Why is Mopey important?:
The themes ‘Mopey the Clown’ tackles are crucial to our current socio-political dialogue. With the rate of suicide in men three times higher than in women (22.3/100,000 compared to 7.6/100,000) it is a subject which demands attention and the medium of clowning affords the opportunity for an innovative and gritty discussion to be had. Not only this but muscle dysmorphia affects 1 in 10 gym-going men whilst pornography is the primary source of sexual education for millennials. By repressing these conversations and creating ideas of ‘taboo’ young people gain information from damaging sources, such as porn which is shown to influence sexual callousness and coercion in pre and post-puberty adolescents. The Fringe will give us the platform needed to highlight and bring attention to the concerns, including hyper-gendered roles, which Mopey the Clown revolves around. These are problems which need to be talked about in a public environment. With support from the venue and its variety of pieces that it homes behind us, we believe we could draw in audiences and educate them through the dark comedy seen in our physical clowning piece. Imposed gender constructs affect us all and perpetuates a toxic societal structure; it is this social structure which allows for figures like Donald Trump - who embody all the negative aspects of an enforced masculine expectation - to ascend to power.
Our Aesthetic:
To portray the hyper-gendered world in which Mopey is situated, our aesthetic is one of exaggeration and excess. This will entail such things as brightly coloured, caricaturistic costume and oversized/undersized props. This seemingly cartoon-like aesthetic will work in unison with the dark comedic tone of the piece, both employed to bring to the fore the concerns with which the production revolves around (such as sexism and muscle dysmorphia).
Fringe Programme Synopsis:
Mopey is a severely anxious adolescent whose isolation is manifested visually as a clown. In a hyper-gendered, caricaturistic and garish world, he attempts to emulate the stereotypical man through a series of fruitless endeavours.
Experience:
Between us we have a diverse skill set collated from our previous experience. Just some examples are:
Shaun Wood (Writer and Director): Co-direction (as well as sound and music design and production) for a show that was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, which received two 5 star reviews.
Harriet Troup (Director): In 2015 Harriet took a sketch comedy show to Edinburgh Fringe Festival which enjoyed sell-out performances and 4 star reviews. She has also directed two full length plays.
Emily O'Brien (Producer): She experienced the Fringe commercially in 2016, working for a comedy company, and has done work experience with Sixteen Films, operating alongside Ken Loach and shadowing his production team. She has also worked on the production team for over five productions, including both full length productions and showcases, in just under six months
Phoebe Graham (Assistant Producer): Assistant produced for The Girl with The Hurricane Hands at the Edinburgh Fringe last year and has produced other numerous shows.
Example of a review for Shaun's 'Fish and Chips With Edith': http://edfringereview.com/r/V3qiY43ASPeo6GXyXDx6yg