With no fewer than five awards under its belt so far, “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea” by new theatre group 1927 Cabaret was the runaway success of this year’s Edinburgh Festival fringe. The sell-out show will soon be taken to New York for an off-Broadway run and is currently wowing audiences at the Battersea Arts Centre. So you can see why White Mischief is more than a little proud to say that 1927 Cabaret will be appearing on the main “Earth Room” stage at our November 10 night with a few excerpts of their work.

1927’s multiple award winning theatrical cabaret cleverly combines live music, performance and storytelling with films and animations. Using the aesthetic of silent film, a series of comic vignettes unfold in which the performers interact with the animations.

Hapless cats, marauding gingerbread men and cross dressing devils all make an appearance, not to mention the sinister twins and their misfortunate guests. The show has been compared to Shockheaded Peter, David Lynch and Edward Gorey with the charms of Weimar cabaret.

“A devilishly good piece of work” – The Guardian
“A frighteningly gifted new theatre company” – The Times
“Delicately deadly” – The Observer
“A wonderfully surreal step outside everyday life” The Scotsman

This article by Tim Cornwell in the Scotsman newspaper gives a fascinating insight into the birth of 1927 Cabaret:

“A quirky first-time Fringe show from a newly formed young company has racked up five awards, in a succession of festival triumphs this week.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, a cabaret mix of dark tales told through screen animation and live performance, yesterday won the Carol Tambor Edinburgh to New York award. Ms Tambor, a New York philanthropist, working with reviewers from The Scotsman, has for four years chosen one Fringe show for an off-Broadway run. She also announced yesterday that prize will be endowed as a permanent award.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, produced by 1927, also won both a Scotsman Fringe First and a Herald Angel. And on Thursday, it added the Arches Brick Award (which carries £1,000 to restage the show at the Arches in Glasgow) and the Total Theatre Award for Best Emerging Company to its tally. The show’s writer, Suzanne Andrade, said: “We didn’t expect we would be successful. It’s been a really good month, and we can’t wait to go to New York.”

The company performed excerpts of the show in cabarets to raise the money to come to Edinburgh. In a space in the Underbelly seating just 60 people, they rapidly sold out after reviewers began singing their praises.

The Fringe director, Jon Morgan, said yesterday: “Their success is truly in the spirit of the Fringe.” In no other festival would an emerging company achieve such international recognition, he added.

Two years ago, Paul Barritt, a young illustrator and film-maker, heard Andrade performing her poems on Radio 3. Interested, he sent her an e-mail. “He heard the poems, and wanted to buy a CD,” said Andrade. “I said, ‘I will swap it for some pictures’.” Based in London, the two began an artistic collaboration that mixed poetry, film and cabaret and which has produced the kind of rags-to-riches story Edinburgh loves.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a darkly amusing show mixing Andrade’s stories and Barritt’s animations with live acting and music. Esme Appleton was enlisted as a performer alongside Andrade, while Lily Henley on piano is another important element. Barritt runs the technical side.

His animations have a gentle, sometimes spooky period style, reminiscent of the work of Edward Gorey or Tim Burton. Acting is carefully timed to play off what is on screen. The show is divided into stories, including The Nine Deaths of Choo-Choo Le Chat and The Biscuit Tin Revolution, where gingerbread men run riot. In The Lodger, Appleton and Andrade tell a bizarre story in verse, dressed as Victorian children.

Andrade, 27, did a masters in French theatre at Manchester Metropolitan University, writing, directing and performing. Appleton, 28, appeared in her degree show. Paul, 33, trained as an illustrator. He and Andrade also have work in the Comic Book Project currently being run by the Collective Gallery in Edinburgh.

Andrade and Barritt spent two years putting parts of the show together. The piece was workshopped at the Battersea Arts Centre, where comedian Stewart Lee honed Jerry Springer: The Opera. It is set for a three week run at the venue after the Fringe. The group has already been invited to play in Bruges before Christmas. “It seems quite surreal, absolutely it has,” said Barritt. “We knew we had a good show, and we would have been happy to even get our money back.”

Charlie Wood, co-founder of the Underbelly, said: “We fought for the show to come to us, and it’s a real rags-to-riches story.” Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is now a candidate for the Fringe show to be invited to be part of the Edinburgh International Festival next year.”