The Camden Fringe Interview
Steph Darcey talks about her political satire Prototype
After the political turbulence of the last few years and a recent change of government, many people are disullisioned with politians. We talk to Actor/Writer and Comedian Steph Darcey about her possible solution to this issue with her show Prototype. She takes aim at out of touch politicians, disinformation, the rise of artificial intelligence and the erosion of democracy.
Could a Robot Politician do any better? Come and meet the Prototype, AMEXA when Prototype plays at Old Red Lion Theatre, 13 – 16 August, and Museum of Comedy on 18 August.
Hi Steph, great to meet you, so do you want to introduce yourself first.
Hello! I’m Steph Darcey and I’m an actor, singer, writer & comedian. Sorry, my intro is giving me cringe inducing self tape ident vibes. Now I feel the urge to throw in an interesting fact about myself. Well funnily enough, an interesting fact about me is that I’m putting on a political comedy show called Prototype at The Camden Fringe and like many people in fringe theatre I am wearing multiple hats… I am the writer, producer and performer. I do actually have a director – the lovely Olivia Gibbs-Fairley! So, I’m not staring at four rehearsal walls wondering whether I should break the fourth wall, in the show, all by myself.
What can audiences expect from the show then?
Audiences can expect a satirical farce and narrative sketch comedy about AMEXA: The Robot Politician and her journey into British politics. Think ‘The Thick of It’ meets ‘Westworld’. I play AMEXA and various other characters that populate her world so expect lots of multi-rolling, clowning, bit of improvisation, some serious satire and silliness. It’s stand-up, meets sketch comedy, meets play. A comedy genre mash up! ‘Prototype’ takes aim at out of touch politicians, disinformation, the rise of artificial intelligence and the erosion of democracy
Sounds right up our street, so where will we find you during Camden Fringe?
Prototype is playing at The Old Red Lion Theatre for four nights (13th – 16th Aug, 7pm) and at The Museum of Comedy for one night (18th Aug, 7pm). The Old Red Lion Theatre is one of London’s oldest fringe venues. So many brilliant shows have started out there, including Mischief Theatre’s The Play That Goes Wrong. It is such a brilliant space, and it works so well for Prototype. A surprisingly great space for recreating The House of Commons! I’m also so glad to be bringing the full show to The Museum of Comedy after performing in their Sketch Off! competition for a couple of years as AMEXA: The Robot Politician. The Museum of Comedy’s support and platforming of sketch comedy & character comedy, as well as stand-up is what makes it a truly brilliant and vibrant comedy venue.
So can we assume that the recent state of our politcs was the inspiration behind the show?Â
I spent years getting increasingly angry about the state of politics and threats to democracy, so I decided to start channelling my anger into something productive rather than shouting into the void in the good old days of Twitter. The Brexit referendum and Trump’s 2016 election victory really highlighted to me how Governments around the world have not got a grip on online disinformation, misinformation and foreign interference (to name a few) and there has been very little progress since to tackle these issues and the rise of artificial intelligence is only going to make it worse. There are a record number of elections taking place around the world this year and I want to help draw attention to the above issues in the only way I know how – character comedy!
What is it about your character that you most enjoy?
I weirdly really enjoy playing a robot. It is the only kind of show where I’d be thrilled to be described as ‘robotic’ in the reviews. There’s such a wealth of material that comes from a humanoid learning about humans and the world and the cross over with the many politicians who so desperately try to appear relatable. It allows for so much clowning and physical comedy. But I also then love switching to the human characters in the show. I love multi-rolling and character comedy (I trained in character comedy & improvisation at The Groundlings), so playing all these different characters with all their different flaws, quirks & voices fills me with so much joy, but also drenches me in sweat by the end of the show – it is exhausting, and I’ve genuinely upped my fitness ‘regime’ to keep up with this show!
You’ve mentioned that it comes out of a short sketch, but is this going to be the full length show’s stage debut then?
Prototype started as a short sketch about the soft launch of AMEXA: The Robot Politician. I performed it at various comedy nights around London (including Leicester Square Theatre’s Sketch Off! competition at The Museum of Comedy where I reached the semi-finals) and it always received great responses from audiences. The amazing Applecart Arts then gave me a residency last year to develop the sketch into a full hour-long show, culminating in a work in progress performance there in October 2023. I then went on to perform it at The Old Red Lion Theatre’s FreshFest festival earlier this year, took a break from my show, to perform in the world’s longest running comedy show NewsRevue for seven weeks, where I cut my topical sketch teeth, and most recently I did another work in progress of Prototype to prepare for The Camden Fringe back at the home of ‘ewsRevue – The Canal CafĂ© Theatre.
For each Prototype outing I’ve added new scenes and new gags depending on the current political situation and there will be more new material for The Camden Fringe. It has come a long way since my first WIP last October. I’ve learnt a lot about one person shows and what you can achieve theatrically. I’ve given myself permission to mash up genres too, as well as multi role more and trust that an audience understands what I’m doing and what is happening!
If budget was not an issue, what’s the one piece of scenery/ set you’d love to have in your show?
I’d love a robot pod of some sort that AMEXA can go and chill in and an elaborate set of The AMEXA Lab. Lots of computers and tech and screens with code and information for the audience – Brecht for the 21st century!
Many thanks to Steph for taking the time to chat. You can catch Prototype when it plays at the Old Red Lion & Museum of Comedy between 13th and 18th August. Further information and tickets available here.
