Little Lark of London

What happens when you combine singing, pole dancing, and moral philosophy into one hour? You get Clementine Bogg-Hargroves’s Edinburgh Fringe show, Please Love Me. Created by Clementine and directed by Zoey Barnes, Please Love Me is an autobiographical show about what it’s like to be a teenager making mistakes. Recently, I got the chance to speak with Clementine about her show. We discussed her creative process for such a unique performance, mixing comedy and tragedy, and what she hopes audiences will take away from Please Love Me.

What inspired you to create Please Love Me? 

I was looking forward to creating a new show after having toured my first show SKANK for the last four years. I was inspired by the excitement of a new project! I am a person who needs a very serious deadline to get things done, and applying to the Edinburgh Fringe and getting into Pleasance forced me to write the show. We were lucky enough to receive Arts Council funding for Please Love Me, so I was able to level up the show in terms of production value and scale. 

The moments from my own life that have inspired the story are representative of bigger themes – feeling wild and free until learning the consequences, looking for love in all the wrong places, the responsibility you have as an individual to not blame all your problems on society (even though society definitely played its part). It’s been really cathartic to re-examine these events in my younger years as a grown-up who can now take ownership of my own narrative. I really wanted to share that catharsis with others, so hopefully, our Edinburgh audience will find a lot to relate to in the show.

What has the creative process been like for a singing and pole-dancing show that “deliberately messes with form, style, and tone”?  

It’s been a bit chaotic, to be honest! Challenging ourselves has been really fun though. Constantly thinking outside of the box in terms of storytelling, how could this bit be told as if it’s a 90s trailer? Maybe this bit could be a song instead of a classic scene? 

A lot of the process has been throwing myself and my co-creator Zoey Barnes in at the deep end and hoping we don’t drown. It’s not the most relaxing way to work but I think it’s forced us to acquire new skills very quickly. Zoey with piano playing and songwriting and myself with pole dancing. Don’t get me wrong, we’re still a bit ropey at all of the above but it’s surprising how fast you can improve, and we’re both excited to keep working until we’re show-ready and bulletproof. 

How do you work on blending both comedy and tragedy into such a unique show? 

I naturally like to add in a few stiff handbrake turns into my writing. Building up the tension with a more emotional scene before shattering it with a tiny underwhelming fart. It comes quite easily as life is hilarious and terrible at the same time. Plus, with the quick-changing scenes and styles, the audience are swiftly thrown from comedy to tragedy to dancing to unease.

What is it like to perform a semi-autobiographical show?

It’s not always easy and it’s important to find the distinction between writer and performer in those moments. If I’m tired and emotional when performing, then I’m more likely to feel vulnerable on stage as well as very aware that I’m performing my own material. I’m working on leaving the writer behind and just feeling like an actor in a show when I’m on stage.  

There are a few things in the show that I’m not sure I can show my parents! If I were just playing a character in someone else’s writing, I wouldn’t mind performing lewd sexual mimes or hard-hitting, intimate scenes but with this show they’re not looking at a character, they’re looking at me.

What do you hope audiences take away from Please Love Me? 

I don’t want them to come away feeling short-changed. I want them to feel like they’ve seen a chunky piece of work and that it was worth an hour of their evening. I of course want them to LOVE it and feel moved, but ultimately I want the audience to be thoroughly entertained and satisfied by the show.

How would you describe Please Love Me in one word? 

Electric.

Clementine Bogg-Hargroves will perform Please Love Me at the Edinburgh Festival at 8.20pm in Pleasance Dome (Ace Dome) from 2nd – 26th August (Not 7th , 14th or 21st ). To book, visit https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/please-love-me 

Photo Credit: Liam Rigby