Scientific Romance Theatre Company
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
A warm, funny, and historically grounded account of how a Founding Father’s visits to Enlightenment-era Edinburgh influenced a nation, and of how a Georgia native found a home in the same city centuries later.
On this the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Rick Conte retraces Benjamin Franklin's steps in 18th century Edinburgh, and reflects on the influence that visit had on America's declaration to the world.
SwearingThe Buzz Intro Interview
Rick Conte/ writer/performer/Scientific Romance Theatre Company
1. Why should people see your show?
The Edinburgh Fringe is the grand daddy of all Fringe festivals. But long before the first Edinburgh Fringe, Edinburgh was the epicenter of the Age of Enlightenment. Great advances in philosophy, chemistry, geology, medicine, economics, and political thought all came from the Scottish Capital in the 18th century.
Benjamin Franklin visited Edinburgh 17 years before America's Declaration of Independence. It was said that in Edinburgh one could shake the hand of fifty geniuses in half an hour! Those geniuses wanted to shake the hand of Ben Franklin, the greatest "natural philosopher since Sir Isaac Newton". There he found ideas for a new, enlightened government that shaped the future United States.
Georgia people may also be interested in my own side of the story, which took me from UGA in Athens, to the Athens of the North (Edinburgh), the city that became my home, and where Franklin claimed he found, "the densest happiness that I have met with in any part of my life."
2. What about festivals intrigues you? And why the Atlanta Fringe?
I had never heard of the Edinburgh Fringe when I arrived in the middle of it in 1989. I ended up working in Scottish theatre for three decades, which has included performing at Festivals all across Canada and the US, Asia, Bermuda, the UK and Europe.
The Atlanta Fringe seems like a wonderful festival and I look forward to bringing my show back to Georgia, where I grew up.
The show is not only about Edinburgh and Georgia, but also about how the seeds of American ideals came from the Scottish Enlightenment.
3. What inspired you to create this?
I had always been interested in creating a show about Benjamin Franklin because he is fascinating in so many ways.
When I discovered that Franklin visited Edinburgh I became intrigued.
Edinburgh was densely populated and disgustingly unsanitary when Franklin visited in 1759, but at the same time it was becoming the cultural center of the "Age of Reason".
This show, though semi-autobiographical, was written with my colleague Matt Rudkin, who I have known since my early days in Scotland. We have collaborated on all sorts of theatrical adventures and this is the second play that we have written together. Our first was an adaptation of HG Wells' "The Time Machine". Both shows were produced with support from the Scottish Arts Council and the Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Andy Cannon, a Scottish theatrical guru, provided direction for both.
