LENA Starring Jon Culshaw and Erin Armstrong Will Debut at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe

This August will see LENA, the new play by BAFTA and Olivier Award winner Tim Whitnall, come to the Assembly George Square playing throughout the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The play chronicles the story of Lena Hilda Zavaroni, who was a Scottish singer and a television show host. At ten years of age, with her album Ma!, she was the youngest person in history to have an album in the top ten of the UK Albums Chart. Later she starred in her own television series. She was 13 when she was diagnosed with anorexia, a barely known illness then called the "slimmer's disease". She died in 1999 at the age of 35. 4th November 2023 would have been her 60th birthday.

Although it may tell a story from yesteryear, LENA holds a powerful association with our world today, exploring the link between self-esteem and self-image, the individual's quest for recognition, and our society's seemingly endless fascination with celebrity culture. LENA stars ERIN ARMSTRONG in the title role, with co-stars Alan McHugh, JULIE COOMBE, Helen Logan, and the incredible Jon Culshaw as Hughie Green.

A Monday evening, January 1974. As ITV's talent show "Opportunity Knocks" goes out live, its 17 million viewers are jolted backwards in their sofas by the appearance of a 10-year-old girl in a baby-doll dress, her explosive voice rattling their four-inch TV speakers: "MA-MMM-AAAAAAA!!" As the Clap-O-Meter confirms the child's landslide victory, show host Hughie Green - the 'Simon Cowell of his day' - is hailing "Little Lena Zavaroni - a star from the beautiful Isle of Bute!"

1999. Twenty-five years on from her triumphs, we discover a very different Lena. Exploring what had happened to her over the intervening quarter of a century reveals a startling, wholly separate story. Funny and sad, powerfully affecting and darkly dramatic, LENA will leave you asking big questions long after you've seen it.

Written by BAFTA and Olivier award-winner Tim Whitnall and directed by Paul Hendy, this timely play with music features a wealth of showstopping songs including (Ma!) He's Making Eyes At Me, (You've Got) Personality, and Rescue Me, performed live by the show's five-strong cast and onstage band.

Quotes about the show from Paul Hendy, Jon Culshaw, Erin Armstrong and Tim Whitnall:

"I'm very excited about directing LENA for this year's Fringe. With its powerfully affecting story, brilliant cast, and classic tunes, LENA is a drama ripe for our times - and one that will stay with an audience long after they've seen it." Paul Hendy - "LENA" Director

'I can remember watching Opportunity Knocks every Monday night. As a five year old in 1973, I vividly remember cheering Lena on as she won week after week. I felt I knew her, rather like a school pal you sat next to in history lessons, taking off the teachers and inventing silly songs! 'Lena' the play reminds us all of her incandescent talent and poses many questions around fame and its pressures; questions that are still so relevant today. To play Hughie Green at the peak of his slick powers is a challenge to relish. Hughie is our host, narrator and all seeing eye guiding us (most sincerely) through the chapters of Lena's story' Jon Culshaw

'I was 4 years old when Lena died. I hadn't heard of her before auditioning for the role which, in hindsight, is now so surprising to me knowing her sheer talent - she was a star! Watching and learning about Lena, I felt an instant connection with her and I'm very honoured to be able to share her heartbreaking, authentic story with generations who knew of her, but more importantly, with recent generations who do not. So much about Lena's story is so relevant in today's society, with "celeb culture" and the pressures of social media impacting people's mental health and well-being more than ever. Lena's story needs to be told, and I have every faith this show will be one that people will remember. To embody the spirit of Lena is a complete privilege and for my first professional theatre performance, it has and will always be such a special experience' ERIN ARMSTRONG

"I am thrilled to have written a play that not only tells Lena Zavaroni's jaw-dropping story, but also one which celebrates her incredible talents.

The explosion of Lena Zavaroni into public consciousness may date from the advent of celebrity culture but bringing it back into the spotlight feels timely and appropriate. The more recent trajectories of Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, or Susan Boyle - plus the omnivorous appetite for TV talent or 'reality' shows and a craving for social media notoriety - suggest that Lena's story and its themes have not only endured but are even more relevant than they were in 1974. With nearly 3.5 million anorexia sufferers in the UK (the figures soared during the Covid pandemic), Lena's one in a million voice needs to be heard now more than ever.

LENA appeals across the age spectrum, from those who remember Lena Zavaroni's triumphs on "Opportunity Knocks", to a younger audience who will recognise the chilling parallels between Lena's time and their own 'selfie-driven' age in which self-image and self-esteem seem inexorably linked.

As a former child-performer myself, LENA is a drama which I feel well-qualified to have written, drawing on a wealth of observations and experience gained "in the zone", having worked alongside many performers who have struggled with addiction issues or eating disorders." Tim Whitnall - "LENA" Playwright

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