Pomme in Edinburgh
As part of the Soulpepper’s International Residency program, Academy members are matched with professional development opportunities that will give them global experiences in their field. Kelly Read, current member of the Soulpepper Academy, shares about her experience Producing abroad.
The Canadian hit pomme is french for apple, by Liza Paul and Bahia Watson, premiered in 2010 at the Young Centre as part of its Saturday Night series. After two more workshops it showed at the Toronto Fringe in 2012, where it was awarded Best of Fringe, and received a return engagement that December as part of Winter at the Young. In 2014, when they got word the show was returning, Executive Director Leslie Lester and 2014 Resident Artist Ravi Jain connected the Academy’s Producing student Kelly Read, with Liza and Bahia. With generous contributions from Soulpepper, the Ontario Arts Council, and The Canada Council for the Arts, they were able to take the show to the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
“The Fringe was amazing” says Read. “It’s a full month of artistic performance. There are around 3,200 individual offerings at the Festival Fringe alone, let alone the International Festival, the Free-stival, and the Forest Fringe, which are going on at the same time. You’re performing alongside some of the world’s most accomplished artists.”
Kelly Read served as the Producer on the piece, bringing expertise that she learned from her time at Soulpepper. “We had a small three-person team, so the role of the producer included putting together the touring budget, contacting international producers, dealing with the venue, audience development, and managing the finances.” All skills which are difficult enough in a normal environment, but Edinburgh is the World Series of theatre. “The Fringe is relentless. It’s 26 days long, and we performed the show 25 times. Every hour not performing was spent marketing and networking. The atmosphere is incredibly competitive, with some projects having more than ten times our marketing budget.” To make up for this, the pomme team had to get creative. “The show deals with female sexuality and so we had a ‘panty protest’ in the streets of Edinburgh. When people came up to ask us what we were doing, we would tell them all about the show. You only get a few seconds, so we learned all about the importance of an elevator pitch.”
Read did her research and contacted experienced producers in Canada for advice on how best to promote and manage the show. She smiles, ready with an anecdote. “We’d heard Colin Mochrie was going to be in town, and I thought if we could get him to come to the show, that would be great promotion.” Through a friend of hers, Read got in touch with Mochrie. “He didn’t have time to see our show, but he still tweeted about it, and some people told us that they came on Colin’s suggestion.”
“It was an incredible experience. I learned, more than anything, the importance of standing behind my work.”