EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009: Scala

Following applications from companies from all over the Netherlands to bring a show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2009, Utrecht-based company Theatergroep Ponies have been chosen to represent all that's new and exciting in Dutch theatre. The company will perform their new show Scala, a darkly funny performance about a sensible woman who loses her mind. The project is supported by the Dutch Embassy to the UK.

The company, who formed in 2005, are part of an exciting scene of innovative young theatre companies that has emerged in the town of Utrecht in recent years. Theatergroep Ponies draw on a shared fascination with music and photography and aim to create visual and affecting theatre that seeks to ask questions rather than provide answers. Scala, the company's sixth show, was created in January 2009 and has since been on a short tour of Dutch cities.

Created and performed by Anna Hermanns from a text by Enver Husicic, Scala is the story of a woman goes out for dinner with her best friend and suffers from a total loss of reality, in a piece that thrillingly explores the beauty found in crossing the borders between the everyday and the bizarre; constraint and abandon; and between having everything under control and becoming a victim of your own world.

With wit and precision, Scala investigates the ghosts and the madness that constantly threaten us, no matter how the strong we think we are. Performed in English, Scala investigates where theatre meets film, using text, mime, image and music in an orchestrated blend of tantalizing chaos.

Scala will be performed at the GRV as part of the new Five Pound Fringe, which aims to encourage audiences to take a risk by offering £5 tickets to all shows, and is listed in the Fringe brochure under the project name Meesterlijk: Showcasing the Best of Dutch Theatre.

The show will be performed nightly at 12.20am, its dark themes and wry humour offering an alternative to those looking for something a bit more challenging in the late night slot than the usual comedy or cabaret fare.

Daphne Thissen, Dutch Cultural Attache, said: "The standard of entries for the Meesterlijk project was very high and it was very difficult to make a choice, but the panel felt that Theatergroep Ponies represented an exciting strand in Dutch theatre. As an emerging company with an exciting approach to theatre making, we believe they are an excellent choice for the Edinburgh Fringe."

Paulien Dankers, Manager of Theatergroep Ponies, said: "We are incredibly excited to be chosen and are really looking forward to coming to Edinburgh and experiencing and taking part in the Fringe."

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