When Brisbane theatre makers Sean and Hollie Bryan secured a season at the 2020 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, they didn’t realise that it would be such a long and winding road to opening night.

In August this year, with Covid travel restrictions in the rear-view mirror, the couple finally made good on that booking, arriving in Scotland to present their new show ARTISTE, with their 14-month-old son in tow. And soon we get to see them at home at the Wynnum Fringe.

ARTISTE achieves a long-held ambition of the duo’s company Brymore Productions. The aim was to produce a highly interactive, improvised piece of theatre for young people where not one word is spoken by the solo performer (Hollie and Sean alternate in the titular role).

This creative challenge reflects the couple’s clowning and improvisation practice, and also their desire to engage markets beyond the English-speaking world.

“We do a number of things drawing-based in the show where one thing that a child draws will turn into something completely different by the time we get our hands on it,” Sean explains.

“It’s very Mr Squiggle-esque in that sense. We might draw it upside down or sideways or something like that and then, halfway through the drawing, they clue into it and they’re like, ‘oh my gosh, it’s this or it’s that’. And you’re like, ‘good, you’ve got it. You get the gag, you get the game, you get whatever we’re doing in this moment’.’”

The couple realised that the show had hit the mark in Edinburgh when a number of performances attracted a predominantly French audience, one that seemed to perfectly understand the storyline.

Sean and Hollie created Brymore Productions in 2015, motivated to offer meaningful theatrical experiences to a market that is often overlooked.

“We would see parents with iPads in front of kids in prams at shopping centres and we found that really upsetting that children’s imaginations weren’t being allowed to flow freely,” Sean says.

“We thought – how can we get in on the ground there and make sure that as kids grow up, they’re not losing that imagination, that creativity that we both found so important when we were growing up.”

As Brymore Productions, the couple has created and performed in nine original works, in addition to gigs as roving performers in Australia and Europe.

Having waited so long to perform again in Edinburgh, they did not want to miss their shot. A successful crowdfunding campaign made the trip to Scotland possible, and the pair sought advice from arts marketers to sharpen their promotional content.

“Quite often with these festivals, you’ve got maybe a hundred words maximum to try and sell the show to as many people as you can in the world’s busiest arts market,” Sean says.“There were over three and a half thousand shows I think, at Edinburgh this year.

“There were hundreds of children’s shows all at the same time as you. You’re trying to stand out amongst them all. And so we brought in these people to make sure that our message was getting out as clearly as possible. And it worked.”

The promotional copy is certainly snappy – “Mr Bean. meets the Mona Lisa in this high-energy, paint-splattered comedy suited for the young and young at heart.”

ARTISTE evolved into its current form thanks to the time and space provided by a residency at Backbone Youth Arts. It was a full circle moment when the pair performed at the recent Backbone Festival, alongside other productions and works-in-progress aimed at younger audiences.

“I’m very passionate about getting children into the theatre as early as possible,” Hollie says. “Because if you as a parent feel welcome in that space and the child feels welcome in that space, you will continue to go to the theatre.

“I think that it’s so important to create a space for everyone that is comfortable and safe and engaging … and that everyone’s having fun.”

ARTISTE plays the Wynnum Fringe November 18 to December 3

wynnumfringe.com

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