EI8HT for Sydney Fringe
Edgeware Forum, a new theatre collective comprising of six 2013 acting graduates, present Ella Hickson’sEI8HT, directed by Anna Houston at Erskineville Town Hall – The Village Theatre as part of the 205 Sydney Fringe Festival
“I’m trying to tackle the negative reputation that my generation has earned itself. We need to prove we’re not all apathetic, drug-munching, no-brainers. We do have something intelligent to offer and we’re not afraid of having political punch. It’s about time we believed in something.” – Ella Hickson
What happens to a named-and-shamed Generation? UK playwright Ella Hickson asked Gen Y'ers from a range of vastly different backgrounds “What defines your generation?” EI8HT comprises of eight 15-minute monologues that paint a portrait of these named and shamed 20-something-year-olds.
You’re invited to meet them; to witness their electric triumphs, their crushing failures, their bittersweet redemption, their confronting truths and the unexpected glimmers of faith amongst a landscape of wholesale cynicism and drastic financial recession.
BUT, THERE’S A CATCH. We live in an age of hyper choice. Every night the audience will live vote for the 5 characters they want to see*. This means that the show is different every night. As different and as opinionated as its audience...
What is Edgeware Forum?
“The six of us met in 2014 when - all of us recent acting graduates - got together at David Bruce's (one of our founders) house to do fortnightly play readings on Edgeware Road. We read so many fantastic plays that spoke to us as individuals and us as a generation of young people. The next logical step was to combine this creative energy and enthusiasm we had and direct it into our own company. 'EI8HT' by Ella Hickson is our inaugural production.”
Why this play, and why now?
Each character in EI8HT has a fierce faith doctrine. Be that religious, ideological, political, familial, or something else entirely. Each character brings a voice to different sectors of society and their battles. All are young people. All are given voices. Within an increasingly apathetic generation, we wanted to find out what 20-something-year-olds care about; what they are fighting for. Because we are all fighting for something. Ella's monologues are insightful, funny and moving. They paint our youths of today as intelligent, fierce and full of feeling.
SHOW DETAILS
 AND LOCATION: Erskineville Town Hall, 104 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville NSW
CAST: Alastair James, Andre de Vanny, Bobbie Jean-Henning, Danielle Stamoulos, David Bruce, Jane Watt, Maryann Wright and Nicholas Starte.
DATES: WED 16th September – SAT 19th September, 8.30PM; SUN 20th September, 7:30PM
TICKETS: F $25 C $21
BOOK: https://www.sydneyfringe.com/whats_on/event/4c5e8712-4480-4216-8752- cc4936044016/
* Characters the audience can choose from:
1. an ex-soldier who makes friends in the morgue
2. a Scottish ‘lass’ single mother facing poverty
3. a matriarchal high class hooker with a patriotic chip on her shoulder
4. a private school boy learning sex in the south of France
5. an art dealer who finds an unlikely visitor hanging from the rafters of his gallery
6. a drunk young woman at a crossroads
7. a mystic pregnant youth with a fierce secret
8. an American businessman who has lost everything except his memories of the 7/7 London bombings
Photographer: Jeffrey Feng