Hi friends,

I’m reaching out to ask for your support in making a dream project come to life. Today marks the beginning of performances for 'Waxen Figures' at the Edinburgh Fringe, and I need your help to cover the final stages of our journey. Funds raised will help with marketing, unexpected costs like food and accommodation, and ensuring the show gets the exposure it deserves.

Everyone who know me knows that I struggle to ask for help, but here’s to evolving and doing scary things!

'Waxen Figures' has been years in the making. This show explores the themes of dying languages, myth, folklore, and cultural erasure, all from my perspective as someone of Okrikan heritage living in Scotland, and grappling with the echoes of Empire. It’s a deeply personal work, and bringing it to life has felt like raising a child — I’ve poured everything I have into it.

I approach this through the lens of someone of Okrikan heritage living in Scotland, and interacting with the echoes of Empire, which were perfected here and then exported to colonies around the world.

Create and showcasing a work like this is truly like having a child. You want to sacrifice everything for it so it can get a chance to breathe, to live, to experience this world. I've paid a lot out of pocket to keep this work alive and to cover extra and unexpected costs. We've also been thankful for receiving Cryptic funding to develop the work and Made in Scotland funding to bring it to the Fringe.

A friend once said to me, "everybody makes money at the Fringe except the artists and performers.” It is a shame but it is true- there are a lot of costs to meet, and you're often waiting to recuperate most of those funds after ticket sales which you won't see until long after the run. My incredible crew members and I have all contributed an incredible amount to the Glasgow nightlife, and often without pay, running club nights, providing visuals, and expanding opportunities for artists working in an audiovisual context. I am so excited to have an opportunity to give my amazing collaborators an opportunity to have their work seen on a wider stage. Funds you donate will allow us to meet marketing costs for this final stage of presenting the work. We are so close!

If you are able to make it to see the work buying a ticket would be super helpful. If not, or if a ticket and trip to Edinburgh is too much to afford, then donating a little money to help us meet costs for the 2 week run would be super beneficial. Every little helps!

For those who know me well and are wondering what to get me for my upcoming birthday- helping fund this project would be the perfect gift. I’m happy to settle for a quiet tea in my kitchen when my actual birthday comes.

Any funds given will help the show have the best exposure at the Fringe, and I will commit to bringing smaller free performances to Glasgow later in the year for those that cannot attend, as well as workshops on how we created some of the sounds and visual effects in the show. There’s even a dream to bring the work to the Scottish Islands, where the Gaelic language that inspired it was born.

This is truly about meeting costs and not making a profit. Any unused funds, or funds we get above our target will be donated to Pal Humanity, who are offering direct on-the-ground support in Palestine and Tarada Initiative, who are providing basic needs for food and medicine in Sudan.

Thank you so much for your time. To those who can make it, I’ll see you in Edinburgh. To those who can’t, a share and a support would go a long way.

Thank you so much for your time and for being part of this journey.