BWW catches up with Kat Kleve & Lizzy Connolly to chat about bringing TINK to the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Tell us a bit about Tink.
Kat: Well… it’s nothing to do with Peter Pan! Or any Victorian side kick! TINK is about a huge 5-year-old fairy who starts life big, wild and full of dreams! But slowly, as she gets older, she lets herself and others dim her light. We follow Tink through her tweens and teens; navigating the rules of the playground, female friendships, whilst all of the time subconsciously shrinking herself to fit in. We follow Tink finally into adulthood where we see most clearly the effects this has had on her. TINK is a musical monologue with head banging pop tunes, humour, silliness, truth and soul!
What sets it apart from other fairytale ‘retellings’?
Lizzy: So it’s not really a retelling as much as it is using the connotations around the character of Tink. The original character of Tinker Bell is jealous of Wendy, she gives Peter her fairy dust, she is voiceless and small. Not the ideal female character to inspire and inform the behaviour of young girls! So we wanted to create a fairytale we could relate to. It’s so interesting how stories and the media inform our behaviour. We want to make stories to change this for the better. Stories that can make us laugh, relate and reminisce but also change!
Who is involved in the creative process?
Lizzy: The creative process started with me saying to Kat…“I want to write something for you. I love the way you say my lines and you get the tone really well. Can we do something?”
I wrote the book and Kat wrote the music and we fiddled with the lyrics together. We then pitched it really hard at Tobacco Factory Theatre's scratch night, refusing to shrink ourselves and saying we are worthy of having programmed work. The team there took a chance. We made something really special with Rachel Duthie on the lighting who captured the feeling of Tink's light being lost stylishly and painfully, and we received rave reviews.
We recently did our preview at The Other Palace and Kate Marlais (an incredible composer in her own right) made my soundscapes into a world that felt alive and took you straight to the times and locations required, giving TINK a very sophisticated sound palette beyond my wildest dreams. Rosanna Bates' movement direction from the very start has made the language of movement in TINK so human and real, it feels effortless and beautiful.
Kat Kleve is so highly skilled you’ll be singing her songs forever, she really is the most beautiful songwriter but she performs them with Tink’s soul, leaving everyone’s hearts on the floor.
It’s really been a family project with Kat’s mum, Liv, making her costume and my sibling, Sean Connolly, copy checking all my work, and Ada (Kat’s brand new daughter) providing all the inspiration we need to want to change the world for girls! We didn’t know she was in Kat’s tummy at the scratch night and she has given us a whole new perspective on the work. We are so proud of our team.
Who would you like to come and see it?
Kat: Honestly, it’s for everyone! It’s not just a show for women. We’ve done a few performances of it already at Bristol’s Tobacco Factory Theatres and The Other Palace in London and the 60 year old men seem to enjoy it just as much as the 13 year old girls! There’s something universally relatable about the message which everyone seems to identify with. We’ve had a number of people say that it should be on the secondary school curriculum because I think it really shows how delicate we all are at that age and how the small things we say to each other can have a huge impact on the rest of our lives. The show also holds an important and reaffirming message for anyone discovering their identity and relearning how to shine!
What would you like audiences to take away from it?
Kat: We’d like audiences to come away from it feeling uplifted and inspired. We’ve had so many incredible reactions to the show, people really feel it and it seems to really make them reflect on their own life experiences. We had an audience member say to us after our preview at The Other Palace ‘Tink spoke to me on a deep level, it punched me in the gut and then picked me up and put me on its shoulders…You reminded me and everyone in that audience to show who we truly are and how we truly shine.’ I think that basically sums it up!
Tink will be performed at 12.55pm in Underbelly Bristo Square (Clover) from 2nd – 20th August
Booking link: https://underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/events/event/tink
Photo credit: Michael Wharley
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