An Edinburgh Fringe play about world truths, journalism, and top rope elbow drops

People often associate the Edinburgh Fringe Festival purely with comedy, and although it is certainly what it’s famous for, it’s important to remember that Fringe is also a hotbed for contemporary theatre.

Carrying on with our series of Edinburgh Fringe previews (with a wrestling twists, of course) we are looking at one such play that partners themes of journalism and politics against the backdrop of professional wrestling.

JERICHO is a play around treating entertainment like politics (let’s face it, there’s a lot of that in the wrestling fandom) and viewing politics as entertainment (again, present in the industry).

While it’s not unusual to see professional wrestling as a setting for more serious stories, as personified with movies like The Wrestler or the Netflix hit GLOW, to see it be used in a theatrical piece is extremely fresh. I for one have never seen a play that involves professional wrestling, or even mentions it, so to see such a niche subject enter the world of theatre is fantastic, particularly if you are a fan of both mediums.

But what is it like bringing a play up to the Edinburgh Fringe? Particularly one that involves a company of people?

JERICHO is brought to you by members of Malaprop Theatre, an Irish theatre group who are no strangers to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

I was lucky enough to talk to Claire O’Reilly, the director of JERICHO and ask about the play, whether the company shares mutual love of professional wrestling and the overall experience the company has had with previous Edinburgh runs.

What’s it like going up as a company to the Edinburgh Fringe?

Such a buzz. For all its resource sapping, the Edinburgh Fringe gives as much as it takes. Having a hard-working crew you love and admire is a big help (presumably lol jk).

What do you enjoy most about going up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival?

I love the way theatre festivals rewire cities. If you go to a major urban music festival you generally get around 3-4 days in a pop-up, purpose-built site that could kind of be anywhere in the world; theatre festivals are little molten rogues that seduce you into pockets of places you’d never otherwise see. The Edinburgh Fringe takeover is enormous, and so endlessly exploratory. Also it’s very fun.

Credit: Carla Rogers

What are some of the difficulties performers can face when going up to the Fringe?

I’ve only ever directed for Edinburgh, but I think it’s fair to say the delicate balance between being on top of your performer game and being on top of your party-like-the-young-hot-thang-you-are game is a tricky old dichotomy.

How did the concept of JERICHO come about? Particularly, what prompted the use of professional wrestling as a backdrop?

We were asked to make a show about the world. More specifically, but arguably no less helpfully, we were asked to make a show about the world in December 2016 in response to the global political chaos of that time. We all sat around and stared in horror at the insurmountable task ahead. Then we watched the Royal Rumble. (Somethingsomething heels and faces, somethingsomething heroes and villians, somethingsomething singlets are great.)

Are any of the company fans of professional wrestling, or did work go into researching the subject?

Our producer and dramaturg Breffni Holahan is a huge wrestling fan. I don’t think I fully understood the severity of her fandom until Chris Jericho retweeted us* in the run up to the show. I got a voice note from her that was almost completely unintelligible between sobs and guttural howls of excitement. Needless to say, she was the voice of wrestling authority, but we all got stuck in to the madness of the industry.

*!!!!!!!!

Where does the name of the play stem from? Presumably not from the famous professional wrestler?

It’s first and foremost named after the ancient city in modern day Palestine. Whether or not the name would have stuck if Chris Jericho didn’t exist is another thing altogether.

What advice would you give to anyone going up to Edinburgh to perform?

Moonsault right into the madness, baby!

Credit: Carla Rogers

You can catch JERICHO at the Underbelly in Edinburgh between Wednesday 15th August and Sunday 26th August.

This is going to be a personal favourite as it combines my love of theatre and wrestling – two things I thought would never be together (sniff, sniff, it’s beautiful to see).