Edinburgh Fringe Chats (#30): THE CRAWL

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 the team behind Crawl.

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

The Crawl takes the familiar setting of a swim race and turns it on its head, transforming it into a whirlwind of imagination, play, and surprise. Alexander and Ellie create the world of the swimming pool on a stage with no water— each bringing to life a variety of wacky characters. At the story’s core is the rivalry between legendary athlete Mytha and rising star Steve as they each vie to outdo the other.

We started working on The Crawl in the runup to the 2024 Paris Olympics. The show was born out of a fascination with the high-stakes world of sporting competitions and the extreme pressure people place upon themselves –in sports, and in everyday life – to excel and be the best. Elite athletes felt like the perfect characters to explore (through a comic lens) questions such as: What is behind the desire to win? Why do we need glory? Do we fight for ourselves, or to please others?

We created an original 10-minute version of the play that featured a lot of mimed swimming, a dolphin, and some rather skimpy leotards. The leotards have got shinier, we’d like to think our miming has rather improved, and the dolphin somehow got lost along the way.

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

The Fringe is the Olympics of the theatre world and we couldn’t think of a better arena for The Crawl to have its first extended run. We’ve all three brought work to the Fringe before separately and we’re thrilled to be joining forces this time around. Edinburgh audiences are fantastic – exigent but up-for-anything– and we’re particularly excited for the show’s moments of audience interaction.

We’ve performed the show a handful of times—in both English and French—and it’s now in great shape for the marathon that is August in Edinburgh. We’re hoping the show will make a splash and make waves long past Fringe.

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

Clown-y, camp-y, whirlwind

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

We want people of all ages to leave feeling uplifted by the high energy and playful physicality of the show and the way in which the audience becomes increasingly drawn into the story. We also hope the show will serve as a quiet reminder that yes, glory isn’t always everything, and that choosing your own way forward in life is a triumph on its own.

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

To avoid drowning under the pressure of the Fringe, follow this plan: keep your vision fresh and focused with perfectly attached swim goggles, remember it’s a marathon and that it’s ok to take a few minutes to tread water, and finally take a dip into as many shows as you can!

6. Where and when can people see your show?

We’ll be doing a London preview on the 26th July at 7pm at Seven Dials Playhouse.

Then in Edinburgh we’re on every day from 30 July to 25 August (except for the 13th and the 20th) at 12:05pm at Pleasance 10 Dome right by Bristo Square! Swimming caps encouraged but not required.