A Beautiful View at the Edmonton Fringe Festival

A Beautiful View by Daniel MacIvor
August 18 – 20, 22 – 26 at Venue #15: Holy Trinity Anglican Church

An interview with Samantha Jeffery.

Describe your show in one sentence.

Have you ever met someone and immediately known that fate had grabbed you by the scruff of the neck and put you there?

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

You know all those little moments that happen in your life? The throwaways that you always remember even after everyone else has forgotten? That glance, or the way someone phrased something, or a perfect coincidence? This is a show about those little moments- and when you realise that those moments all revolved around the same someone else.

I love the question that ends your show’s description: “If you find your other half, are you whole?”. How does A Beautiful View explore that question and what, if any, conclusions does it leave the audience with?

I think A Beautiful View really looks at the question “what is a soulmate?”. The answer isn’t simple: you really have to piece it together and ask tough questions about love and fate and friendship. The two people in the show are definitely two halves that create a whole and fight both for and against that idea. As for conclusions… well, you’ll just have to come and see!

What do you think draws audiences to stories about fate?

Fate is that huge question mark that hangs over all of our heads. What is our fate? Can we change it? Stories are our way of dealing with that, of addressing inevitability and agency in our lives. Seeing someone make a choice and then deal with the consequences is such a pull since that’s what we try to do every day of our lives.

You think; Well, if that person on stage can affect their fate, then maybe I can too! Or the opposite; if even that character is destined to be happy, then maybe everything will be alright for me. Fate is as much about hope as it is about destiny.

Anything else you want audiences to know about the show?

Every single part of this show has been born out of love and trust for and with everyone involved. So much love. It’s impossible not to see it.

Also – both Nikki and Sam learned ukulele just for this show… and Nikki learned guitar too!