Anglesea show heads to Edinburgh Fringe

Anglesea Players Association (APA) will be hitting the stage in Europe for the world’s largest arts festival this month.

Cast and support crew for the Surf Coast group are off to Scotland for a week of performances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which brings more than 3,000 acts from across the world to hundreds of venues across the city.

The Anglesea performers will take their Shadows of Angels production that has thrilled local audiences in recent times to the international event.

The show’s director and APA president Janine McKenzie said the Edinburgh show would be the first time Anglesea Players’ had performed at an overseas festival.

“I don’t know if you can even begin to imagine how excited we all are.

“We keep sending messages to each other, like ‘Five more sleeps’ or ‘The ticket sales are really good’. There’s just lots of really good news.

Set in the city slums of 1920s Australia and based on true events, Shadows of Angels sees four women recollect the part each played in a crime on one hot, volatile day.

“Our measure of success is primarily to have fun and to enjoy the experience with people that we’ve had a lot to do with over the years, and for whom there’s a lot of love and respect in the group.”

APA will arrive in Scotland with promotional materials and 8kg of Fantales to entice festivalgoers to their show in the days ahead of their performance.

APA has performed Shadow of Angels for local crowds since 2021, with McKenzie confident the earlier shows held the group in good stead for Edinburgh.

“We certainly enjoy incredible support from the Surf Coast communities when we do productions.

“They’re froth and bubbles, they’re pretty meaty, substantial pieces and our audiences really respond enthusiastically, encouragingly, supportively to the work that we present.

“We felt for a long time that our work has been really supported well by our audiences.

Anglesea Players Association’s Shadow of Angels cast members.

“This new version is the version that we performed in Lorne [last] Saturday and we had an open rehearsal in Anglesea for.

“We just had such great feedback, both in person after the performances, and a number of messages that came in via text or on our social media platforms that gave us an extra boost of confidence knowing that the work as it stands now is strong.”

McKenzie said the positive affirmation had reinforced her belief that the production would resonate with new audiences in Scotland.

“It says something to people about survival, and says something back to people about how you cope when life doesn’t always deal your best hand.

“It has something to say too about the ways in which community members know what’s going on around them, and that we all have a part to play in each other’s lives.”

APA will perform at Greenside @Infirmary Street from August 14-19.Anglesea Players Association’s Shadow of Angels cast members.