Venue: Greenside Theatre – Venue 231 Dates: 12 – 24 August: Time: 16.05 (1h 10m)
BeLT Productions present, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013, the European premiere of Steve Yockey’s macabre and darkly humorous mix of Japanese folk horror and American Gothic.
On falling down a sink-hole on the building site of his new hotel, an architect finds himself in a subterranean cavern confronted by a mysterious and threatening woman. A Faustian pact is forged. In exchange for the thing he most desires, the hotel becomes her supernatural ‘playground’. During the ensuing years a horde of ancient Japanese demons wreak havoc upon unsuspecting guests in a series of horrific and strangely linked events.
Yockey has created a world where everyday situations take on supernatural qualities. 23 characters feature in seven short episodes, including an elevator ride to hell, a very satisfying blind date and the misuse of cleaning products. The distance between the real and the surreal collapses and warns us that sometimes bad things happen for a reason.
Originally commissioned by the American Conservatory Theatre, the piece was presented at the Lex Theatre, Los Angeles by the acclaimed director Michael Matthews during the summer of 2012.
The LA Review said: “Very Still and Hard to See is an eerie excursion into the surreal and the supernatural, combining elements from modern ghost stories and Japanese folk tales and cantered on events in and around a very strange hotel.”
BeLT Productions has been brought together specifically for this production as an off shoot of the award winning Bromley Little Theatre which has been at the forefront of community theatre in SE London for 75 years. When searching for a play for the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe we were immediately impressed by this exciting piece of new writing that provides an opportunity for both ensemble and individual characterisation.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
