Interview: Duncan Hodgkinson, Dante & the Robot
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 Duncan Hogkinson about their piece Dante & the Robot.
Can you tell us a bit about you and your career so far.
I started performing at a young age in Mallorca doing features in commercials, but it wasn't until I did a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, that I would fall in love with the theatre. Straight after school I got offered a place on the BA Acting (International) course at East 15 Acting School. Three years later I graduated with a show I co-created with 2 students from my class, Central (Story) Line, which gave me work for the next two years, touring London Fringe venues and performing in Copenhagen. I have also worked in cinema, having played supporting roles in "A Chinatown Cannon", and, Christian Neuman's 2nd feature, "Stargazer" , released later this year.
What is your show about?
Dante and the Robot is a dystopian play, about Dante, a young man living in a studio flat in a busy metropolis, approaching his 25th birthday and first robotic update. His girlfriend has left for Japan to live a calmer and older way of life far from technology. Dante is left working a job he hates. He is lost. His only companion is a house robot named She-Bot. He embraces escapism by writing a screenplay where he can delve into a world of adventure and chivalry. We meet a valiant knight errant called Don Ademar accompanied by his Squire, whose mission is to fight evil and find his princes. Gradually Dante's reality and Admar's fictional world begin to merge and collapse, and the perception of reality becomes questionable.
What was the inspiration for Dante and the Robot and what’s the development process been to get to this stage?
A lot of the inspiration came from Jamie and I's observation of the speed at which technology was advancing... However, the starting point came from a more philosophical and spiritual place, as is often the case with any piece of art. I was going through a deep break up, I had lost meaning in any kind of work and by complete coincidence (even though coincidences don't exist...) I attended Jamie's clowning workshop. We bonded and connected over love, theatre and taking long walks talking about everything and nothing. Slowly and steadily a show was beginning to emerge and I started writing more and more, and then with Jamie we would devise what was written, and the process repeated itself over and over until we had something we were happy with. Then the process was beginning to test out the material and do works in progress to get audience feedback, then like tuning a guitar, we started getting a sound we liked from it.
What made you want to take Dante and the Robot to the Fringe?
The Fringe was always a goal when beginning my next production. I really wanted to go with a show and have a full fringe experience and perform for multiple dates in a row. Jamie had been multiple times and was an incredible pillar in sustaining me while on this journey. It's crazy to think we are so close to the fringe now, when 6 months ago it was still just a possibility! The fringe is such a major platform for performing artists to play and connect and that I can say is still one of the main attractions.
Apart from seeing Dante and the Robot, what’s your top tip for anybody heading for Edinburgh this summer?
The fringe being so international, with shows coming from every corner of the earth I would encourage people to watch shows from everywhere around the world, to explore the variety of different cultures coming to Edinburgh. Everyone has a different approach to theatre. Watch dance shows, comedies, musicals, tragedies, become enveloped in the synergy of the fringe.
Why should people book Dante and the Robot?
It's hard to say, because I am so emotionally part of the show, and it would be absurd not to see it from my perspective... But putting myself in the shoes of someone who's never heard of it I'd say, come see it if you want to fantasies of a dystopian future where humans gradually become robots, come see it you want your mind opened, come see it if you enjoy Don Quixote or Princes Bride or Brazil. Come see the greatest knight errant in the world make a fool of himself while still flirting with you. It's fun, it's thought provoking and dramatic. It's made up of the components to make you feel alive, and grateful to be free!
When and where can people see Dante and the Robot?
Preview shows at Seven Dial's Playhouse, London, July 11th at 19:30
Premiere and full run everyday from 02-25 of August at Playground 1, ZOO Venues, 16:30, Edinburgh Fringe.
