With 2,050 shows being offered at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, you’d pretty much expect just one to be lost in the crowd, especially if the one happened to be a little ol’ show by a bunch of Yanks from deep in the heart of Texas. Well, that wasn’t the case for our own Rude Mechs in presenting their Bush-whacking adaptation of David Rees’ Internet comic strip Get Your War On. Not only did the show manage to get a bit of notice in the local press – four-star reviews in The Times, The Guardian, The Metro, and The Scotsman, with The Stage saying, “This is a show that everyone should be talking about” – but it was one of five shows out of 400 short-listed for a prominent fest honor, the Total Theatre Award for Best Original Work by a Collective/Ensemble. And then it won the award. Much to the Austin crew’s amazement. Cast member Lowell Bartholomee reports Rudes being “swamped with business cards after the ceremony,” receiving offers for residency programs, and getting a couple of bottles of Champagne. And as if that weren’t enough, their next performance was attended by James Kelman, the literary light whose novel How Late It Was, How Late was adapted by the Rudes in 2003. So, says Bartholomee, “the night ended at a nearby pub with Kelman and his hilarious pal Brendan holding court for a bunch of wide-eyed Rude Mechs and passing Scots who recognized the man increasingly called ‘the James Joyce of Scotland.'”
The Rudes spend the weekend performing two shows at the staggeringly huge Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, then return home for a three-week stand of Get Your War On at the Off Center before continuing their international travels with a gig in Finland – yes, Finland. For more information, visit www.rudemechs.com.
For more on the Rude Mechs’ take on Get Your War On, See Arts Listings.
This article appears in August 31 • 2007.