Believe in yourself

In four days, I will be standing up in front of a live audience at the biggest arts festival in the world!

I can’t say I’m not nervous – but now, after months of preparation, I am ready and excitement is starting to replace those pesky nerves.

To stand on a stage at the Edinburgh Fringe is something most performers aspire to achieve in their lifetime. When the pandemic ripped through the world, live entertainment was hit hard. The last time the Edinburgh Fringe happened was in 2019 – making this year’s an extra-special event.

Performing there has been a dream of mine for many years and yet I was always waiting for the right time in my life, waiting until I felt good enough in my ability to write and perform. The best of the best is showcased at the Fringe and I didn’t want to go up there and not be my very best. “Maybe next year” became a running thought in my head. Then Covid hit and I realised we don’t know how many “next years” we have left. I have performed all over the world, I wrote a musical in 2017 and I’ve published two books – if I’m not ready now, I never will be.

I actually wrote the first act of the play (on my phone) in 2020 but had no idea where it would go from there. That was until January this year, when the entire play came to me whilst in the shower. (I have most of my creative thoughts in the shower.) It was brilliant and raw and emotional and shocking and wonderfully funny… That’s when I knew I had to perform it at the Edinburgh and Camden Fringes. I did a lot of research and finally chose and booked the two theatres, but at that point, I only had 5 pages of a script written down. It was fine, the whole story was in my head and I had lots of time…

February, we bought a house! We’d found one, but thought it had fallen through and started looking elsewhere, then suddenly it all came together and we were holding the keys. With no manual labour skills, I was travelling the three-hour round trip almost every day to renovate our new home. SO MANY THINGS WENT WRONG! YouTube videos make everything look so simple, when the reality is very different. I learned a lot of new skills and managed to renovate the house, but this all meant I wasn’t writing.

We moved in April and after unpacking, I could finally write my script. For the past few months, I have been refining my 55-minute solo show (first draft was 1 hour and 45 minutes long!), learning and rehearsing. There were times when I thought I was never going to be able to do it – but I kept going. I truly believe in this script and my ability to perform it well.

On Friday, I performed the show for my husband and on Saturday night I performed it for my next-door neighbour. Their responses were incredible and made me realise, I am now ready for the Fringe.

And this is what I’ve learned about myself during this year. You really can do anything if you believe in yourself and your work. Confidence is a powerful tool – just don’t get overconfident. No one likes those people! lol

Blink and You’ll Miss It! is a LGBT+ dark comedy drama which premieres at the Edinburgh Fringe before moving on to Camden Fringe and gives a raw and emotional insight into modern, gay life for an interracial couple.

I haven’t actually acted on stage in over 15 years, so I’m pretty sure I will be nervous on opening day. (If you’re there on the 5^th August, please be gentle!) But I know the script inside-out and as this weekend has proved to me, I am more than ready… Now I just need people to come and see it!

If you’re going to the Fringe this year and like the sound of my show, come and see it, either in Edinburgh or London. There are only 55 seats per show, so it will be an intimate performance and I can almost guarantee that it will make you feel something emotionally.

Tickets: £10/£8 conc

Edinburgh Fringe 5-13 Aug: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/blink-and-you-ll-miss-it

Camden Fringe 23-24 Aug: https://camden.ssboxoffice.com/performances/blink-and-youll-miss-it/

And if you’d like more information: www.refractedworld.com/theatre

I hope to see you in the audience!

Thank you,

Terry x