One of the great things about being friends with someone like Rohan Candappa is that you get to see some of his creative pieces while they are works in progress.
Take, for example, the wonderful piece Rohan and Kat Kleve are taking to Edinburgh for the 2019 fringe festival; One Starts in a Barber’s. One Starts in a Bar. – click this link for the festival blurb on the show.
Back in the day…
…but not so far back that the term “back in the day” didn’t even exist…
…Rohan told me about a short performance piece he was working on, working title “The Last Man Cave”, which was about going to the barber’s. That idea would sound like complete rubbish coming from most people, but coming from Rohan, I guessed that he was onto something eentertaining.
Rohan also asked me to look at a short fragment of a female performance piece he had worked on with the actress Lydia Leonard, which he had given the working title “Pigeons” and had filmed:
I thought there was real merit in that fragment.
Rohan agreed and told me that he had expanded it into a complete but short work, working title: ‘And You Are?’, which he planned to have performed alongside his comedic barber’s piece.
This combination made no sense to me at all…
…until I went along to The Glad in November and saw Rohan and Kat Kleve perform a preview of the two-hander now known as One Starts in a Barber’s. One Starts in a Bar. Have I mentioned that Rohan and Kat are taking the piece to the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival? – click this link for more details.
Don’t be put off by the title “Trailer long” in the above trailer – it’s 74 seconds long.
That’s not long.
My hair is long…
…but that’s because I have an aversion to going to the barbers – an aversion formed when I was very small – a story for another time. Rohan’s barbers and bars stories are far more interesting than mine.
You don’t have to take my word for it – you can go to Edinburgh and see the show – click here for more details.
Based on the preview I, together with a few other lucky people, saw at the Gladstone Arms in November, One Starts in a Barber’s. One Starts in a Bar. is a really good show. It’s funny, sad and thought-provoking in equal measure.
If you are doing Edinburgh in 2019, go see it.