IF I LIVE UNTIL I BE A MAN Comes to Edinburgh Fringe

if i live until i be a man comes to Edinburgh Fringe. The UK premiere of an original retelling of the history of the Princes in the Tower, played out against a background of contemporary conflict.

‘An if I live until I be a man / I’ll win our ancient right in France again / Or die a soldier, as I lived a king.’ - Prince Edward in William Shakespeare’s Richard III

It’s 1483. Two princes are confined in the Tower of London for their own protection (according to their uncle). They bicker, they make up, they play war games, because a background of conflict is all they’ve ever known. And they wait.

if i live until i be a man is a contemporary reinterpretation of the famous story of the Princes in the Tower, created by Rae Bell (Dickon), Sophie Falvey (Ned) and Zoe Senese-Grossberg (director) from exciting, young theatre company The Firebird Project, making its UK debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A comedic, playfully anachronistic, unsettling and poignant exploration of childhood, the play traces the enduring 15th century mystery of Prince Edward and Prince Richard’s fate through the lens of growing up in post-9/11 America, with the underlying threats of the War On Terror and school shootings.

The Firebird Project is a grassroots theatre production and arts education company based in New York City. Dedicated to innovative original productions and the reinterpretation of classic plays, it seeks to deconstruct the popular storytelling canon with its resident artist ensemble Firebird Players. It is currently producing its second season with a year of new Shakespeare-inspired works, which include Boy My Greatness (a play about the boys who played Shakespeare’s women), a solo show Nurse! (the story of Juliet’s Nurse) and if i live until i be a man.

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