Edinburgh Festival Fringe Presents I AM GAVRILO PRINCIP

An audience with Gavrilo Princip - meet the ghost whose bullet killed 20 million

Gavrilo Princip fired a gun - 20 million died, 21 million were wounded, empires were swept away, Germany was ruined, fascism rose up and the world was changed forever.

Join him in purgatory - not hell - and hear his anger, rage and sorrow.

It explores the story of the young idealist whose assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand one sunny day in 1914 triggered World War I, and laid the foundations for World War II.

Despite having changed the course of history Princip, who was executed for his crime, is a little-known figure whose motives and intentions are often overlooked.

Essex-based Further Theatre specialises in creating historical fiction that sheds a light on the forgotten individuals whose experiences helped in shaping our world.

Oliver Yellop, the company's Artistic Director, who also wrote and performs the show, said: "History has not been kind to Princip. Overlooked, misrepresented and misunderstood, this is the story of a young man who was trying to find his place in the world; of a teenager with the best of intentions who created the worst of outcomes.

"Not good enough for heaven, not bad enough for hell - we meet him in purgatory where he is condemned to relive his actions and their unintended consequences over and over and over again."

The production is one of two projects Oliver has been carrying out as part of this year's Army@TheFringe.

He said: "As well as performing I am Gavrilo Princip the Army also asked me to create a piece built on my experience of a visit to the Army Training College Harrogate, the training base for Junior Soldiers under 19.

"The piece, called Lessons Learned was performed by three young actors with connections to the armed forces.

"My time at Harrogate was an eye-opener. On my second day I had the pleasure of running a drama workshop with Peninsular Company. When they came into the room they marched and stood to attention.

"I have never greeted or spoken to a group of individuals standing to attention before.

"We then played drama games, did some physical theatre and some storytelling exercises that would be the basis for my Lessons Learned script. The soldiers really took the work and after their commanding officer told me that he had never heard his platoon laugh like that in their time at AFC Harrogate."

Further Theatre does a lot of work in schools providing workshops for young people that specialise in getting young people to express themselves through drama and creative writing.

Before coming to Edinburgh Further Theatre held a talk about the legacy of Gavrilo Princip at Andipa Gallery Knightsbridge with Sunday Times best-selling author Tim Butcher.

Tim's book The Trigger (nominated for both The Samuel Johnson Prize for Fiction and The George Orwell Prize for Political Writing) saw the author undertake an extraordinary journey to uncover Princip's story.

By retracing Princip's journey from his birthplace, through the mythical valleys of Bosnia to the fortress city of Belgrade and ultimately Sarajevo, he illuminates our understanding of the young assassin, the places that shaped him and uncovering details about his life which have eluded historians for more than a century.

Oliver said: "Tim and I had a fantastic conversation about Princip and his place in the modern world and his own homeland. That the legacy of Princip's actions is truly the foundation of the modern world and that we were both fascinated with interviewing and finding out more about this lonely ghost sat at the table of history."

Army at the Fringe first opened its doors in Hepburn House, an Historic Army Reserve Centre in Edinburgh's New Town in August 2017. Army at the Fringe supports and sustains creativity at the heart of the nation's capital, with an ambition to spark conversations about what The British Army is, and what it stands for in 21st Century society.

Since then, it has become a welcome addition to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, building a considerable reputation for innovative and engaging programming over the last five years. It has regularly presented shows that achieve huge critical acclaim and go on to enjoy major national and international success.

This year's programme, Different Voices - One Team explores and celebrates the diverse people and perspectives represented within the British Army, and those of our allies, both past and present.

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