A young Scottish actor has landed the starring role in a new play to be presented at te Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Abby McCann will star in Looking for Giants, a funny, perplexing and seductive one-woman show that follows one girl’s quest for self-discovery.
Following two sold out preview performances at London’s Camden People’s Theatre, which got four star critical acclaim, it is heading for the Fringe from 3 to 13 August and can be seen daily at 2.35pm at Underbelly’s Cowgate venue. Tickets here.
A semi-autobiographical, fun, sparkling and complex debut from the pen of Fringe first time writer Cesca Echlin, it draws an extraordinary performance from McCann who assumes multiple roles. She leads the audience through the main character’s attempts to separate fantasy from reality – then questions if she should even try when her fantasies are so much more alluring and exciting.
In time-split and flashback we follow the unnamed central character’s quest to discover just who she is amongst the myths she creates. Along the way she encounters a variety of male characters who influence her thoughts, strengthen her fantasies and blur her narrative and boundaries.
Never afraid to confront the ways that women can perpetuate the stereotypes that are still only too common, the play includes scenes that that deal directly with sex, sexting and pornography that may shock or surprise the audience. It looks to reduce the stigma around female sexuality and diversify how female sexuality is staged by including a strong element of humour.
Cesca said: “Sex and desire are such unpredictable things that seem to come out of nowhere. All we can do is step back and laugh.
“Although the play centres on the ways women of today conceive of themselves and of their sexuality, I think the play speaks to much wider themes that affect all genders, particularly around how we hold on to fantasies and myths in order to make sense of our lives.”
Abby McCann said: ‘We hope audiences can recognise some aspects of their past or present selves. We’re aiming for a mix of intimacy and humour.”
