Queer couple behind Gwyneth Paltrow ski trial play to marry on stage at Edinburgh Fringe
Joseph Martin and Linus Karp of Awkward Productions. (Connor Harris)
Joseph Martin and Linus Karp of Awkward Productions. (Connor Harris)
You can never be too sure what to expect from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a real-life wedding probably wasn’t high on anyone’s list – but where Awkward Productions are concerned, you should expect anything and everything.
In addition to bringing their show The Fit Prince (Who Gets Switched On The Square In The Frosty Castle The Night Before [Insert Public Holiday Here]) Linus Karp (he/him) and Joseph Martin (he/they), the self-proclaimed “harbingers of queer chaos,” are also tying the knot at the Fringe this Saturday (16 August) at The Pleasance Grand, celebrating 11 wonderful years together in front of 750 people. It’s thought to be the first wedding taking place during a show at the Fringe.
“It kind of snowballed,” answers Martin over Zoom as the pair take a short break from their wedding rehearsal to chat with PinkNews. “It went from ‘this might be possible’ to ‘we’re doing it’ within, like, three hours,” he says somewhat in disbelief. He then adds, “It’s very us.”
And in true Awkward Productions fashion, the wedding will feature special guest appearances as well as audience participation, like in Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story and Gwyneth Goes Skiing. “I’m very excited for those bits as well,” says Karp eagerly, reiterating that the occasion is a legal ceremony.
“It will be chaos,” Martin promises teasing entrances and outfits designed by Cosimo Damiano Angiulli of SIMO THE LABEL. “It’ll be queer chaos, but also queer joy and all those things that we always have as well. And then by the end we will be legally husband and husband.”
What might seem like a logistical nightmare, on top of producing and rehearsing a show, actually turned out to be pretty easy. Ahead of a planned and private wedding in September, getting married at the Fringe presented itself as a more fun and Awkward Productions way of doing the “legal bit beforehand,” as Karp calls it. They’d tried sorting this in London to no avail. “Someone else said, ‘Wouldn’t it be hilarious if you did it on stage at the Fringe?’,” explains Martin. The pair went away, checked with The Pleasance as well as Edinburgh City Council, both of whom were on board thanks to Scotland’s relaxed criteria, and that was it.
And what might seem unusual for others made perfect sense for the pair who have a long history at the Fringe. “We love the Fringe, it feels pretty special,” explains Karp. “We’re up here anyway,” he adds as another reason why the wedding made sense.
And while Martin downplays the logistics – “the woman from Edinburgh City Council has her stuff to say, we essentially have to be there” – it means something to them too. “The work we make is silly, queer, joyous and loud. Doing our wedding this way is a really good way to reflect that part of us,” says Martin who enjoys celebrating their’s and Karp’s relationship with their loyal audience as well as privately with their loved ones later.
The wedding just so happens to come at the end of the same week that the US Supreme Court has been formally asked to overturn gay marriage in the US. Does it make Karp and Martin’s wedding feel any different? Karp picks it up. “When we do a show, we want to make it as queer as possible.” Calling the worldwide rollback of LGBTQ+ rights “terrifying but not surprising,” he sees it as a reason to go on. “It’s even more important to be visibly queer. Even when things are bad, we will still have fun and celebrate queer joy.”
As for a honeymoon, the pair have consulted their diaries and found few options. They’ll be at the Fringe for the whole of August with The Fit Prince (with performances of Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story from 20-24th August). Then there’s the second wedding in September before a return to New York with Gwyneth Goes Skiing. And that’s followed up with a run of The Fit Prince at London’s The King’s Head Theatre from December to January.
So, it’s safe to say they’re a little busy. While Karp is keen for “a beach in Greece” at some point, he admits thay simple spending a week at home doing nothing with Martin “sounds like a dream.”
Away from the wedding, Karp and Martin are enjoying the Fringe. The Fit Prince, which parodies the Christmas/Hallmark movie genre, has already had a series of good reviews, The National labelling it one of their five favourite shows so far. Given the success of Diana and Gwyneth, the pair seen The Fit Prince as “next level” embracing new ideas and bold innovations.
Martin references one moment in particular they are keen not to spoil, but promises it’ll be good. “It’s a technical moment. It’s ambitious and it happens when we’re off stage. When it happens, you hear the whole audience [he mimes gasping]. It is an insane thing to do at the Fringe and there is no reason why in an entirely temporarily built venue it should work. But it does.”
But fans of Awkward Productions will still feel right at home. “It’s a show for girls, gays, and theys,” Karp says which is how the pair often describe their work – made by and for queer people, straight people are welcome to join in. “And it’s so nice to see our audience so on board with it,” Karp continues. “We are taking our audience participation to different levels and trusting the audience so much in this. We didn’t know how it was going to come through, but they deliver!”
And as for Diana and Gwyneth, both shows have materially stayed the same. Some references have been updated where possible to reflect the ever-evolving nature of pop culture, which Karp and Martin have consistently mastered.”
And though you can never be sure what you’ll find at the Fringe, one thing you can be sure of is that Awkward Productions will provide top-notch entertainment.
The Fit Prince (Who Gets Switched On The Square In The Frosty Castle The Night Before [Insert Public Holiday Here]) is at The Pleasance Courtyard until 25th August. Diana The Untold and Untrue Story is playing from 20-24th August).
