EDINBURGH 2023: Lachlan Werner Q&A

BWW caught up with Lachlan Werner to chat about bringing Voices of Evil to the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Voices of Evil.

The show is a horror ritual. Some people will tell you it is a comedy ventriloquist show, where a squishy witch puppet called Brew pretends to sacrifice me for laughs. Those people, while predominantly very happy customers, are wrong. It is genuinely terrifying night of witchcraft, occult spells and demonic activity.

However it will also involve spoon puppets, voice throwing, water spraying and me squirming in red frilly pants at the climax of a coming-of-age nightmare adventure.

Disclaimer: the show is quite hard to tell you about, but come if any of this sounds good because it's literally all true.

What was the inspiration behind writing it?

In 2021 I was trying to think of what show I could make when all covid restrictions lifted, and had been talking to my friend Alice about a show inspired by Victorian mediums/spiritualists. I read about these teenage girls who'd claim to be possessed to get away with incredibly sexual behaviour - otherwise totally unacceptable for women in the 1800's.

It reminded me so much of ventriloquism - the dynamic of voicing your real desires/thoughts boldly while faking passivity. I started working on a 'ritual' show (vaguely inspired by the seánces of these young women) with my witch puppet.

What is your background in clowning?

I had accidentally heard about clowning when I was 17 on the fringe circuit and decided, instead of going to university, to move to France and study at L'Ecole Philippe Gaulier. It's the dumbest move a person can make and I completely fell into love/addiction with clowning. I basically spent two years meeting the best people and trying to find my individual idiocy and "beauty". Right when I was leaving the school, Gaulier gave me the feedback, "We like it when he is a bit poof, no?" which is probably the thing I've taken into my work the most.

The London Clown Festival (curated by the brillaint, Dan Lees, of The Establishment) gave me my Soho Theatre debut and I make the festival a huge event in my calendar each year.

Who would you like to come and see Voices of Evil.

My instinctive answer is simply the queer community. Which is true - when they discovered it, the show began to take off like a rocket and every show since has been electric.

But also, it IS a show for all sorts of weirdos. I think there's something for people who love the Muppet Show or The Simpsons as much as there is for people who read Stephen King and love Saw, and there's plenty there for people who love drag and live art too. It's a big, ridiculous, steamy couldron of forms. It's been truly game changing seeing this show find its audience - people who both the narrative and stupidity speak to. I hope the freaks come to see it in Edinburgh.

With this being your debut, do you think you know what to expect from the festival?

I genuinely don't know what to expect. The prospect of debuting has felt like a mammoth, monstrous hurdle to jump for years, and I can't quite believe I'm actually doing it. I've been really lucky and overwhelmed at the shows' previous receptions, so I can only hope that luck follows me to the fringe. Other than that, I expect to be clinging onto brilliant fellow artists - especially others debuting - and trying to just rest my voice neurotically.

I love performing this freaky puppet show, so getting to do it for a month will be a gift whatever happens.

 

Lachlan Werner: Voices of Evil

10:30pm, 2nd - 27th August (not 15th or 23rd) at the Pleasance Courtyard 

Tickets: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/lachlan-werner-voices-evil 

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