Neon, the gas which powers the crimson signage that became synonymous with 1950s America is coming ‘home’ to Edinburgh in a new play featuring the Fringe’s first neon character.
Funny Guy, by New York based writer and neon artist Patrick Nash, is a dark and twisted comedy featuring a 7-foot-high real neon giant. In an intriguing twist, the play which runs throughout August is being performed at the Royal Society of Edinburgh – where the Scotsman who discovered the ‘noble gas’, Sir William Ramsay, was once a fellow.
Neon came into its own from the roaring twenties onwards when it became popular in Las Vegas, Nevada before spreading to other cities across the US and then around the world when it became synonymous with commerce and entertainment. As other forms of lighting developed from the 1960s onwards, neon’s popularity started to fade and in recent times it has increasingly been replaced by LEDs.
In another twist of fate, Edinburgh is home to Scotland’s only neon workshop, Solas Neon, based in Leith and run by Canadian Emery Boardman. Solas are largely responsible for most of the neon signage you will see around town adorning shops, restaurants and takeaways.
Both Boardman and Nash, who has a workshop in New York, are like-minded enthusiasts committed to preserving this unique and noirish art form. The pair have teamed up to ensure that neon remains centre stage during the show and that the captivating glow continues to inspire at the Fringe and beyond.
“Funny Guy explores archetypical characters and themes bringing a new dimension of moral ambiguity and deeper psychological exposure to a familiar tale. The presence of the neon marionette lends the show a visual and material uniqueness that adds to the tension and theatricality of the story and audiences are not exempt from the Neon’s penetrating gaze.”
Nash
Nash invites Fringe-goers to watch as the four characters in the show engage in a be-careful-what-you-wish-for drama spiked with lust and envy before the neon giant storms the stage and turns it’s searing light from the cast to the audience.
Funny Guy is running as part of the Fringe at Greenside (George Street) from 2-24 August at 17: 20 daily / www.edfringe.com
