Help us take SCAFFOLDING to Edinburgh Fringe this summer

“If you’re going to lose something, isn’t it better if you get to say when?”

Scaffolding will be a funny, moving, character-based drama. Expect a heart-warming, radically honest story, staged on a vertiginous scaffolding tower with circus-style movement direction & off-beat acapella. The show has been selected by Bristol Old Vic for a package of support from their new work team.

In an isolated rural Devon village, a parishioner (Sheridan) climbs scaffolding round the leaking steeple of her parish church with a few questions for God. As she grapples with her caring responsibilities and a big change in her life, and with no one else to turn to, the scaffolding becomes her “sanctuary of last resort”. We get to know Sheridan & her daughter Joelle intimately, through the unanswered questions she asks.

The work explores themes of communication & connection, limitation & strength, asking whether an absence of answers & verbal communication force us to connect in more profound ways, highlighting how wider society can learn from the strength of carers & those they care for.

“An incredibly brilliant & well-drawn character.” – Molly Naylor, STOP TRYING TO BE FANTASTIC

“Funny & moving: an adventure” – Tom Jackson Greaves, Theatre Royal Plymouth

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THE DOCUMENTAL PRODUCTION TEAM

We are a close-knit team of female creatives based in the Southwest, making inclusive work. Aged in our 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, we bring our different perspectives on where we can find hope in troubled times.

Our team includes producer Jessamie Edkins-O’Brien, recent First Class Hons graduate in English with Drama from Exeter University, with experience of working with multiple theatres and companies such as BOSI, Spork!, Poet in the City, Paddleboat Theatre & the Ambassadors Theatre Company.

Lillian Waddington is a double award-nominated theatre director born and bred in Brighton. Her practice celebrates inclusivity and challenges theatre’s boundaries in small and big ways. Highlights include: In A Cave A Voice – Director (Brighton Fringe 2022, nominated for the Brighton International Fringe Encore Award). My Period The Cockblock – Assistant Director (Vaults Festival 2023, nominated for Show Of The Week).

Writer Lucy Bell is an award-winning writer (Kevin Elyot, Ronald Duncan & Toast of Plymouth Fringe Awards). A former member of the Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab, and current member of the Book Music and Lyrics librettists cohort, Lucy writes for different genres. She co-runs a Makaton choir for adults with learning disabilities where she has drawn on the firsthand accounts of some very fierce rural carers to create the script.

Senior Producer, Naomi Turner has developed her practice through Stage One mentorship & collabs with ViA, Rosie Race, Quirk and writer Laura Horton. She’s a multi-award winning film maker & BBC New Creative.

THE CREATION OF SCAFFOLDING

• Our script has been developed with input from writer Molly Naylor and Bristol Old Vic Literary and New Work team. We have tested the developing show on audiences at Exeter Northcott Barnfield Theatre and Omnibus Theatre.

• As part of the production we will be pulling together a group of carer creatives (women balancing their own lives with round the clock support of family members with complex needs). We hope to enable carer creatives to upskill, and make new work, responding sensitively to the obstacles they face. We have pulled together a really exciting group of professional mentors from the theatre industry to make this happen.

YOUR DONATION

We have been offered a four week run at a prominent Edinburgh Festival venue with marketing and PR support. This platform could be game changing for the company and our individual careers, and give us the chance to spotlight an overlooked are of experience to a national and international audience.

However, Arts Council England do not fund dates at Scottish venues, so we need raise the money to cover travel, team accommodation, a van to move the set and the actor’s costs. Please help us make the SCAFFOLDING dream a reality!

REWARDS

£20 Reward

To say a huge thank you for donating we are offering a credit on our website as well as a social media shoutout to highlight your impact in our journey. Please state whether you want to receive a reward when donating.

£50 Reward

To say a huge thank you for donating we are offering an entry into a draw for a free writing mentoring session. Please state whether you want to receive a reward when donating. We will run a few writing workshops or run them as a small group to ensure donors have a good chance of participating. Please note we can only offer a few dates for this.