“Do you think cos I’ve been in the jail all I know is how to hurt people?”
Every year in Scotland 10,000 people return home from prison to an uncertain future. A Giant on the Bridge reveals the intimate human experiences within this prison-homecoming journey, in a compelling narrative-gig which fuses acoustic songwriting, Scottish hip hop & original storytelling.
Some of Scotland’s foremost indie musicians – Admiral Fallow frontman Louis Abbot, singer-songwriter Jo Mango, Raveloe (aka songwriter Kim Grant) and hip-hop artist Solareye- explore identity, family, community, systems, restoration, injustice – and the pulsing heartbeat within these hidden stories.
Devised by Jo Mango and award-winning Scottish theatre-maker Liam Hurley (Fringe First Winner with Dispatches From The Red Dress; Wind Resistance) with research by Dr Phil Crockett Thomas, a Lecturer in Criminology in Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology at the University of Stirling. A Giant on the Bridge has been developed through the work of the Distant Voices Community, a research project incorporating people from all aspects of the criminal justice system, funded by the ESRC.
Jo Mango, the show’s co-creator, said:
“A Giant on the Bridge was born out of a project called Distant Voices: Coming Home where people connected to the criminal justice system were paired with Scottish songwriters to explore their relationship to ‘coming home’ after imprisonment. It was incredibly moving and exciting to hear artists like C Duncan, Rachel Sermanni, Emma Pollock (the Delgados), working on these rich and intelligent songs, exploring experiences that had been so hidden from view previously. I wanted to help make a show that brings together a collection of these songs and weaves them together with dynamic storytelling in a way that we hope can be true to the deep, surprising, complicated way in which we’ve discovered that our system of imprisonment affects a huge range of people in our communities. It makes for a truly unique fusion of styles – you can hear influences of folk, indie pop, Scottish hip hop, traditional songwriting and electronic music among other sounds. It has been a true privilege to partner with the people involved and to be able to work with their songs and stories to create such a completely unique piece of work. It deeply moves me every time I am involved in it – these are songs and stories that don’t let you go.”
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Dates
Assembly Roxy Central
10.40am (80mins)
2 – 18 August no show Monday 12
A Giant on the Bridge | Theatre | Edinburgh Festival Fringe (edfringe.com)