The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world, with nearly 3,500 shows. This year, Playbill is in Edinburgh for the entire month in August for the festival and we’re taking you with us. Follow along as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, aka our real-life Brigadoon!
As part of our Edinburgh Fringe coverage, Playbill is seeing a whole lotta shows—and we're sharing which ones you absolutely must see if you're only at the Fringe for a short amount of time. Consider these Playbill Picks a friendly, opinionated guide as you try to choose a show at the festival.
Facing the curved wooden benches of Summerhall’s Anatomy Lecture Theatre, the company of Gunter sings a haunting melody. This is not a musical, but the haunting song that bookends the play lays the groundwork for the true story—and modern relevance—of Anne Gunter. Set in England in 1605, Gunter is the story of a case of witchcraft. Anne’s father Brian Gunter, the richest man in town, accused a local woman named Elizabeth Gregory of bewitching his daughter. It is worth noting that Gregory was looking for justice—Brian Gunter had murdered her two little boys and been acquitted. But if Gregory is found not to be a witch, Brian and Anne Gunter will be tried for conspiracy. So what is Anne’s story in all of this? And how does it end?
In one of the most electrifying shows at the Fringe this year (and a Fringe First Award recipient), Anne Gunter's story is told in a show equally intense and playful. There are moments that push how comfortably the audience sits in its seat—particularly during Anne’s “fits.” There are moments that will make you laugh as the heavily researched show boils down 17th-century testimony to so-and-so “is a fucking liar.” It was created by cast members Norah Lopez-Holden, Hannah Jarrett-Scott, Julia Grogan, and Lydia Higman—along with director Rachel Lemon and Letty Thomas. Grogan, Higman, and Lemon form Dirty Hare, the theatre company presenting the show.
Gunter began its development last summer. Higman, who is also a historian and plays herself by delivering key bits of historical context in the show, told the story of Anne Gunter to Rachel Lemon, one of the show’s creators and its director. The two had already formed a theatre company with cast member Julia Grogan, and with her agreement, they began to create Gunter.
For the sake of the its 1 hour and 10 minute time slot at Fringe, the story had to be simplified. “It is much, much more complex in reality than it is in our production,” says Lemon. They were researching up until they got the slot to play Summerhall earlier this year. At that point, they moved onto how they would tell the story.
It’s a show that firmly asks its audiences to come along on the journey of Anne’s story. And sometimes, that journey is uncomfortable—the real Anne claimed she was bewitched and offered pins that she said she had thrown up as evidence. As Lemon explains, “I don't think pushing boundaries was ever our sole intention. The story is completely wild, and the reality of what Anne claimed to do is really harrowing. I think if we, in any way, neutralized the story, we would have failed. At all points, we were mostly looking at the reality of what happened, bringing that into the rehearsal room, understanding the feeling of that thing or how we could convey that to an audience—which, of course, doesn't need to be literal. If we start with the fact that she claims she could swallow pins, well that's beyond our natural 'boundaries' anyway. We have to go beyond them in order to engage with the reality of the story.”
And while Gunter asks audiences to face the uncomfortable aspects of Anne’s story, including the "fits" she claimed to suffer from (in a very raw performance by Lopez-Holden), it also found a compelling balance of being playful.
“As a company, we care about joy and play,” Lemon says. Part of this she attributes to the company members’ own love for cabaret, drag, and performance that is focused on creating joy and entertaining. But part of it is also an awareness that Anne’s story is a heavy one. “We're always thinking about the journey of the audience, so if it's been heavy, heavy, heavy for a while, we do really simply ask, ‘What do the audience need right now?’”
Part of what makes Gunter such an incredible show is because of how it asks so much of the audience while delivering the audience what it needs. The tension between the actors and audience thrums throughout the show, and that’s partially because it can drastically shift tone in a split second. “[The audience] might get whiplash," admits Lemon. "I want them to be prepared to come with us…It’s not a sit back and put your feet up kind of show.” Humorously, she adds, “Also, if you have too many pints, you might get a bit confused.”
What makes Gunter so satisfying is that it is strong across the board in what it offers: a compelling story, powerful and entertaining performances, new and effective writing, tight direction, and an engaging experience for its audience. It’s a premier example of Fringe’s passionate and vibrating energy. And it’s incredibly relevant as society continues to face questions of who has agency, who gets justice, and the weight we give to whose story.
“We hope audiences walk away with more understanding of those who believed in witchcraft and of those who found themselves accused,” Lemon says. “We hope people walk out into the night after seeing Gunter, holding the final image of Anne in their head, and go and have a good, messy, liberating dance. Or, failing that, tell a friend that Anne Gunter existed and tell them what happened to her.” And hopefully there will be more than the audiences at Fringe to help spread Anne’s story as Gunter looks towards possibly touring in the future.
One evening, the fire alarms at Summerhall went off five minutes before the show ended as it built to its finale. The building was evacuated into the night, but the entire audience stood around waiting at least 15 minutes for the all-clear. And when it was given, everyone returned to the Anatomy Lecture Theatre just to see the last five minutes of the show. The waiting was worth it. If there’s one show to absolutely not miss at the Fringe this year, it’s Gunter.
Gunter runs until August 27 at Summerhall's Anatomy Lecture Theatre. Get tickets here. Find out what else Playbill recommends at this venue here. See photos of Gunter below.
Cast of Gunter
Cast of Gunter
Cast of Gunter
Cast of Gunter
Cast of Gunter
Cast of Gunter
Cast of Gunter
Cast of Gunter
