Anna and Helen: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019
Who? Anna and Helen
What? Stuck in a Rat
Where? Pleasance Courtyard – The Attic (Venue 33)
When? 17:45
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
We feel very grateful to be going as a pair because our feelings-roller-coasters coincide extremely well. When one of us is having night terrors about the show being a complete disaster, the other is wildly optimistic that we’ll absolutely have the best month of our lives. And then quick as a flash, we swap. It’s such fun and so nice to finally have a sense of stability in this chaotic industry.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
It’s an unashamedly positive life-transforming seminar, led by a couple of well-meaning idiots. It’s been a real stretch to find those characters. Ultimately designed to be an uplifting celebration of life and all its complications, it’s very silly but written from the heart.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
We decided to make things easy for ourselves by not having any props and then proceeded to make a show which required a full drum kit, keyboard and guitar. So our biggest obstacle has probably been lugging the instruments all over London for previews without doing ourselves any long-term physical damage.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
The biggest change in attitude is that we have plucked up the courage to take a show there together. Other than that it remains as exciting as it ever has been.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
We love Lucy Pearman’s shows for their incredible inventiveness and creativity and Rosie Jones was brilliant in the Funny Women Final so we can’t wait to see her do a full hour.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
Hopefully we’ll have found our way out of the rat by the 26th August. And then we’ll spend the next 11 months trying not to get stuck in it again.