales. As the view of an observer in Aberystwyth it may well contain error in fact or interpretation. Clarification or commentary welcome at editorial@theatre-wales.co.uk Postscript: “Payday Party” received a review by the Guardian “a show as breezily enjoyable as it is spiked with attitude.” https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/aug/25/payday-party-review-pleasance-dome-edinburgh-festival |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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