‘Third Wheel’ is definitely a reflection of what is playing on our minds at the moment, at the ripe old ages of 22 and 23.
Deadpan Theatre
Having been hit by grief, and having to deal with the idea that death is a thing that will actually happen is an intense shock to the system and leaves you feeling a lot less invincible and a little bit more scared in general. And being in your early twenties, trying to work out if everyone else is also simply pretending to be a grown up, have no idea what they want, still suffer nightmares about their GCSEs, and can start eating Pringles alone and only notice the tube is empty when your hand hits the bottom and you realise your tongue hurts from all the salt.
Plus love begins to be complicated by loads of other ‘real world’ things that should leave it well alone and stay in its lane.
The more of ‘Third Wheel’ we wrote, the more it became glaringly obvious that those three themes were writing themselves into the show whether we liked it or not. We tried throwing our characters into various different setups but they kept on returning with Pringle tubes stuck on their arms. There was very little choice in the matter.
We initially began writing ‘Third Wheel’ as a sitcom so the ‘travelling around the UK in a car’ concept made a lot of sense. But then we thought, hey, why on earth wouldn’t we just get some brilliant directors on board and force them into making that happen onstage in an hour?
The pace and chaos of a road trip seemed to invite the idea of music quite naturally. We began to solve the problem of getting these characters from the Cardiff Doctor Who Trek to the Shrewsbury Jailhouse Tours in the form of songs. Luckily we both love a bit of lyric writing so the challenge of visiting six places in two minutes was a fun one. The band, Party in the Sky, became more of a presence the more we wrote until we finally admitted to the fact that they narrate the show. The band guides us through Eve and Polly’s adventure and also fills in some blanks from the past for the audience. They basically allow for a lot of fun non-linear narrative moments throughout the show. And who doesn’t love a folky, lyric-heavy musical theatre number, amirite?
Despite throwing ourselves in at the deep end with a road trip, a live band and two multi-rolers playing every person we meet along the way, there is still a lot of what we do best in ‘Third Wheel’. Expect big laughs, a huge amount of silliness, some human sadness, a lot of heart and a vagina rash.
Deadpan Theatre perform Third Wheel at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe at Gilded Balloon, Dining Room from 2nd -27th Aug at 2pm. More info and tickets are available at www.deadpantheatreco.co.uk
Tagged in Edinburgh Festival Fringe