EDINBURGH 2023: NAN, ME AND BARBARA PARVI Q&A

BWW catches up with Hannah Maxwell to chat about bringing Nan, Me & Barbara Pravi to the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Tell us a bit about Nan, Me & Barbara Pravi

This show is an autobiographical opus, covering the events of one year (by the queer calendar; Eurovision 2021 to Eurovision 2022). The story swerves wildly between the mundane and ridiculous, the comic and tragic, covering the months spent caring for my Nan in Luton following my grandad's passing, an escapist obsession I developed over French chanteuse Barbara Pravi ("Babs", as she's known to my collaborators), and some dark turns taken around addiction and mental health. Seventy utterly mad minutes, but hopefully entertaining ones.

Why did you want to share this story?

Didn't. Sort of have to though, as I make autobiographical work and it did all actually happen to me. A lot of it felt like quite an isolating experience when it was happening. Being stuck in the Home Counties with your ailing nan as the rest of the world opens up post-Covid. Falling down weird internet rabbit-holes. Sliding precipitously into substance abuse. But the nice thing about Fringe is you can make a show about whatever, even if you worry it is a too-niche experience and it will turn out to be quite ubiquitous, and enjoy resonances with people from all kinds of backgrounds.

How has the show been received so far?

Much better than expected! Two weeks ago I was weeping in a foetal position on the rehearsal room floor thinking it was never gonna come together. But whaddya know, it has. It's exhausting to perform, but really fun in a lot of places. It's been nice getting it in front of people, hearing their reaction to the story for the first time, working out the timing for the LOLs. There's one very silly moment which I worried was crossing the line between "romp" and "WTAF", but it landed perfectly. It involves an animated version of me not wearing very much. I'll say no more.

Who would you like to come and see it?

Turns out, French speakers actually get a real kick out of my attempts to speak (and sing) French. So that's nice. The UK should by rights be awash with Eurovision fans after our hosting glory this year, so it would be great to tap into that a bit. Anyone with experience of caring for a relative, anyone who's had an intense celebrity crush, anyone who's had a weird couple of years. No small children.

What would you like audiences to take away from it?