Interview: Saul Boyer, ‘In Defiance of Gravity’

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 Saul Boyer about the piece, In Defiance of Gravity.

Can you tell us a bit about you and your career so far..

I'm the director of Unleash the Llama Productions - and have been making theatre since 2014, when UTL’s debut Edinburgh Fringe extravaganza hit an unsuspecting public. "Nougat for Kings" featured Peruvian coffee smugglers, piracy, a climatic fencing sequence and a 20th Century Fox style credits tableau. I’ll never forget arriving in Edinburgh exhausted and bleary-eyed, and flyering a deeply polite and disinterested Paul Merton mere moments before our first tech. Ah yes, those halcyon days.  It’s been a wild decade since then and let’s just say I've spent it all hooked on making ambitious, genre-defying shows. It seems that ever since I crammed our set into the boot of an overnight bus from London Victoria a decade ago, I have been become a slave to the cruel mistress of theatre. In Defiance of Gravity will be UTL’s 5th stage show, following recent highlights including the sell-out hits Jew...ish in 2019 and Man of 100 Faces in 2022.

What is your show about?

In Defiance of Gravity follows the misadventures of Ezra Montefiore, an opium-addicted psychic who weasels his way into the Russian aristocracy and royally screws with the marriage of Prince Felix Yusupov and his wife Irina. Ezra's either a fraud, a genuine medium, or a hot mess of a human being. But as rumours spread of his affair with the royal couple, Ezra is forced to choose between outing himself as a con artist or resorting to murder. It's a wild, trippy journey that asks how far you'd go to keep the faith.

What was the inspiration for the show and what's the development process been to get to this stage?

I've always been a bit obsessed with the occult craze in pre-revolutionary Russia. The aristocrats were all about seances and spiritualism - a Netflix for the too-rich-to-have-any-sense-of-purpose-in-life types. I did a bit of a deep dive into memoirs and historical accounts of figures at the time, and thought - these are ripe pickings for a late night gothic epic. 

Developing the show has been a trip. Tons of research, working with the cast to craft the characters, and experimenting with live magic to immerse the audience in the world. Think caffeine addiction, all-nighters, major rewrites, minor breakdowns, and a lot of laughter.

What made you want to take this to the Fringe?

The Fringe is the perfect playground for bold, risky, slightly unhinged theatre. In Defiance of Gravity is a genre-bending fever dream that feels right at home amidst the glorious chaos of the Fringe. We hope to make adventurous Fringe-goers who crave audacious, boundary-pushing work, question their sense of reality. 

Apart from seeing your show, what's your top tip for anybody heading for Edinburgh this summer?

Climb Arthur's Seat (if you're a masochist), or if the pressure to see every show there is getting to you, catch a 4DX movie at the Cineworld in Fountainbridge. Pro tip: watching a Jordan Peele horror flick while your chair assaults the small of your spine with small jabs while cold air in your face is a chef’s kiss Fringe experience. Oh, and don't forget to grab a masala chai at Mosque Kitchen, a steak and ale pie at Piemaker and an all-you-can-eat at that amazing Chinese just by the castle whose name escapes me right now. 

Why should people book to see your show?

Because where else can you witness magic, period drama, and a plot that's half Grand Guignol, half queer melodrama? In Defiance of Gravity is a balls-to-the-wall bonkers ride through the occult underbelly of Imperial Russia that'll leave you giddy, gobsmacked, and questioning the nature of reality. Don't miss out on the trippiest ticket at the Fringe!

When and where can people see the show?

Catch us at Summerhall in Edinburgh from the 1st-26th of August. Or if you're in London, come see our previews at the King's Head Theatre from July 16th-20th. Bring snacks, an open mind, and maybe a spare pair of pants (just in case).