Our next Fringe Spotlight is on Bonnie MacBird. We asked Bonnie some questions on what to look forward to during her Fringe Show. You can buy tickets for Bonnie’s show HERE
1. Is this your first time at the Fringe, and what are you most looking forward to?This will be my second visit to Fringe, and first time as a performer, though I’ve visited Edinburgh many times. My partner in the show, Charlie MacLean lives in Edinburgh. I’m looking forward to both our performances but also attending as many shows as I can, especially the Oxford and Cambridge comedy teams.
2. Can you tell us a bit about the show, and what we can expect?
Whisky expert Charles McLean will speak about the rise of the whisky business at the end of the nineteenth century, how the phylloxera epidemic which nearly decimated the French vineyards played a part, and how whisky moved from being a drink for hunters in the field to something savoured in fine establishments everywhere from fine hotels to the houses of Parliament. Bonnie MacBird will talk about Sherlock Holmes and his relationship with spirits, both liquid and supernatural, and read from her new Sherlock Holmes novel, UNQUIET SPIRITS, a gothic thriller which takes place in London, the French Riviera, and the Highlands of Scotland in the grand and haunted estate of a Scots whisky baron. Attendees will receive a piece of shortbread and those over 18 will receive a small sample of whisky.
3. What was your inspiration for the show?
Scotland, Edinburgh, whisky, ghosts, and Sherlock Holmes, all of which come together in this presentation. The show is based around the new novel UNQUIET SPIRITS, A Sherlock Holmes Adventure, July 2017 HarperCollins. Edinburgh is featured in the story, particularly Fettes, where it is possible that Sherlock Holmes attended for one year in his youth, as did another great fictional hero, James Bond.
4. What drew you to perform your show in our Sherlock Holmes Tearoom, and is the venue a significant part of the performance?
Absolutely! Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his later years was fascinated with spiritualism and ghosts, and the venue itself is reputed to be haunted. UNQUIET SPIRITS, the new Sherlock Holmes adventure is written in emulation of that great writer…and part of it takes place in Scotland in a haunted castle – Unlike his creator, Sherlock Holmes did not believe in ghosts, but there is more than one kind of haunting and the Great Detective has to face a ghost from his own past before he can unravel the mystery which faces him. Your tearoom evokes both Holmes and the subject of ghosts and is perfect!!
