ANDREW FINNIGAN is making his Edinburgh Fringe debut in a role he knows well. In Drip, the one-man musical comedy by Tom Wells and Matthew Robins, he plays 15-year-old Liam who signs up to Hull’s first ever synchronised swimming team despite not being able to actually swim. Liam explores what it means to be a gay teenager trying to make friends in his new home town, Hull.
Following the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Roundabout @ Summerhall until 26 August), Drip, directed by Jane Fallowfield, is due to tour and will play London’s Bush Theatre from 3-22 December 2018.
Andrew’s credits include The Fifteen Streets (The Customs House, South Shields), Scrapbook (Live Theatre, Newcastle) and Broken Biscuits (Live Theatre/Paines Plough/UK tour).
Here he is in conversation with Musical Theatre Review’s Tal Fox.
How does it feel to be reprising this role?
It feels like it’s evolved a little bit. It’s the same story but it feels just as current, so it’s nice to come back. I’ve still got the script in my head, it’s hidden but it will come out eventually.
It’s a one-man show about a group activity, how does that work?
It’s all set in Liam’s school assembly, he’s doing a presentation and talking about him joining the synchronised swimming team even though he can’t swim. The audience is at the school which I think is nice, getting them involved. I do the voices of a lot of different characters, like Caz, Liam’s best friend, and Josh who teaches Liam throughout the show.
How involved does the audience get?
They’ve got to be there for me to believe that I’m in a school assembly, they take on the role as the school.
Are you showing or narrating the story for the audience?
It’s a bit of both, I’m telling the story, but then he also gets carried away and tells the story as though it’s happening. He can be in it and then he can pause and be like: “So this is why this is happening,” and then he explains it a bit more in depth.
What more can you tell us about the show?
It’s all about Liam trying to be as optimistic as he can. He’s at the awkward stage that everyone goes through when they’re a teenager where you don’t really know who you are but you’re trying to figure it out. He’s stumbling through his teenage years and just trying to find out who he is and how he can do that.
What drew you to this show?
I’d worked with Tom and Matthew on the last show they did together, Broken Biscuits. They got in touch with me and said they were writing a one-man musical and asked if I would like to be involved. So I was involved quite early on in the process. We did a short amount of time at the National Theatre Studios working on the script. Any chance to work with Tom and Matthew, I’ll happily take, we all get each other, it’s not difficult to work with them and we get along quite well. There’s the addition of Jane, who I didn’t know, who is our director, but when Tom introduced us I just knew that I wanted to be on board and it’s the kind of show that I would like to take part in.
What’s it like working with Tom Wells and Matthew Robins?
It’s amazing! Together they are just like the biggest ball of energy. Tom writes the words and then passes them to Matthew and Matthew writes the music to accompany it, it’s a lovely balance to have. When I’m singing the songs you can totally tell it’s Tom’s work with Matthew so you can really tell they work well together. With anything they do, I’d love to watch or be a part of it.
Could you explain how the LGBT theme plays out in the show?
It’s about Liam and he’s a gay teenager who lives in Hull. He’s from South Shields which is where I’m from. Liam moves from South Shields with his mum to Hull. Being a gay teenager is probably hard enough, but moving away from all of your friends at 15 and going to a completely new city kind of makes the transition a bit harder and a bit more daunting. He’s trying to be as optimistic as he can be. Luckily, he finds a friend in Caz and he tries to volunteer to do lots of things that maybe he normally wouldn’t. It’s just about him finding out who he is but in a new city.
Do you think these themes open up theatre to a whole new audience?
I think there’s quite a broad spectrum because anyone who remembers being a teenager can totally relate and anyone who is a teenager now can see themselves in it too, I think. I think we’ve pitched it in a good way so it can be appreciated by a bigger range of an audience.
As an actor, is it hard playing a teenager?
I’m just 21 at the moment so it’s still fresh enough in my mind. I’m quite lucky because I don’t think the gap is that big for me to feel a distance from it all. I don’t feel like I’m not a teenager, I keep forgetting that I’m not. It isn’t as tricky as I thought it would be and I do look very young so that helps because the audience can buy into the fact that I’m meant to be 15 years old. I don’t think it’s too tricky to get in the mindset.
Is Liam a character you can relate to?
Yeah, I didn’t really know who I was or what I wanted to be when I was 15, I was kind of stumbling and wasn’t really getting involved with acting stuff. I never really had a clique, I never really had a group, I wasn’t very good at sports, so when I tried acting I found out that’s what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be. I’m a terrible swimmer as well so we have that in common too.
Do you have a favourite moment or song from the show?
When we play through the songs I feel like each song has got a specific tone so I couldn’t really pick one of them. Every time I play them, I get that feeling, so if it’s a happy song or quite a sad song. When I say the audience gets involved, we do have a bit where Liam gets close to the audience and he might sit among them or walk among them. It feels more of an inclusive show and that’s the thing I enjoy about it, rather than separating the actor on stage and the audience. It just feels like it’s one big open room where you don’t actually feel that separation.
What’s it like being in a one-man show compared to a cast?
It’s terrifying. It goes a lot quicker, we run it at just less than an hour, and it’s difficult to keep the energy, that’s the main thing I’ve got to focus on. Usually when you do a show it’s the other actors that give you the energy to bounce off of but when it’s just you, you’ve got to keep it going all by yourself. It’s also just holding the focus of the audience, which is a bit tricky, but I definitely think that the pros of it outweigh the cons. When you go on stage you feel pretty elated, it’s good.
Have you done the Fringe before?
I’ve been as an audience member for the past few years with my friend and we normally do day trips because I’m based in South Shields so we can get there in an hour and a bit. We always head up early morning, see as much as we can in one day and then head back. It nice to see how the other half live. We are at the festival for the last week, so our energy is up. I’m not saying that other people’s energy is down but they must be very tired after three weeks of performances. I think we have a nice slot to go out with a bang.
Based on what you’ve seen by attending as an audience member, how does the Fringe compare to performing in other venues?
I tend to go see things I might not necessarily see normally because there’s so many things on at the Fringe and you can choose to a certain extent what you’d like to see, but we do a lot of random bookings. So we’re hoping to have audience members who might not normally come and see this show, maybe we’ll get more of a varied audience. It’s always hectic and busy so I think it would be nice to have a bit of a buzz in the audience.
Do you plan on seeing other shows while you’re at the Fringe?
Yeah, I’m going to try and see as much as I can. Luckily because we have a 7 o’clock slot, I have much of the day to see as much as I can and I’m planning on cramming in as much as possible.
Do you know much about the planned tour and London run, will you be involved?
I’m going to be involved in the tour and the London run which will be really fun. We’re not really going to feel as sad when it comes to an end at the Fringe because we know it’s not totally the end. It’s nice to stick with the gang and take it further.
Has the show seen any revisions since you last performed it?
Not really. We’ve stripped back a bit of the set so maybe it’s more simplistic in the terms that it could now pop up anywhere really. Script wise, we did sit around threw in a couple of ideas, so there’s a few extra jokes and gags and sweet moments that weren’t there in the first run. It’s still Liam with his guitar as he tells a big old story. This will get the ball rolling energy wise and we’ll ride the wave from the Fringe to the tour and the London run.
What’s the best piece of advice you have for young people trying to break into the industry?
I didn’t really train, I went down the Customs House (South Shields) route when I was 17 or 18 where I did some stuff with my youth theatre. I would just say take as many opportunities as you can, it’s always good to give things a go, I think. So take up opportunities where you can and be nice.
Do you have any plans post Fringe but before the tour?
I think I’ll be practicing my guitar because between the end of last year’s run and this year, my fingertips have softened up a bit so it was a bit painful going into day one playing the guitar. Jobs wise, I haven’t got anything on the horizon just yet but you never know.
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