Into the Blue (Unmasked) by Sarah Flynn and Rebekah Enns
August 12 – 20 at Venue #41: Rutherford School Gym

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An interview with Sarah Flynn and Rebekah Enns.

Describe your show in five words. 

Rebekah: Character Driven, Experimental, Workshop,

Sarah: Open

Okay, now that we’re intrigued… what’s the longer description?

Sarah: Into the Blue (Unmasked) is a monologue and poetry based character piece that explores a collection of people, their stories and the masks they wear. Masks can be anything from the clothing you wear, to the way in which you hold back your emotions in times of distress. How people interact with their masks is where things get tricky and we are interested in exploring that aspect of humanity.

Into the Blue (Unmasked) is a collection of people, stories, and masks. Where did the inspiration for the people and stories come from?

Rebekah: The show that we performed in Winnipeg touched on these themes that then inspired us to create a show that centered on them. The characters and masks that we portray come from ourselves, people we know, and even strangers. For example we took the style of a girl we know and admire and created an unusual backstory for how she came to dress like that. Each character has in the end really taken on a life of their own.

Into the Blue (Unmasked) was created in just 10 days – that’s incredible! How did you do it?

Sarah: We ended up in a place where it was our only option. The third member of our company was unable to come with us to Edmonton after Winnipeg Fringe for personal reasons. Rebekah and I didn’t want to let that stop us from coming to Edmonton. Having only 10 days kicked us into high gear and we just started writing and creating like we’d both always wanted to but never had the guts to. It has turned out to be exactly the push we both needed as creative artists.

You will be workshopping Into the Blue (Unmasked) during the Edmonton Fringe Festival. For audiences who haven’t been to workshop performances before, what is so exciting about going to a workshop performance? For you as an artist, what’s exciting about this opportunity?

Rebekah: We’re excited to share the creative process with our audiences. A workshopping performance is the only time an audience gets to be right in there with the artists and help them create.

Sarah: As an artist, workshopping a show allows for us to learn and grow our show every day. As newcomers we have a whole lot to learn still, workshopping a show for audiences is like a crash course on creating new work

Anything else you want audiences to know about the show?

Sarah: We try to be really honest in our show, and we want your honest and critical feedback so we can grow and evolve this show as much as possible. Depending upon the feedback we get, the show may change drastically day to day, making it worth a second viewing later in the festival.

The 35th Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival is August 11 – 21. Get your tickets at tickets.fringetheatre.ca.