Peter Duncan talks about bringing THE DAME to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Name: Peter Duncan
Name of Edinburgh show: The Dame
Venue: The Dome Venue 287
Performance time: 8pm
Show length: 50 minutes
Ticket price: £12 (£10)

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your performing background?
The son of variety artistes and an actor since the age of 15 plus a Blue Peter Man in the 80’s

Tell me about your show, what it is all about?
The Dame is written by my daughter Katie Duncan and is about an imaginary Dame who has returned to his Northern roots. Based on her research about her grandparents who performed on beach shows, piers and musty old theatres. She has also worked in a women’s refuge and her experiences there inform this piece of theatre.
The play begins at the end of a performance as Ronnie Humphrey considers his past in all its glory before bleak reality sets sets in. ‘Beautifully written and powerfully played’ so says the Edinbugh Evening News.

How long have you been working on this show and what is it that makes it relevant to audiences in 2018?
We brought it to the festival last year for just six performances and have returned for a longer run from the 8th August. It’s poetic, profound and made Tim Vine cry last last year!

Do you have any top tips for surviving the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – both for performers and visitors to the event?
Don’t get bitter and twisted when you are flyering and ignored…you are at the world’s greatest arts festival and you never know who is watching.

What has been the funniest or most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you on stage?
I was nude on stage in a comedy called Funny Peculiar at Belfast Opera House and a man shouted out ‘a blue peter badge would cover that’

Who are your biggest inspirations in the industry and why?
I think the actors who don’t repeat themselves too often and carve out their individuality. Jerry Lewis, Chaplin, Stan Laurel, De Niro, George Roby.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Don’t go through last night’s mistakes… surrender. It’s a battle out there.

What other acts are you looking forward to seeing at Edinburgh Fringe?
I won’t have time between also appearing in ONCE SEEN ON BLUE PETER at the Assembly Rooms Ballroom at 2.50pm and The Dame at 8pm…. Maybe some tragedy in the morning and late night comedy!

Why do you think people should come and see your show over the thousands of others on at the fringe?
Because you can fondle my gold Blue Peter Badge while I wipe you your tears away.

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