ED FRINGE 2023 INTERVIEW | Sugar and Blood, Tinted Theatre

In preparation for the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Emmie chats with Tinted Theatre more about their piece Sugar and Blood.

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

1903. The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) is formed in Manchester- but not everyone agrees with change. Far from the protests, four women are fighting their own personal battle searching for truth. A body has gone missing. And the blood is on all their hands. This is not a question of who committed the crime – everyone's guilty of that. The question is who took the body and why? And what will be the consequences? A murder mystery, but different.

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

This year marks the 120th anniversary of the formation of the WSPU, which is where we originally drew influence for Sugar and Blood; by emphasising themes of the 1903 suffragette movement in Manchester, the play creates a feminist discussion about past and present issues relating to women’s rights. 

We chose to focus on the murder mystery aspect of the our show as the main plot, however, we wanted to do this with a twist! A murder mystery… but different! This theme engages wider audiences, creating a bridge between political discussions and thrilling entertainment.

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

A big challenge that I'm sure the large majority faces when bringing a show to Fringe is funding, which is why it is so important that as artists we support a variety of smaller scale and new emerging artists during our time at the Fringe.

We are fortunate enough to have received funding as graduates from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. However, staying on top of our budget has been a crucial part in bringing our show to Edinburgh Fringe- this includes being budget friendly yet creative with set, costumes, props, accommodation and travel.

Another aspect is that as an all-woman-run theatre company, we have engaged with challenges before we even joined together as a company, and if anything has kept us going it’s the response to someone telling us “You can’t do it”. There’s nothing more empowering than proving that we can do whatever we set our minds to. Theatre is more than just acting, it’s about building connections and working as a team, it’s a profession where most people are all on the same boat on how tough the industry can be, so it is crucial to talk and connect with other creatives whilst at the Fringe!

4. What can audiences expect from your show?

This bold new work experiments with and blends different styles and theatrical practices, including physical theatre and song.

Audiences can expect to witness a merging of personal and political - we take aspects of women's history and apply them to today's audiences, using our voices to find similarities between the treatment of women in today's society and in the past. 

With the combination of a fiction period piece alongside modern 21st century elements, we want to bring awareness of important feminist issues of the time that also draw to today’s society. We believe that audiences will engage with our show especially with the incorporation of the murder mystery aspect which is going to create a bridge between political discussions and thrilling entertainment aimed to more diverse audiences.

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

This Fringe, we are most looking forward to connecting and meeting other artists within this industry! 

We came to Edinburgh Fringe for the first-time last year, and what we were most delightfully surprised by was the sense of community of the #FEMIFRINGE collective and all the new up-coming theatre companies taking their shows up for the first time. 

We cannot wait to delve into this years Edinburgh Fringe Guide and FemiFringe Guide to watch and support a wide variety of shows!

We are also super excited to be returning to Zoo Playground- we had a great relationship with our venue last year, and they truly made our Fringe experience great!

6. What are the main things within your piece?

As Tinted Theatre’s slogan, the most important thing to take away from our work is that feminist theatre means making theatre for everyone. It means talking about topics like youth, sexuality, class, religion, past and present, and making relevant connections. Even though our work doesn’t reveal the answers as to what to do about these topics, we aim to, at the very least, help bring an awareness of these themes that will ultimately creating an opener to discussions. 

With our show Sugar and Blood we believe that by emphasizing themes of the 1903 suffragette movement in Manchester, the play creates a feminist discussion about past and present themes relating to women’s rights. The murder mystery aspect of the show creates a bridge between political discussions and thrilling entertainment that we hope will bring awareness of the continuing fight for gender equality to wider audiences.

7. Where can people come and see 'Sugar and Blood'?

You can watch Sugar and Blood at this years Edinburgh Fringe at Zoo Playground 1 (7pm) from 5th-11th August 2023.

Ticket information can be found here.