more pictures of major award winners

I know you must be sick of it by now, both of you who read this blog, but here are more pictures of us having memorable heart-warming times in Edinburgh. Lynsey, one of our SCAMP street team sent these to me. They warmed my teeny tiny heart.

Here we are at Oloroso the night we opened. The people you don't recognize are Sam from SCAMP (next to Joey), Alex a SCAMP actor (next to me, where he BELONGS!) and Lynsey (between Atticus and Craig).







Craig at the SCAMP Haggis Dinner at The Assembly Rooms. Funny, this is the only picture Lynsey sent from the haggis dinner. Actually, she seemed to have sent along a lot of pictures of Craig...interesting...



And these are at Star Bar after we won our award. See the glint of triumph in our eyes! Or is that just the glint of whisky...

viva la liberation!

At one of our performances in Edinburgh we had 2 pieces of French press in the audience. One was this website. Husband found it through extensive googling and when he did a translation of the page found that for google "La Femme Est Morte" means "The Woman East Gold". That might be my next tattoo.

Please visit the site to see beautiful production shots of La Femme, actually shot during a performance!



On other fronts, I am still in Scotland. We are doing major preliminary work on the Minstrel Show as well as a few other projects, but mostly I am sleeping until noon, eating too much bacon, and glued to the news for any developments on whether Maddie was actually murdered by her parents. I'm on holiday, dammit.

STAGE AWARDS

US theatre triumphs at The Stage Awards for Acting Excellence
Published Wednesday 29 August 2007 at 11:45 by Matthew Hemley




Shalimar Theatre Company: Laura Lee Anderson, Kim Gainer, Jen Taher, Marissa Lupe, Craig Peugh, Joey Williamson, Shoshona Currier, Atticus Rowe and Justin Donham won Best Ensemble for La Femme Est Morte or Why I Should Not F**k My Son at the Pleasance Dome.
Photo: Chris Watt


American visitors to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe might have been fewer but US performers scored one of their best results at this year’s prestigious Stage Awards for Acting Excellence.

Performers from New York-based theatre company Shalimar were crowned Best Ensemble for their production of La Femme Est Morte or Why I Should Not F**k My Son at the Pleasance Dome. Compatriot Madi Distefano won Best Solo Performer for her production Popsicle’s Departure 1989 at the Assembly Rooms.

Distefano, who beat competition including Linda Marlowe, Elisabeth Gray, Alexander Campbell, Iris Bahr and Joanna Swain, said: “This is such a major international award. I never planned on touring the piece as I am a full-time Philadelphian actor, director and mother, but now I would be honoured to go to some other festivals.”

The two shows were among only three US productions to reach the shortlist of 23 nominees for the awards, now in their 13th year, which celebrate the best theatre at the fringe.

Shalimar artistic director Shoshona Currier said: “It’s a really great honour to win the award. It’s been a slow festival and we’ve struggled with audiences but it’s an amazing honour to be recognised by a group of critics and our peers.”

Other winners at this year’s event include Garry Cooper, who won Best Actor for his role in Long Time Dead at the Traverse, beating competition from James Baxter in Scarborough, Daniel Pirrie in Sting for Nolte and Merryn Owen for World’s End.

Colleagues Eugenia Caruso and Janet Bamford walked away with a rare joint award for Best Actress for their performances in Truckstop at the Zoo, beating competition from the likes of Stage columnist Dillie Keane, who appeared in Frank and Dolly at the Gilded Balloon Teviot.

Nominees are selected by The Stage’s team of critics, who review more than 300 professional shows.

Jeremy Austin, who heads the reviews team, said: “It’s been a great year for drama. None of us has seen a bad play.”

He warned the programme for this year’s festival had been “bigger than ever” and said: “There are not enough audiences to sustain something this size.”

Check out this magical video on non other than...BROADWAY BABY!

edinburgh out-takes

So we're done. Two days ago I got up at 6:30am to put Joey in a cab to a bus to London. Then Craig, Atticus, and Kim got on a plane. Justin left for Prague. The next day Marissa and Joe got on the early bus to London and then Jen got on a plane. This morning Laura Lee got on the bus to London and now Husband and I are hopping a train to Glasgow and then another to the sandy freezing beaches of Ayrshire.

I have documented none of this. I actually am feeling a little sentimental and sad (a LITTLE) and didn't want to photograph the backs of my amazing cast as they carried their suitcases down the stairs, hopped into cabs and said good-bye. This was a killer group of people to work with. I couldn't have asked for a more fun talented caring and exciting cast and crew. And so it's sad to see it end. It's not just the end of a 4 week festival. It is the end of a year and a half of really dilligent work on a play that showed us at our best, as an ensemble and as individual artists.

Looking forward to the next show though...

I went through the i-photo and pulled some pictures of random wonderous moments throughout the fest. And after I post this, I will pack up my computer, walk out of Footlights for (god willing) the last time, and get on my train.

Here are some happy moments from this month.

Jen. Cleaning.



The boys from MOD.




EdFestTV





Lunch at the Princess St. Mall food court. Joey ate KFC...




...while I got obsessed with a McTart.





This is how the Best Ensemble warms up.



I got a new tattoo. Don't be fooled by Marissa's smiling face...she punked out.






Auto Auto. This is what the fringe is all about. Two German guys fucking destroying a car while they sing classical music. This show should have won every award going. It was a pretty special experience.




Kim flyered. And met a 19 year old.





Atticus got knocked down by that damn ghost.




Oh Dino. Marissa flyered Dino and he came to our show and he turned out to be the sweetest friendliest DJ from South Africa you've ever met. Yow.


Dino's show, The House of the Holy Afro. It was amazing.



This is our venue's "VIP" bar, Brooke's. Notice how it looks like a dentist's waiting room? Worst VIP bar in Edinburgh.



Kim's photo shoot.






Drinking and smoking and choking.





Simon. aka Moira.




Here is how we postered on the Royal Mile. ONCE.




The cue for our show. Magical.

hate mail

Subject: edinburgh extra-curricular activities
From: "Seamus McFadden"
Date: Fri, August 24, 2007 7:35 am
To: shoni@shalimarproductions.org
Priority: Normal
Options: View Full Header | View Printable Version | Add to Addressbook

Ms. Shoshona,

I wanted to inform you that my colleagues and I were planning on attending your show in this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival - La Femme Est Morte - however, after witnessing a select member of your company engage in highly offensive and virtually pornographic activities outside your venue, we have decided to lead a boycott against your artistic efforts, which, no doubt, are as tasteless and inappropriate as your disregard for public decency.

Attached are photos of the incident to which I am referring. I apologize for being the bearer of such ill tidings, but as a fellow artist I thought that it may be helpful to your company.

I wish you the best in the future.


Yours in Decency,

Seamus McFadden
Artistic Director
Garden Variety Theatre Company






Ok. It turned out to be from Joe, Atticus, and Craig. Those motherfuckers totally punked me and it was genius.

Lush

Sometimes we do some drinking.