ED FRINGE 2023 INTERVIEW | Holly Sewell, Dazzling Theatre

Interviews

7 Aug

In preparation for the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Emmie chats Dazzling Theatre’s writer Holly Sewell about their Dazzling!, a new solo play about love, art and addiction.

This show is by an emerging company where members are either current students or recent graduates. We’re so excited to have a chat with them about the Fringe!

CW: Addiction and mental health

1. Let's begin by pitching your show at the Ed Fringe, tell us about it?

Dazzling is a one-woman show about love, addiction and art - it’s Fleabag for a new generation.

A year on from a depressive episode, Alix is full of the joys of life. But when they meet a beautiful stranger, old inner conflicts resurface. The show tracks their loss of grip on reality as they become increasingly obsessed with this person, Fiona, who triggers everything from addiction issues to anxiety to leaving their job to, eventually, the collapse of the most important relationships in their life. It’s definitely dark, but there’s a healthy sprinkling of Waller-Bridge-esque humour in there to get you through it!

2. Where did you draw your influences from for this piece?

I remember seeing Jodie Comer in Prima Facie last year and being absolutely blown away by what she did with a one-woman show. That was a huge influence - a lot of the way the narrative is set out and the pacing is inspired by Suzie Miller’s script, although the subject material is quite different. I think it’s also hard not to be inspired by Fleabag now that it’s such a phenomenon, especially if you’re a huge fan like me! There’s a little nod to that in the show.

I’m pretty sure some of the ideas are straight out of Mae Martin’s Feel Good as well, which I’d just watched before starting to write the script.

3. What are the challenges of bringing a piece to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe?

For us, we’re self-producing so it’s been a lot! I think the thing I find the most stressful is the publicity - it’s just never-ending, and no matter how much you do you always feel you should be doing more. We were really lucky with funding applications and getting grants etc, so thankfully that part was all pretty stress-free, but I can imagine for a lot of shows finding the money to do it is the biggest challenge! There are so many expenses you wouldn’t necessarily think of.

4. What can audiences expect from your show?

It’s intensely emotional and really intimate. Although it’s funny, it’s not a feel-good laugh-along piece at all. You can expect something you’ll relate to and something that you might cry on the way out of.

5. What are you most looking forward to during your time in Edinburgh for the festival?

Meeting people and seeing other shows I think! I’ve never been to the Fringe before, and I’m relatively new to the world of theatre so I honestly just can’t wait to get stuck in. It seems like such a unique environment. I’m also super excited to hear what kind of reception Dazzling gets :)

6. What are the main things within your piece?

There’s a lot going on, and different people tend to take different things away from it, but I’d say the main threads are: