Alison Skilbeck's UNCOMMON GROUND Comes to Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Critically acclaimed writer and actress, Alison Skilbeck, returns to Assembly for her fifth Edinburgh Fringe to premiere her new play, "Alison Skilbeck's Uncommon Ground", in the Front Room, Assembly Rooms on George St from 3-27 August.

Skilbeck thrilled Edinburgh audiences last summer with the reprisal of her five-star reviewed solo show "Mrs Roosevelt Flies to London", which she first brought to Assembly in 2016. She also performed her comic study of Shakespeare's older women, "The Power Behind The Crone" in 2017 and her serio-comedy, "Are There More of You?", described by playwright Alan Ayckbourn as "brilliantly observed, richly comic characters, all played to painful perfection. Wonderful!", in 2018.

Her new play, Alison Skilbeck's Uncommon Ground, is about six wildly different people, coping and connecting during one year on the Common, telling their unexpected tales of love, life, death, and downright dottiness, while a seventh character lurks mysteriously. It is directed by Gareth Armstrong, with music by composer Simon Slater (Constellations, Royal Court/West End/Broadway) and lighting design by Mark Dymock (Once, UK tour).

Written during Lockdown and partly inspired by glimpses of people Skilbeck saw on her daily allotted walk on Clapham Common, it is a response to the feeling of isolation during COVID, and the search for connectedness. It reflects on the human need for the solace of nature, for healing laughter and silliness, and for love in all its forms surviving.

Alison Skilbeck is an Associate Teacher at RADA, specialising in directing Shakespeare, and serving on the Admissions Panel. Her television includes Sherlock Holmes, The Beiderbecke Affair, Miss Marple, Head Over Heels, Soldier Soldier, New Tricks, Doctor Who, Lovejoy, Midsomer Murders and Call the Midwife. She can currently be seen in series five of The Crown on Netflix.

"Alison Skilbeck's Uncommon Ground" runs from 3-27 August at 12.40pm. Preview tickets on 3 August are £7, then £12.50/£11.50 off peak Mon-Thurs, and £13.50/£12.50 peak ticket on Fri-Sun, available from the Assembly website, www.assemblyfestival.com and edfringe.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.