A group of Cumbrian teenagers are getting ready to take their own show to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.
Led by Nuala Sankey, 17, of Ambleside, Georgiana Balfour, 17, Isabelle Decent, 18, Ollie Hamilton, 17 and Bow Homhuan, 17, will be performing their debut musical comedy Disco, Baby? at the popular performance arts festival.
The five youngsters will be doing a six-show run at the Fringe from August 19 to August 24 in The Space on the Mile alongside a home performance of their show taking place at Staveley Roundhouse, in Kendal, this Friday.
It comes after the group set up their own all-teenage production company Acting Speaks Louder, to bring their show to life.
Nuala said: “I think we’re all feeling a mix of both nervous and excited. I’m always a bit nervous before a show and you’re always more nervous if you’ve written, directed and produced it yourself!
“I’ve done musical theatre my whole life, I really love it and I’ve done a lot of shows, but I hadn’t written or produced anything before this.
“I did write a five minute long piece called The Entertainer 2000 for the National Youth Theatre Climate Cabaret and I really enjoyed it but I wanted to work with other people so I got together some friends and that is Acting Speaks Louder.
“There’s five of us in the cast and we’re from different places in Cumbria. I’ve kind of amassed these people together.
“A few of them already knew each other and some of us went to school together and I met some through Brewery Youth Theatre at Brewery Arts and one through primary school who is the most wonderful music producer and composer, so we’ve got a great mix.”
Nuala added that she has wanted to bring a show to the Fringe since she performed in Grange-over-Sands company Footsteps To Theatre’s Oliver Junior at the 2022 festival.
She said: “I really wanted to bring a show to the Fringe and when I was away at British Youth Music Theatre and I wrote to The Space as they have an artist application.
“I did it as research at first and said hi, if I was to hypothetically bring a show of six to eight people with actor-musician elements what would it take, and they sent back a hypothetical picture of what was needed and I thought, yeah, I can do that!
“So I booked the accommodation and I knew I had to write a script for six to eight people and get five people for the cast on board, so that was what we did and that’s how the show came to be.”
Disco, Baby? is a musical comedy and coming-of-age show that is set to an original score. It combines pop, funk, jazz and – of course – disco.
Nuala said: “The five of us wrote the music, lyrics and script together and we wrote it because there are so many shows at the Fringe and being produced right now and we just felt there wasn’t one that properly reflected being Generation Z.
“We wanted to write something more true to real life, so it starts at prom and goes to an afterparty, because that’s something we’ve all experienced.
“Lots of us spoke to friends and said what wat the most mental thing that happened at your prom? and we kind of just wove a story through it.
“Me personally I was also particularly inspired by the Cumbria Opera Group, who again are a young company, and performed a version of Don Giovanni at the Victoria Hall in grange.”
The group have also received sponsorship support from Cumbria Community Foundation, Cumbria Curtain Call, Footsteps to Theatre, The Keldwyth Trust, The Kelsick Trust, and The Sedbergh School Foundation as well as a Crowdfunder to help get them to the Fringe.
Nuala said: “On Friday we have our premiere of our show at Staveley Roundhouse, which is such a lovely venue in the centre of the Lakes. We’re also doing it as a double bill with band Adonis Blue.
“It felt important for us to have a show at home for family, friends and people who have supported us locally and we wanted to have that start in the community being a Cumbrian production company.
“I think there’s definitely a community of young creatives in Cumbria and even though sometimes it can feel quite isolating here, we can pull together and there is a show and a community here to see it.”
Tickets for Disco, Baby? at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe are on sale here.
