Fringe icon Camille O'Sullivan lends voice to play based on legend of Leith Faerie Boy
Edinburgh Fringe icon, Irish singer and actor Camille O’Sullivan, has lent her voice to Fallen Angel, a new play inspired by an supernatural Leith folk story, written by award-winning writer and direct tor Liam Rudden, running at the Grand Lodge on George Street from 19 to 23 August.
O’Sullivan, known to many as the ‘Queen of the Fringe’ has “recorded a special cameo to secure the emotional heart of Fallen Angel,” according to Rudden.
A supernatural thriller, Fallen Angel tells the story of Angel, an Eternal, cursed and haunted by his long past. Can he escape the forces that have tormented him for so long? Forces we know as faeries, although not the kind that play at the end of your garden. The faeries Angel encounters are far more sinister, dark and demanding. Death would be a release… only Angel can not die.
The play was inspired by a 500-year-old tale know variously as the Pandemonium, or The Devil’s Cloister Opened, penned on behalf of a Leith sea captain called Burton, who dictated his strange encounter with the Faerie Boy of Leith, who drummed for the faeries beneath the Calton Hill, to writer Richard Bovet in 1648,
Rudden says, “Being a Leither myself, it was a story that caught my imagination and set me wondering, what if the Faeire Boy was still alive today, all these years later? Who would he be? What would he be?”
The one-man play, which also explores aspects of male mental health, introduces up and coming Scottish actor Liam Campbell as Angel, the show’s main protagonist.
Campbell, from Robroyston, Glasgow, says, “Angel is unpredictable, lonely, erratic. He is someone caught between two worlds, never fully here, never fully in any one place, which makes him both fascinating and heartbreaking to bring to life”.
He continues, “Before auditioning for the role, I hadn’t done much research into the Faerie Boy himself but spent a lot of time reflecting on the monologue in my own way. The way I connected with it internally, without outside influence, really fascinated me. As a storyteller and poet who is open about my emotions and mental health, I was drawn to how freely the piece allowed that to come through. Even then, I sensed a powerful and important story waiting to be told”.
And as he makes his Fringe debut, the 22-year-old admits, “Being in Edinburgh in August is a dream come true. I think every creative performer in Scotland grows up hoping to take part in the Fringe. To finally be here is both thrilling and humbling. I’m proud of this milestone and I can’t wait for audiences to meet Angel”.
Written and directed by Rudden, Fallen Angel is brought to the stage by the Leith-based, Brighton Fringe and Broadway Award-winning creative team behind the ground-breaking play, Thief.
Fallen Angel runs at Braw Venues @ Grand Lodge 96, George Street, 19-23 August at 8.45pm and runs 50 minutes approximately. Tickets £16 from https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/fallen-angel-by-liam-rudden