Elf's Top Five - New York, Soho Walthamstow and Merchandise!
- Elf Lyons
- 42 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Elf Lyons: Top Five, New York, Soho Walthamstow & Merchandise!
Dear all,
Welcome back to my Top Five.
A fortnightly newsletter where I share a couple of quick updates on shows and performances, alongside my top five recommendations from the arts.
Scroll down to read:
1) My Top Five
2) My Updates
3) My post fringe reflection (if you wish)
I hope to see you at a show, and thank you for subscribing to my mailing list. Let me know what you think of my recommendations!
With love,
Elf xxx
ELF'S TOP FIVE
MUSIC: What am I listening to?
Listen to the lyrics of each song to see how they influenced the narrative arc and physical choices I made throughout the show
THEATRE: What am I watching?
(Watch for free - 1 hour 13 minutes)
I am currently obsessed with prime numbers and how to use their conflicting rhythms to choreograph clown movement pieces.
This led me to discover this play by the mathematician Marcus du Sautoy.
I am drawn to the fixed point and Laban physicality of the performance.
After watching it, I went on to read Jorge Luis Borges’ short story The Library of Babel.
In this play for two variables, Marcus du Sautoy and Victoria Gould use mathematics and theatre to navigate the furthest reaches of our world. Through a series of surreal episodes, X and Y tackle some of life’s greatest questions: Where did the universe come from? Does time have an end? Do we have free will?
PODCAST: What am I listening to?
Love listening to Mullen's ruminations. I find him inspiring and I think I've fallen in love with him.
DANCER: Who am I inspired by?
I love the sense of humour and dynamism of Costanzo Martini’s work. He uses voice-over to play alongside the dancers’ bodies on stage, exploring control and comic timing, while teaming comedy alongside the dancers’ quick fire responding movements. I love seeing comedy and dance co-existing in a joyful, punk and provocative way.
NOVEL: What am I reading?
SHOW DON’T TELL by Curtis Sittenfeld
I remember reading Prep in 2005 when I was 14 and since then I have read everything Sittenfeld has written. This series of short stories pulls apart the difficult nuances of human relationships, how we reckon with our identity as we age and take ownership of our behaviour when we fail.
There you go!
Let me know what you think!
Elf x
UPDATE ONE! NEW YORK!
The Woman On The Edge arrives in New York City!
Soho Playhouse
September 24th - October 18th
Tell your friends, share on socials.
If you live in New York and have recommendations on where to visit, see, eat and who to fall in love with (this is very important), please share them with me.
I am so grateful and ever so excited.
xxx
UPDATE TWO! MERCHANDISE!
Thrilled to say that Matthew Smith at Desktidy Designs has created an incredible t-shirt for The Woman On The Edge and you can grab one at TeeMill!
They are high quality, ethically made and environmentally conscious - hence why I went with them. I received my samples the other day and the t-shirts are such brilliantly comfy and high quality.
UPDATE THREE! LONDON!
The Woman On The Edge is coming to London!
January 27th - January 30th 2027
The Woman On The Edge is landing at the Soho Theatre next year... and not just at the Soho Theatre, at Soho WALTHAMSTOW!
Celebrate the completion of your tax return and if you are working out what to get your family for Christmas presents... this is it.
It would be a dream to sell a venue of this size out.
To those of you asking "Why so far away in the future?".
The answer is 1) I am in New York til November, 2) At some point I do need to have a holiday and have a social life, 3) I need time to get a bigger bouncy castle ;)
See you there!
Post-Fringe Reflection
At the time of writing this, I am in bed: a long-limbed husk of a woman. I am eating ginger whole, and my mood oscillates in rhythm to the wind. One moment I am laughing. Next I am coughing. Then I am crying. Post-Fringe malaise is real. My ankles hate me. My neck aches. I can't sleep. At 7pm I start getting palpitations as my body thinks it should be getting ready to go on stage. I have dreams that I have forgotten to turn up at the venue. I panic I’ve forgotten where I left my bouncy castle.
The Edinburgh Fringe was a tornado. Honestly after 2024 and the success of Horses, I didn’t think I could surpass that experience in terms of the surprise success and reaction it had from audiences. I thought I had “had my moment” of making a show that people resonated with and were not just viewed as being 'cult' or 'niche'. Turns out I was (joyfully) wrong, and, truthfully, knowing how anxious and sad I was in 2024, it is lovely to know that I can have a good Fringe without having to mask so much.
However, whilst many people said "You must be having so much fun!" The reality is, the fringe was like a party you host: you don’t fully enjoy it until the morning after, when everyone has left, the house is clean, and you can hear and enjoy everyone’s stories in retrospect. At the time, you are simply too stressed trying to check that everyone is actually having a nice time, so you forget to enjoy it for yourself. This is how this Edinburgh felt. Only now as I go through my photos am I remembering that yes, I laughed a lot this fringe. I wasn't JUST anxious, I was anxious AND happy.
So... in a nutshell... The Woman on the Edge sold out its entire Fringe run and received over 26 five-star reviews. I was honoured to be shortlisted for the Comedians’ Choice Award for Best Show, (the award I won in 2024 for Horses). I received the Heart Award at The Besties and the Spirit of the Fringe Award at The List Awards. Crucially, the show irritated men on Reddit, and is that not everything a girl could ask for? I've never had so many men dedicate their time on line to argue about my work before.
Now, in the two-week purgatory between finishing Edinburgh and preparing to leave for New York, I am mentally digesting everything that happened and kick-starting my brain onto new creative paths.
At the moment I am deep-diving into the world of competitive sport, as I had an epiphany while watching Fulham versus Crystal Palace on Saturday (don’t we all?) about how we in the creative arts analyse our practice, achievement and how we support risk and emerging talent. In my opinion, in comedy we get too preoccupied with the WHAT the comic has done and not WHY they did something. I am fascinated with how athletes analyse their work - the forensic scrutiny of game play and the elasticity of how they enhance their performances and their curiosity with the different discoveries that are being made to their sport. I am also reflecting on how the comedy sector could learn from how sports fans engage and analyse post match.
But hey, this is for another show.
Finally, here are those I must thank for this Edinburgh:
The team at Mick Perrin. Thank you, Harry Pickett. Thank you, Damian Robertson. Thank you, Janette and Gaby. Thank you, David Timms, for the opera. Thank you, Public Service Broadcasting. Thank you to the Pleasance Beyond front-of-house team: Rue, Adlin, Emilia, Anna, Ellie, Zack and Somhairle.
Love x
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