Edinburgh Fringe Chats (#29): Eleanor Shaw, MEDIUM DEAD

27 Jun

Conducted by Emmie for Theatre and Tonic

As anticipation builds for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025, we’re catching up with a range of exciting creatives preparing to bring their work to the world’s largest arts festival this August. In this series, we delve into the stories behind the shows, the inspiration driving the artists, and what audiences can expect.

Today, we’re joined by Eleanor Shaw to chat about Medium Dead.

1. Can you begin by telling us about your show and what inspired it?

A bold new solo dark comedy medium dead about suicide, the quiet horror of bureaucratic routine, and the search for purpose. Set in the bleakest office of the afterlife, this sharply observed piece follows one worker trapped in the soul-sorting monotony of eternal admin, going through the motions with unprofessional detachment - going through the motions with unprofessional detachment – until the assignment of a death-time lands on her desk, and something begins to stir. Bennie really puts the ghost in ghostwriter. She writes suicide notes for a living, and her record of seeing people through to the bitter end is less than perfect. After a difficult meeting with HR (Death), she is given one final chance to prove herself and keep her place in the Office. But this time, she has landed an impossible client: universally beloved chef and TV presenter Anthony Bourdain. Bennie is torn, but Chef has unlocked a secret to the universe and can’t live to keep it – and if she doesn’t see this one out, she’s going Downstairs.

The idea of someone writing suicide notes for other people has been haunting me for years. The best ideas are the ones that have been perpetually in a brain safe; I was just waiting for the right combination to unlock it. Then Anthony Bourdain came along. It was the string that brought the notion of answers, meaning behind suicide, what we make of it, together.

I think I was bored of the Mental Health Play that climaxes on a banal, generic, rallying cry for life with no direct call to action. Or Ordeal Theatre that tries to show what it’s like living with depression, suicidal ideation, or mental illness, but doesn’t ask you anything else.

2. What made you want to bring this work to the Fringe this year?

I’ve been sitting on the show too long. I think it’s time. I want to unleash the monster or she’ll fester and cause me so much psychic distress I’ll lose the plot.

3. How would you describe your show in three words?

Dark, death-affirming, daring.

4. What do you hope audiences take away from watching your performance?

Pour some crisps in a bowl. Kiss your cat on the head. Book a trip. To quote Bourdain: to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else's shoes or at least eat their food, it's a plus for everybody.

Try and have a better lunchbreak. The suicide prevention stuff is in-built - I don’t need to spell it out to the audience. Connect. Share a meal. It’s all there in the Gospel of Anthony Bourdain.

5. What’s your top tip for surviving the Fringe?

COMMUNITY. You have to have a gang of misfits and friends up there. You have to give love to get love. Turn up at your friend’s WIPs and previews. Commiserate when you have to. Celebrate together.

6. Where and when can people see your show?

Zoo Playground 2, 16.50 1-25 August, not Mondays. Tickets can be found here.