EDINBURGH 2016: BWW Q&A - In Our Hands

BWW speaks to Molly Freeman, co-artistic director of Smoking Apples, about their 2016 Edinburgh Fringe show IN OUR HANDS.

What has Ted (the star of previous show CELL) been up to since last year's festival?

Ted has been really busy charming the pants off more people. We took him out on a second national tour throughout the spring of this year and then he had his first trip to Europe! We played CELL at the Recklinghausen Fringe Festival in Germany for a week and everyone loved him, although he had some seriously stiff competition from the goldfish - the German audiences really loved the goldfish! We just have our final performance of the tour to go, which is at Beverley Puppet Festival on 17 July, then we'll be putting Ted to bed for a little while.

Tell us about In Our Hands

In Our Hands tells the story of Alf, who is a trawler fisherman. It's a fast-paced, innovative show all about Alf, his job within the trawling industry, his crew, his boat and reconnecting with his son. There's also a naughty seagull whose desperate attempts to find food provide some light relief throughout the show. We've teamed up again with designer Samuel Wyer (Les Enfants Terribles), who designed our shadow puppets for CELL, and this time he has designed our set, which has been described as the set that keeps on giving. If you can guess how many different ways our set goes together in the course of one show, we'll give you a prize! Following on from our signature style in CELL, you can also expect some more striking puppetry and attention to detail as we use everything from mini seagulls, fish and chips and boats on sticks to transport the audience. Partnered with a human, heartfelt narrative, we hope the Edinburgh audiences will really enjoy it.

Are you going to make me cry again?

CELL is a very emotional, poignant show because it's about a devastating disease. In Our Hands doesn't pull on the heartstrings in quite the same way, but there are still emotional moments throughout the show. Like CELL, it's another story about being human and the positives and negatives that come with it. I think people relate to that and (if we're doing our job properly!) become emotionally involved.

Do you think you know what to expect from the Fringe?

Haha! Absolutely not! The Fringe is such a fickle beast, constantly changing hour to hour and day to day let alone year on year. We had a brilliant Fringe last year, but this is a new show and a new set of challenges, so although we have a little more knowledge (size of venue, get in space etc.) we have to start right from the bottom up. The only thing I expect is to not expect anything!

Are there any shows you're hoping to catch at this year's festival?

There are a lot of shows that I'm hoping to catch, I now just have to work out a time to see them all! There are always a couple that slip through the net though, because they're on at the same time as us, but we try and see as much as possible. The very brilliant Kill the Beast are taking up not one but two shows this year. They're bringing their previous hit He Who Had Hairy Hands, which I've seen already but will definitely catch again in Edinburgh, and also their new show Don't Wake the Damp.

I'll also make sure I squeeze in The Pianist. I've heard so much about this show and have come close to seeing it a few times, so I'm going to make sure I get in for that one! I'm really looking forward to seeing The Marked by Theatre Temoin too. Last week I also saw Fossils by Bucket Club. It was their second show ever and it was really great, so I'll try and catch that again too in Edinburgh - I'd like to see how it's developed.

Timings and ticket information for In Our Hands are available on the edfringe website.

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