Pete Lannon is lead artist and director of Stuntman, an intensely physical, funny, and tender duet which sees two men wrestle with their relationship to violence – both onscreen and off.
It examines the impact of action-hero role models on men and boys by taking inspiration from movies such as Die Hard and John Wick to create high-octane and sometimes ridiculous fight scenes.
This satirical physical production explores the relationship between violence and masculinity.
Placing the audience front and centre to the action of the Pow! Biff! Wallop! over-the-top stunt fights, Stuntman also confronts them with the performers’ personal stories of real encounters with violence and their relationship with aggression.
More information can be found here
Stuntman is coming to Summerhall this Edinburgh Fringe, what can you tell us about the show?
Stuntman is a really fun, high-energy show filled with over-the-top stage combat, that is also a tender and heartfelt exploration of male vulnerability. At its heart it’s about two men trying to figure out their relationship to violence and their own masculinity, and examining the harm that traditional masculine roles can inflict on us (and that we can inflict on ourselves). It has some very thoughtful and moving moments but it’s also incredibly silly and joyous.
What was the inspiration behind Stuntman?
The idea came from feeling like there was a disconnect between how much I enjoy a good action movie (or a bad one… especially a bad one) and how I feel about violence in real life. There had been a few moments in my personal life and in the news at the time that just made me feel so scared and angry and upset at the violence I saw men inflicting on the people around them. And at the same time I was gleefully spending hour shooting stuff on the playstation or enjoying hyper-violent fight scenes in films and tv, particularly when it was portrayed as ‘good’ violence enacted by a hero. I wanted to figure that out a bit, what it meant about me and masculinity in general. And I thought the figure of the ‘stuntman’ was an interesting way to start that exploration.
We also brought David Banks (performer & deviser) in early on. He’s a good pal and a really great performance maker who has a really unique perspective on and relationship to violence – he’s fought semi-professionally before and has been on his own super interesting journey with what violence means and how it impacts men and boys in particular.
Tell us a little more about the company, and what the process of devising a show like this looks like?
We’re a really small company (there are three artistic directors – myself, Ellie Dubois and Kim Donohoe) based in Glasgow and the Highlands. We all have slightly different skillsets and specialisms, and sometimes we all work on projects together or sometimes one or two of us take the lead. Sometimes it’s dance, or theatre, or circus, or a mix – depending on who had the idea or is leading the work. We’re lucky to work with amazing teams of collaborators a lot of whom we’ve worked with for several years, like the incredible Rachel O’Neill who designed Stuntman and some of our other shows.
For this show, the original idea started in 2015 as a scratch version, and then we kept developing and expanding (and performing) versions of it in small bursts until 2022 when we had the funding do bring a full team on board and fully realise the potential of the show. It started from just trying out some different stunts and ways of taking apart violence onstage in an interesting way, mixed with us sharing personal stories about it and working out which bits felt like they resonated with the piece.
We really like to have time and space between periods of development. Not always several years of space! But for instance when we brought Sadiq on board last year we spent two weeks as a team remembering what the heart of the show is and what everyone brought to it individually, and then we had a few months away from it before going into rehearsals. It’s really important to let a show just live quietly in the back of your head for a bit I think, it’s almost like if I don’t look directly at it for a while when I come back it’s solidified a bit and I can see it more clearly. It enables me to be more confident in the decisions I make as a director.
As a Scottish company, what does it mean to you to be staging the show at Edinburgh Fringe?
The Fringe is kind of a unique way for Scottish artists to show their work to a much broader audience from all over the world, and can be an amazing launchpad for the work to then tour further afield. That’s super exciting!
It’s also unique in that it’s way less accessible and sustainable than being an artist in Scotland the rest of the year – the risk is far greater and the cost much higher, and they’re placed much more heavily on the artists. We’re lucky to be part of the Made in Scotland showcase, which gives us a platform alongside some incredible Scottish companies. But also the reality is that without the support of Made in Scotland we couldn’t afford to come to the Fringe, even though we’re based in Scotland.
And what’s the biggest challenge in staging a show like Stuntman everyday throughout August?
It’s a really demanding show physically for the performers so there’s a challenge in them staying physically fit and healthy. But it’s also demanding from an emotional standpoint, and that’s probably the bigger challenge, especially at the Fringe – there’s a real skill in managing your own energy and making sure you can get to the emotional place you need to be to perform a really personal show like this. Luckily our cast are brilliant at it!
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Stuntman?
You won’t be disappointed! It’s thoughtful and moving and about some complex themes, but it’s also very silly and loud and in general a great night out.
