Interview: Berynn Schwerdt, ‘Summer of Harold’
Ahead of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024, we’re chatting with a range of creatives who will be heading to the city over August to find out more about their shows. Today we’re chatting with Berynn Schwerdt about Summer of Harold.
Can you tell us a bit about you and your career so far..
Hi, I’m Berynn Schwerdt, 57, male (he/him). Been working in theatre since 1984, and went professional in 1989 after 3 years of acting school. I’ve done some film and television, but 99% of the hours I’ve spent as an actor have been on stage over about 80 shows of various kinds, from musicals to dramas, avant-garde and grassroots, from busking to school shows to mainstage, working on pieces by modern, classical and ancient writers, as well as self-devised work with no particular author. Lately I’ve done more Shakespeare than usual with the excellent Sport for Jove theatre company in Sydney, most recently playing Jaques in As You Like It, and Juliet’s dad in Romeo and Juliet.
What is your show about?
SOH is a triptych of plays by one of Australia’s most revered and original writers, Hilary Bell. Two very different monologues are followed by a two-hander that take us into three distinctly different lives and experiences, linked thematically by their study of what it is to hang on to things too tightly or to learn to let them go. Even ordinary things can be imbued with great significance, binding us together or driving us apart – sometimes at the same time.
What was the inspiration for Summer of Harold and what’s the development process been to get to this stage?
The title of the show is the title of the first piece. Hilary interviewed an Australian woman, Margaret Woodward, who worked as a housekeeper for the Pinters for 3 months. That piece was performed on its own by Lucia Mastrantone, who has returned to the role for the Edinburgh Festival.
The Ensemble Theatre in Sydney initially asked Hilary to write a longer version of the play, but ultimately commissioned her to write two others for a triple bill. There were several script development workshops, which consisted of reading the piece out, and then the actors, Hilary, the previous director, Frankie Savidge and dramaturg Jane Fitzgerald, discussing improvements. I was reading for the last three workshops
What made you want to take Summer of Harold to the Fringe?
A director friend who saw the show in Sydney remarked that it would make a fine touring piece. We thought it more likely we would tour Australia first, but House of Oz, a UK promoter of Australian works, invited us to come to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and we were delighted at the prospect of bringing the piece to the UK, not least because there is a kind of homage to one of Britain’s greatest playwrights in the first piece. Much of Australian theatrical history is rooted in British traditions and canon. It’s been a long time since Australians called Britain ‘home’, but there is still a lingering sense of attachment, and bringing SOH to the Festival just feels right.
Apart from seeing Summer of Harold, what’s your top tip for anybody heading for Edinburgh this summer?
Apart from the eye-rollingly obvious “see our show!” we really shouldn’t be offering advice, as we are utter newbies to the Fringe Festival experience in Edinburgh, and excited to dive into the experience. But from experience with other Fringe Festivals and advice we’ve been given, I’d say drink plenty of water and make sure you bring some sturdy shoes!
Why should people book Summer of Harold?
These vignettes of human experience are about learning to surrender a little to the things we think define us – fears, resentments, anxieties, even people at times. It is a joyful, easy to watch journey into private human spaces. The show crosses the bridge between stand-up and drama, so if you’re in the mood for some heart with your laughs, come and enjoy for just under 90 minutes.
When and where can people see Summer of Harold?
VENUE: Assembly Checkpoint, 3 Bristo Place
TIME: 1:50pm
DATES: August 1 to 26 – no show on Wednesdays
