Running With Ghosts

East London's Mulberry School and playwright Fin Kennedy have teamed up to bring a new play to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time since 2014's The Domino Effect.

Mulberry and Kennedy have a long history at the Edinburgh Fringe, having brought four productions to the festival since 2007. Mulberry Theatre Company made history in 2009 when they became the first school ever to be awarded a prestigious Scotsman Fringe First for their production of The Unravelling. All of Fin Kennedy's plays for the school are published in two volumes, which remain popular with schools around the UK.

Their new play, Running With Ghosts, has been developed with the school's alumni theatre group, and is co-written by Kennedy and longtime collaborator Afsana Begum, who also directs. 

Set in Tower Hamlets during the Covid-19 lockdowns, Running With Ghosts tells the story of an all-female running group who get more than they bargained for when they start to have spooky encounters with figures from London's past as they jog along the Thames path at dusk...

It is one of two shows the school is taking to the 2022 Fringe, presented alongside Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, a new show inspired by Shakespeare's MacBeth and performed by students from Year 9.

Kennedy, who until last year was Artistic Director of touring theatre company Tamasha, and now runs Applied Stories, said:

"It's a total delight to be back at Mulberry School, which remains a beacon of ambition and creativity in the education sector. Our latest collaboration is co-created and co-written with Mulberry's alumni, students and staff, most from the surrounding Bangladeshi community the schools serves. It shows just how locally owned and led the school's creative arts work has become. I couldn't be prouder to be back working alongside them to help them bring their stories to a wider audience."

Mulberry's creative producer Afsana Begum said: "This is our first time back at the Fringe since the pandemic, which had a big effect in a built-up community like ours. We've used that as inspiration for a new story of hope, about coming together in adversity, with a dash of magical realism as our characters meet inspiring spirits from London's past. We can't wait to share it with a wider audience, and put another new Mulberry play on the map of British theatre."

Running With Ghosts runs at TheSpace Triplex studio (venue 38) from 5-13 August at 6.20pm. 

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow runs at TheSpace at Surgeon's Hall on the same dates at 2.10pm.

For interviews with Fin Kennedy, Afsana Begum or other members of either company, please get in touch.