Aim

A One-Man-Cat-Drag-Late-Night comedy. The last chapter in the autobiography of an infamous feline movie star!

difficult|stage, in association with Sherman Theatre & The Pleasance, with support from The Other Room presents: 

AN AUDIENCE WITH MILLY-LIU 

Written & performed by François Pandolfo

3rd Aug - 29th Aug @ 11pm

Venue 33 Pleasance Courtyard (Attic), 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9TJ

The cat’s out of the bag and Milly-Liu is ready to spill the beans on all your favourite celebrity pussies. From Bagpuss to Felix, she’s worked with the best of them, and been to bed with the rest of them! An Audience with Milly-Liu is a dark and outrageous late-night comedy-show hijack about a cat...yes, a cat! A cat with a mighty big fish to fry! Chewed up and spat out, Milly-Liu is the Norma Desmond of the animal kingdom but she's suddenly once again back in the spotlight at The Edinburgh Fringe…And this time there’s no holding her back! Come join Milly-Liu (if you dare), but be warned, she’ll throw you around like a half dead mouse and FFS don’t mention David Attenborough!

**** Superb theatre of the absurd…a mesmerising performance by François Pandolfo, The Scotsman (Alix in Wundergarten

Selected as part of the Pleasance Futures & Edinburgh National Partnerships scheme and supported by Sherman Theatre, François Pandolfo (Co-founder of Cardiff-based theatre company difficult|stage), brings this fresh, daring and unique brand of cat-drag comedy to the Edinburgh Fringe. A dark and twisted take on consent in the film industry paying homage to an eponymous dead pet cat who was, ‘A diva in life and remains a queer icon in death’.

After their critically acclaimed run of Alix in Wundergarten at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2016, difficult|stage are back again with this distinctive black comedy, directed by Dan Jones, (Artistic Director of The Other Room, Cardiff).  

THE STORY SO FAR

Following a successful period of R&D at The Other Room in 2019, we were all set to present An Audience with Milly-Liu with a run in 2020.  But we all know what happened then…..

.....so let's fast-forward 2 years and after lots of encouragement from our friends at the Sherman Theatre, The Other Room and the Pleasance who believed passionately in François and this show, we find ourselves programmed in a fab venue at Pleasance Courtyard, simply buzzing with excitement at being able to unleash Milly-Liu on the Edinburgh festival crowd!  

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

We're beyond grateful for the the support we've had from our partners including rehearsal space & previews at Sherman Theatre in Cardiff, press & marketing assistance by the Pleasance as well as heaps of advice and guidance along the way. And we've also been given a roof over our heads in Edinburgh by our friends at Wales Millennium Centre.  A huge thank you to them all!

But - we're having to self-fund everything else - including and most importantly, paying our super-talented Writer/Performer and Stage Manager.   We've been unlucky with bids for public funding and from trusts.  But we're not giving up.  And of course we're hoping to sell lots of tickets but we're not green when it comes to Edinburgh and it's bloody tough to keep filling seats every day for a month.  It would be such a huge relief to know that we have some guaranteed money in the (cat) kitty to help pay our team.  And it would be truly purrr-fect if you felt able to support us with a donation of whatever you can afford and Milly-Liu will reward you with some kitty-cat treats in return...

And look, we know these are tough times right now, so if you can't make a cash donation, we totally understand and just want to say Thank You for taking time to read this.  

If you can support us in other ways, maybe by sharing the project far and wide across your social networks that would be fantastic too.  Better still, if you know anyone coming to the festival, do point them towards Milly-Liu, she won't disappoint.

This project successfully funded on 22nd August 2022