BWW catches up with Horseplay to chat about bringing Bareback to the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Tell us a bit about Bareback.
Bareback is a narrative character comedy show about sex, performance and the afterlife. The story follows a smorgasbord of absurd, larger than life characters as they try adjusting to life after death where you can do you anything you like - except perform or have sex. But whilst sex may be the off the menu, and even the smallest display of jazz-hands is strictly prohibited, this is still paradise, and everyone is happy, happy, happy. Or are they? As the stability of the afterlife starts to unravel, it turns out maybe everyone's not as delighted to be condemned to the heavenly afterlife as they pretend to be...It's a wild ride through musical numbers, quick changes and wigs galore.
Who are Horseplay?
Horseplay is a queer, character comedy collective founded by writer-performers Kathy Maniura and Derek Mitchell. Our shows are all driven by colourful characters and are primarily silly and escapist, but also rooted in our personal experience, especially of sex and sexuality. Derek (he/him) is a gay American writer/performer who has been writing comedy and dramatic work in the UK, Canada and the Netherlands since 2012. He was a 2NorthDown New Act Competition semi-finalist 2022. He also sleepwalks - always fun for Kathy sharing a room with him for a month in Edinburgh (once in his sleep he screamed that there was a rat under the bed - there was not). Kathy (she/her) is a bisexual woman and regular on the London open mic scene who was winner of Sketch Off 2020, Funny Women 'one to watch' 2020 and So You Think You're Funny? finalist 2021. She has a relatively fresh and knarly neck scar - buy her a drink to get the juicy deets on that.
What characters feature?
The main characters you'll follow through the story are Deb Gould, a celebrity sex therapist who feels most at home while creating chaos, and Fiona Boodle, a failed actress who wants nothing more than to be taken seriously - most of all by her pushy mother. Greta is another key player - she's the pedantic Swedish woman with a Tipex addiction who is trying to keep everything under control in the afterlife. There's also Cori and Gina - a talking anus and vagina who are marginalised, operating the electrical dam on the outskirts of the afterlife - they've had enough, and something big is coming...And if that wasn't enough, there's a rabbit breeder, a boy wearing a necklace, Geoffrey Chaucer's Wife of Bath and Timothee Chalamet. How do they all fit together? You'll have to come along to find out...
Who would you like to come and see Bareback?
Anyone who likes laughing at the absurdity of modern life - in particular the contradictory things we're told about sex and sexuality. Queer audiences will find a lot that resonates, but this show is for anyone who likes silly comedy with heart and is keen to get on board for a wild ride through an absurd world full of wigs, original music and lip-syncs with moments of honesty.
Do you think you know what to expect from the Fringe?
We've been to the Fringe before, and all that it's taught us is you can never know what to expect from the Fringe! In our experience, it's high highs and low lows - from having unexpected drinks with wonderful audience members on a Tuesday, to battling through the scurvy having eaten only chips for weeks (promise we'll be getting our 5 a day this time). We're so excited to embrace the unexpected - meeting other performers and audience members, discovering other shows, and mostly having the opportunity to play around with our show every day, finding new moments for laughs. There's nothing like the Fringe, and there's nowhere we'd rather unleash the joyful absurdity of Bareback.
Photo credit: Skye Baker
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