The Alchemy Troupe
The Edinburgh Fringe is full of new artists hoping to make an impression with odd venues (Waiting for Godot in a bathroom cubicle anyone?), shock tactics (A giant penis handing out leaflets) and interestingly named shows (Porn: The Musical). The Alchemy Troupe's 'A peculiar River' is no exception. Described by the group as a "dark, musical comedy", this show is (very) loosely based on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure and combines elements of musical comedy, cabaret and clowning.
Any group wanting to take their show to the Edinburgh Fringe has several obstacles to overcome- they are going to be one of hundreds of companies wanting to attract audiences and money to their show; the average Fringe show makes a loss of ?4000 over the period of the 4 weeks the festival is held and the average audience for a fringe production is only a couple of solitary tourists. The Alchemy Troupe chose to face these obstacles and leave behind the comfortable corridors of like minded Goldsmiths students in the hope that this would give them a new challenge to rise to and help them grow as a company. 'It is a chance for us to go professional,' tells Joe Borges- and the company certainly have the professionalism when it comes to getting up early to attract an audience to their shows. They were given the first slot of the day which meant heading into town at 9 o'clock to entice an audience for the 12 o'clock show. Attracting an audience to a show about 'a makeshift family of lunatics and degenerates' trying to rid their town of sexual deviancy, at midday, seems like it could be a challenge.
So how did The Alchemy Troupe fair in the fringe? With shows like Puppetry of the Penis and Facebook: The Musical to compete with, original and unusual ideas are down every street at the Fringe, and yet the Alchemy Troupe seemed to pull it off. Co-Director and writer Dug Williams jokes that the troupe are now "officially controversial" after they received one extremely positive review and another which was not as complimentary. Even the negative review, however, describes the show as "weirdly fascinating" and attributes this to the obvious fun the cast are having on stage. This is what seems to be the winning charm of The Alchemy Troupe- they can sing songs about killing a baby and perform sex acts on a champagne bottle on stage and they perform it so well and with such enthusiasm that you can't help but enjoy it. After shamefully arriving late to the performance, I have to admit that at points I was lost in what was going on but the music is so professional and the acting so engaging that I still enjoyed the madness of it all. Their songs are unusually catchy and two days after the performance, "Champagne for Baby" was still going round and round my head.
So what advice would this fledgling company have to future Goldsmiths students wishing to take the plunge at the Fringe? "Don't get a 12 o'clock slot!" says Dug. "And do the Free Fringe." The Free Fringe provides free venues for performers and the shows are therefore free for the audience- donations are, of course, appreciated. The Free Fringe helps keep costs low for anyone wanting to do the Fringe and not lose that fabled ?4000 and it is, according to the troupe, what helped them get bigger and bigger audiences each time they performed. "Some people don't even know there is a free fringe so when we tell them it's like, wow! it's free!" So The Alchemy Troupe seemed to dispel the myths that your time at the fringe has to be one of limited funds, limited audience and awful reviews. They were only one of several Goldsmiths productions on at the Fringe this year, but with their success paving the way, there’s bound to be more to follow next year.
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