EDINBURGH 2019: Susie K Taylor Guest Blog

Susie K Taylor blogs for BWW about bringing Jewbana to the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Robert Burns put his finger on something fundamental when he wrote that we would avoid many a blunder if we could "see ourselves as others see us!"

We all have plenty of faults and flaws, do dumb things and make stupid decisions - things that other people often recognise even when we don't.

I include myself. I am a self-involved, loud and stubborn Jewish woman from Miami, Florida. I also happen to have married a large, even louder andmore stubborn Cuban Catholic man who has a big and vibrant family born also and bred in the vibrant chaos of Miami. Collisions galore!

As an actor, and person who has led a vivid life, following my passions, whims and dreams there is inevitably some left over emotional baggage as I have tried to find my way through life. Unlike most people, actors spend their working lives being other people and trying to please audiences and directors. In these false lives lived I have also adopted false emotional baggage from the many characters I have inhabited through the years leaving me to ask the question: Who is Susie Taylor?

I effectively put Burns' observation to the test and asked my family, in laws, friends, frenemies and even an ex-lover to write down their honest observations of who I truly am.

My crazy idea to ask others to write my script as a way to see myself seemed unlikely to happen but to my surprise, they did! The results were not always pretty, mostly funny and often uncomfortably accurate.

So, how do you process all that reflection and criticism and actually making it useful?

Being an actor- I turned it all into a play, Jewbana, which premieres at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

Jewbana is a sexy, autobiographical, comedy, drama (dramedy?). A 360-degree perspective on a real woman - the good, the bad, "the asshole" - and an account of clashing cultures, complex family politics, motherhood and other thrills and spills (with a dash of burlesque).

Beyond that Jewbana expresses how a woman, actor, wife, mother and daughter who has always felt pressure to be "a pleaser" but completely rebelled from pleasing at every turn builds herself a healthier sense of self and self-esteem from all the various parts of her life, roles and personalities.

Jewbana is bringing some Miami flavour to Edinburgh with heart, humour and to ultimately answer the question: Who is Susie Taylor?

For more about Susie K Taylor visit https://susiektaylor.com

• Venue: The Space @ Venue 45, 63 Jeffrey Street, EH1 1DH
• Dates: Aug 8-10, 12-17, 19-24
• Time: 19:05
• Duration: 45 mins
• Ticket prices: £6 to £9.50
• Box office: 0131 510 2381 or boxoffice.venue45@thespaceuk.com
• Advisory: Ages 16+ (strong language, sexual references, distressing themes, nudity).

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