Four stars in The Times for Tell Me Anything

Here's today's four star review for Tell Me Anything from Donald Hutera at The Times.  Book now for performances at Shoreditch Town Hall, London from 20th September to 1 October, or Margate Theatre Royal on 17th September.

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

Audience responses for Tell Me Anything

We're having a great time time performing Tell Me Anything at the Edinburgh Fringe.  Catch the show at 5.45pm every day at Summerhall (tickets here).  Here's what some of our audiences have been saying:

Tell Me Anything by @ontheruntheatre @Summerhallery is my first totally essential tip @edfringe . Tho of course @RashDashTheatre yet to come

— James Blakey (@jamesblakey) August 9, 2016

well done @ontheruntheatre on a powerful, moving, thought-provoking show. David - you were a special 15 year old and a special grown up.

— Nancy Poole (@nancyepoole) August 7, 2016

Raw, honest show about eating disorders, love and (not always) doing the right thing.Brilliantly performed @DavidRalfe with @ontheruntheatre

— on the button (@on_thebutton) August 6, 2016

Deeply moved and actually quite shaken after watching #TellMeAnything by @ontheruntheatre today @edfringe . Outstanding 👏

— Claire Joicey (@cvjoyce) August 11, 2016

#TellMeAnything @Summerhallery. Loved, loved, loved. Wonderfully simple, beautifully touching. @ontheruntheatre @Show_And_Tell

— Andy George (@4NDYGEORGE) August 11, 2016

Team Gatsby were blown away by @ontheruntheatre's Tell Me Anything. Stellar solo show telling a moving story with brutal, beautiful honesty.

— NNT in Edinburgh (@NNTEdinburgh) August 9, 2016

#TellMeAnything by @ontheruntheatre - powerful, moving, beautiful. Raises awareness about key issues. Thank you. It's unmissable.

— Sasha Butler (@SashaButler09) August 9, 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.

Further information about Eating Disorders - including help and resources for both sufferers and carers

Our new show Tell Me Anything deals with David's experience of caring for a girlfriend who had an eating disorder, when he was fifteen.  If you would like to know more about the issues raised in the show, or if you are affected by them yourself, we highly recommend the following websites and organisations.

The New Maudsley Approach

This was fundamental to our understanding of the experience of being a carer. If you're going through something similar and looking for help, this website is the best place to start.

F.E.A.S.T.

An international organisation of and for parents and caregivers to help loved ones recover from eating disorders by providing information and mutual support

Around The Dinner Table

An online community of parents of eating disorder patients around the world run by F.E.A.S.T. ATDT is a moderated forum that has connected and supported parents since 2004.

CandMed Productions

A series of short films and interviews, designed to help eating disorder sufferers, carers, family and friends, as well as healthcare and education professionals

Eating Disorders and Carers

An organisation run by Veronica Kamerling, whose daughters suffered from eating disorders.  Veronica now run the London Carers' Group, a self help group run by and for carers.

B-eat

Information and help on all aspects of eating disorders, including Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, binge eating disorder and related eating disorders.

Succeed Foundation

A charity that investigates supports academics and eating disorder practitioners in building, collecting and disseminating knowledge, research and evidence and which works to develop and establish tools to further the understanding of eating disorders.

June Alexander

Information and help on eating disorders for carers, sufferers and mental health workers. A website designed by June Alexander, an Australian writer, educator and public speaker on eating disorders and mental health issues.

Boys Get Anorexia Too & Men Get Eating Disorders Too
Information and resources for men or boys suffering from eating disorders and their carers.

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!

Tell Me Anything

We've been working on our new show Tell Me Anything for most of the summer, finishing up with work in progress performances at Shoreditch Town Hall.  Thanks to all our audiences, your support and feedback is invaluable!

The show is about David's experiences of caring for his teenage girlfriend, who was anorexic and bulimic, when he was fifteen.  We're indebted to Charlotte Rhind for her fantastic insights throughout our rehearsals, as well as the many other eating disorder experts we've spoken to over the past few months.

It's also been a pleasure to collaborate with musician Lilly Neubauer and our old friend Emma Tompkins.  Finally, a big thank you to Alex Brenner for these fantastic rehearsal photos.

We plan to open the show next year, so stay tuned for updates!

Development of Tell Me Anything has been kindly supported by Camden People's Theatre, The North Wall, Shoreditch Town Hall and Arts Council, England.

Rehearsal Room Video Diary 2 - Music

Rehearsal Room Video Diary 1

Over the summer, we'll be spending several weeks working on our new show.  We'll be announcing details of public work-in-progress performances soon. In the meantime, enjoy this sneaky peek behind the scenes.