theatre feature

QQ: Jeremy Pike

'Janis' director does the Quick Quiz

Jeremy Pike directs Nicola Hadyn (that's her in the picture) in 'Janis'. When our reviewer saw this at the Brighton Fringe they wrote "Haydn was sublime, capturing Janis's American drawl perfectly, and bringing warmth and humanity to the iconic figure; she simply charmed the audience". To find out a little more about the show - we got Jeremy to do the Quick Quiz.

Q1: What is your 2009 show all about?
Janis Joplin. It takes place in the hotel room where she accidentally took a fatal dose of heroin. She was actually expecting a threesome, but they never showed (sorry!), so in the play she strikes up a volatile relationship with the audience instead. Over the course of an hour we become her confidants, enemies and judges, as she reveals the many layers of her personality and veers between being both confrontational and confessional.

Q2: Why should we come and see it?
If you're a Janis fan then obviously you'll be in your element, but the show's far from being merely a tribute and it doesn't shy away from the complexities of her life. It was a life lived almost entirely behind a mask. In that sense it's extremely theatrical, and Nicola Haydn - who plays Janis - draws this out by switching challengingly between Janis' dual personalities; Pearl, the brassy alter ego; and Janis herself, the childlike, eternal misfit hiding beneath. The show gets under the skin of an icon, and whether by the end you find her adorable or infuriating, the journey will certainly be compelling.

Q3: If your show was a superhero, what would his or her super power be?
The ability to consume superhuman quantities of Southen Comfort without ever getting drunk.

Q4: What are you most looking forward to about this year's Edinburgh Festival?
Cruising around in our Janismobile. We've given our car the psychedelic treatment, based on the actual designs that Janis had on her porsche. We couldn't afford the porsche, but we'll still be blasting out them ol' cozmic blues mama!

Q5: What are you least looking forward to about this year's Edinburgh Festival?
Sweeping up the malted feathers at the end of every performance, from the many bowers worn throughout. No matter how many feathers you find, you'll never find them all. Fact.

Q6: What advice would you give to an audience member coming to the Fringe for the first time?
Try battered haggis, it's an experience you'll never forget (or probably repeat). Don't try battered pizza.... come on, there are limits!

Q7: Other than your own show, what's your hot show tip for Edinburgh 2009?
Two cracking one-man shows: 'Bane' - a seriously cool film noir pastiche written and performed by Joe Bone and 'A Fistful of Snow' – a wonderfully bizarre and inventive take on loneliness by Danny Alder.

Q8: Describe your show in three words
Whisky Soaked Cackle

Janis
Otherplace Productions
Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5 - 31 Aug (not 18, 24), times vary, prices vary, fpp 202.

http://www.otherplaceproductions.co.uk
http://www.gildedballoon.co.uk

published: July-2009

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