The Making of So It Goes: Part 1

SET DESIGN

As ‘So It Goes’ is now available online until 29^th May,  we thought we’d take a trip down memory lane and show you a little of what went on behind the scenes.

First stop: Set design! We chatted to design extraordinaire Emma Tompkins and found out how she created that stunning and iconic final scene, based on Holkham Bay.

Holkham Bay, 2014

“The thing that struck me most about the beach was the horizontal lines that seemed to extend forever at Holkham. A flatness that just wandered into the horizon. We also kept noticing the thin wide shallow pools of water that caused the sand to wriggle into these beautiful patterns.

The biggest challenge was taking the width of such a wide open beautiful place and translating it into a moment that could be made on a stage by Hannah and David in a way that kept the magic but didn't cause the action to lag (something Lecoq training seems to help with in transitions).

Emma's digital mock up of the Holkham Bay design

I knew the set needed to fit in any sized venue, work with festival storage, and be made with the kind of materials you can afford on a fringe budget. The beach scene is also the pinnacle of the story, one that shows a release of feeling. And the first time colour is released into Hannah's world to coincide.

The final beach design in action. Photo by Richard Davenport

I found most of our solutions in the usual place designers on the fringe end up, IKEA, B&Q and my local hardware shop. Garden bamboo poles and canvas held together with the classic combination of gaffa tape and cable ties became the back fan, combined with garden parasole bases and cheap wardrobe railings to keep everything upright, in addition to the trademark cardboard.


The whole thing was made in my front room and painted in the garden. I think the stones still have the paint marks! The design was complete with bags of Tesco value flour rapped with black gaffa to act as stage weights to keep the back piece from falling forward! Were nothing if not resourceful!"

An early mock up of the beach design

Well I think we can all agree that Emma did a fantastic job and that beach was an exceptional finish to the show. 

Watch the set in action (until 29th May)

See more of Emma’s design work here. 

Even more tweets...

Final round up of our Edinburgh Fringe Twitter love... Don't forget, the show comes to Shoreditch Town Hall, London from Sept 20th to 1st Oct after a performance in Margate on 17th Sept!

Quietly riveted by David Ralfe's self-performed solo show Tell Me Anything @Summerhallery about the psycho-emo cost of caring...

— Donald Hutera (@DonaldHutera) August 27, 2016

#edfringe is a great platform for creative dialogue about mental health and illness. @ontheruntheatre's Tell Me Anything is a great example

— Abby King (@abbyrking) August 28, 2016

So glad my final #edfringe show of 2016 was a return visit to @ontheruntheatre's Tell Me Anything. Shocking, arresting, and truly special.

— Laura Jayne Bateman (@MissLJBateman) August 27, 2016

#TellMeAnything by @ontheruntheatre is uncomfortably brilliant. Go: it'll make you ask questions about yourself that you need to ask.

— Pint-Sized (@Pint_Sized_) August 24, 2016

Young man with dolphin. Insightful and moving performance. @ontheruntheatre #edfringe2016 @Summerhallery https://t.co/9yoPmUoJHC

— Therese LawlorWright (@Therese_LW) August 24, 2016

Also found 'tell me anything' by @ontheruntheatre refreshing- a modern male look at masculinity and young love

— Ruby Glaskin (@RubyGlaskin) August 23, 2016

'Tell Me Anything' by @ontheruntheatre was not only beautifully written and performed, but also hit uncomfortably close to home.

— Deng MaoHui (@dengmaohui) August 22, 2016

More tweets

One more week to go at the Edinburgh Fringe!  Catch us every day at 5.45pm at Summerhall.  Here are some more tweets from lovely audience members...

#TellMeAnything: a stunning and heartbreaking piece of theatre from the amazing @ontheruntheatre #gosee #edfringe

— Jodie Garnish (@JodieGarnish) August 21, 2016

@ontheruntheatre "I will destroy you with warmth, guidance, & gentle nudging" A brillant show, and masterfully performed. #edfringe2016

— Oliver-Patrick Henn (@OP_Twist) August 21, 2016

GO and see #TelllMeAnything @ontheruntheatre. BRILLIANT act @Summerhallery #FestivalFun

— Susanne Mueller (@RainChameleon) August 21, 2016

If you see one theatre show at @edfringe go and see @ontheruntheatre #TellMeAnything
Absolutely brilliant piece of work.

— Callum Taylor (@CallumTtweets) August 20, 2016

Just watched an incredibly thought provoking, emotive and intelligent piece of theatre. Thank you @ontheruntheatre #edfringe2016

— Zadie Ward (@ZadieWard1) August 20, 2016

Current #edfringe top 3: @ontheruntheatre's Tell Me Anything, @TREMers_theatre's Fabric & @toothandnailed's Hummingbird. Fringe at its best.

— Laura Jayne Bateman (@MissLJBateman) August 19, 2016

No Edinburgh 2016 for us, but LOVE the sound of work from @RashDashTheatre @FellswoopTheatr @ontheruntheatre @breach_theatre. GO SEE!

— curious directive (@c_directive) August 18, 2016

If you are in Edinburgh check out @ontheruntheatre #TellMeAnything sad, strange and brilliant (and stars a 🐬)

— TheatreState (@TheatreState) August 16, 2016

Sat chatting about @ontheruntheatre #tellmeanything with #ageofdistrACTION cast who took a lot away from the show pic.twitter.com/J1J6V59NTy

— Age of (Distr)action (@Group64) August 17, 2016

Had a great time tonight watching the stellar @ontheruntheatre's return to the fringe with #TellMeAnything. Gorgeous and emotive theatre.

— Fiercely Spun (@FiercelySpun) August 21, 2016

Tell Me Anything by @ontheruntheatre was arresting and very captivating. Very honest and moving, with a brilliant performance.

— Rory Horne (@rorhor) August 21, 2016

Further reading

In no particular order, here are some of the best books I read whilst researching our new show Tell Me Anything, which is about eating disorders and relationships.

From the author of I Love Dick, a characteristically incisive, wry, raw exploration of anorexia via Simone Weil and Kraus's own deeply personal experiences.  A book which taught me all about flawed heroes and unreliable narrators.

“Anorexia is not evasion of a social gender role; it’s not regression.  It is an active stance: the rejection of the cynicism that this culture hands us through food.”

I don’t know if I agree with this but Kraus does, as the blurb on the back of the book puts it so well, “reclaim anorexia from the psychoanalytical girl ghetto of ‘poor self-esteem’”.

An extraordinary book and rightful winner of this year's Man Booker International Prize.  A novel about food, culture, patriarchy which showed me how not to portray women with eating disorders as victims.

I read this when I was fifteen and refer to it frequently in my teenage diaries because it resembled Kate's experience on so many levels.

“I cannot help but think that had I lived in a culture where ‘thinness’ was not regarded as a strange state of grace, I might have sought out another means of attaining that grace.”

A recently published, frank and deeply touching memoir of anorexia.  This was the book that many of my collaborators said helped them the most.

Edinburgh Fringe recommendations

In case you don't have time to browse the full gimp owl catalogue, we’d like to recommend a few shows by friends of ours who make brilliant, brilliant work.

In the meantime, don't forget to book for our show Tell Me Anything which will play at Summerhall at 5.45pm from 3-28 August.  Tickets are on sale here.

Goggles by This Egg

Pleasance Courtyard, 2pm

We saw an extract of Goggles at Pulse Festival’s Suitcase Day a few months ago and adored it.  A quirky comedy about Josie and Gemma’s friendship, and their pet goldfish, Sunny and Boo. 

Letters To Windsor House by Sh!t Theatre

Summerhall, 1.35pm

Songs, politics, dodgy landlords and detective work from the riotously funny and always anarchic Sh!t Theatre.

Blush by Snuff Box Theatre

Underbelly Cowgate, 6pm

A new play about revenge porn from the award-winning team behind Bitch Boxer, including director Bryony Shanahan, who worked with us on So it Goes.

Don’t Panic! It’s Challenge Anneka by on the button

Summerhall, 2.50pm

Tackling the topic of anxiety, a rollercoaster one-woman show from our Lecoq buddies on the button.

Bricking It by Joanna Griffin

Underbelly Cowgate, 5.30pm

Joanna is joined onstage by her father Pat, a retired builder who’s never made theatre in his life.  Pat learns to be a comedian, whilst Joanna does some honest construction work.  (I saw a work in progress of this last year and it was bloody amazing.  The description above doesn’t really do it justice.) Directed by our old friend Julian Spooner, from Rhum and Clay Theatre Company.

Edinburgh Fringe fundraiser - can you help?

We're delighted to be taking our new show Tell Me Anything to the Edinburgh Fringe.  But we need your help to get there!

We've raised 90% of the money we need to make it to Edinburgh and we've launched a crowd funding campaign to help make up that last 10%.  

We're aiming to raise £1500 to invest directly into the show, as well as marketing which will help us reach as large an audience as possible.  Have a look at the video above to find out more about the show and where the money will go.

Click here to make a donation.  Big or small, it will make a big difference.

Thank you!

The Tompkins Top Five

So It Goes heads to the Edinburgh Fringe from 24 to 30 August.  (Book ahead here.)  It's been excruciating following all the reviews and tweets from the festival, whilst we're stuck in London!

However, our Associate Artist Emma Tompkins has been at the festival all week, having designed Daniel Bye's show Going Viral, which is on at Northern Stage at Summer Hall at 2.10pm.

She's spent the week gorging herself on theatre, naturally, and we asked her to choose her favourite five shows.

THE TOMPKINS TOP FIVE

I've tried to pick the shows that really stuck with me and not just to name the shows I know because I've worked on them or my mates are in them. Which is tough because I'm proud of the hugely talented companies and individuals I've worked with this year and a lot of my friends are in some really fantastic work! (Check out my twitter @emmatompkins if you’re curious about those) 

But without further ado, my top five (and a half) picks of the Fringe are as follows.

1. Pole by Bent Theatre

Underbelly, Cowgate; midnight

A really arresting performance piece blending strikingly different verbatim stories of women who pole dance. From sports enthusiasts to a woman who uses her skills undercover to help victims of sex trafficking, all blended with beautifully poignant physical theatre and dance.

2. Here is the news from over there (Over there is the news from here) 

by The Bloody Great Border Ballard team

Northern stage at Summer Hall, 11.10pm 

A different collection of writers, performers and artists from the UK and Middle East come together each night to weave bespoke stories and yarns (literally). Funny, moving, slightly anarchic political theatre on the hoof and, true to any middle eastern gathering, there's tea.

3. Portraits in Motion by Volker Gerling in association with Aurora Nova

Summer Hall, 12 noon.

Volker Gerling decided to walk the lengths and breadth of Germany looking for people he wouldn't normally meet, and catching a fleeting 12 seconds of them on film. This show is a flick book mega mix of the stories from humanity that you wouldn't normally hear but are so glad you have, the most absolutely charming way to spend an hour.

4. The Solid Life of Sugar Water by Graeae

Pleasance Dome, 4pm

An old fashioned play this time.  A very well crafted piece of theatre and intensely engaging collection of writing, performance, direction and design. The company also display a model of the set outside so partially sighted and blind audience members can feel and understand what the actors are moving on. Such a brilliant idea I wonder why we aren't all doing more for access to our shows.

5. The Christians by Gate Theatre 

Traverse, various times

I hate jumping on trendy theatre band wagons and The Gate certainly don't need me to get bums on seats but I was really surprised by the critics' responses on this one. Sometimes when I'm watching shows I'll compose the review tweet in my head; when I watched this show, I started deeply interrogating my own feelings on religion and realising just how relevant this show is at a time when our own regional theatres are renting themselves out to churches. I'll still be talking about this show weeks later.

This is not advertising stunt for The Christians, it's just religion doing a very good attempt at theatre.

5.5 Abacus by Early Morning Opera

Summerhall, 6.10pm 

I don't understand this show. I don't think I'm supposed to. Or maybe I am, or maybe that's the point. Wildly complex pastiche, or a genuine blend of Kony 2012 graphics meets final year central st martins TedX lecture this is definitely one for the curious. I'm mainly recommending it so you can go, then explain to me what the hell happened.