Elysian Dreams: Elysian Theatre and the Fringe

In Greek mythology, the most heroic souls resided in Elysian Fields. In modern day LA, the Elysian fields are a local park in which resides the Dodgers stadium and a small hill. In the shadow of that hill sits The Elysian Theatre, a century-old silent cinema turned 135-seat independent comedy venue whose Board of Directors includes Natalie Palamides and John C. Reilly.

Despite not yet being three years old, the theatre has already played host to Netflix is a Joke Festival and given a home to a community of nouveau clowns and alternative comics in the city. The name’s fitting, really – who could be braver than a clown?

But The Elysian isn’t strictly a clown theatre. They stage shows in every conceivable comedic format, with an emphasis on new work, experimentation, risk. As they put it, “there will be hits and there may be misses, but never boredom.” If you catch something weird this Fringe, chances are it’s only a few degrees of separation away from The Elysian.

Lachlan Werner, whose show Voices of Evil was a hit last Fringe and who dramaturges Paulina Lenoir’s debut this year, is one of the first UK acts to perform at The Elysian. He identifies three things which make it different to any venue in the UK. Firstly, the physical space – everyone who’s been mentions how beautiful its stage is. It’s plain and black, but wide and open – the kind of thing that Britain’s mediaeval cityscapes just don’t allow for.

“There's so many entrances and exits, ways to hide on the stage, and weird little holes in the walls… it’s literally designed for clowns to play around on.”

Then there’s the organisation itself, run predominantly by performers and clowns. “It feels really homemade in some ways… the best thing about that is everyone who works there is so up for making your ideas work.” 

Like a lot of clown shows, Voices of Evil requires buy-in from the sound desk – the techie needs to feel confident interrupting, creating a game or coming in with a sting whenever Werner starts to flop. “It's so tricky to make someone understand that, unless they know how to play with you,” says Werner. This relationship is rare, but does exist – Jonny Woolley for example, who techs (and directs) Stamptown, studied clown at Gaulier.

Lastly, it doesn’t feel like there’s the same appetite for show development from UK audiences. At The Elysian, punters are keen to see how a show develops.

“They make it quite affordable for audiences to see that development as well… here, increasingly, if you put on a work in progress, you're paying so much for a venue that you can't afford to sell tickets cheaply… You can't be as experimental with what you're doing, because you're so aware that people are paying high prices to see a show.”

Process is at the very heart of The Elysian’s new initiative, The Edinburgh Percolator. It’s run monthly since April, and aims to support and exhibit the development of shows destined for Fringe. Each Percolator hosts five slots and tickets are $10 for the day. Each session is wild and slapdash, with 15 minutes between acts during which the Mission Impossible theme plays as one artist breaks down their set and the next sets theirs up. Bagpipe music blasts through the speakers, audience members rotate in and out, and acts are encouraged to practise their flyering on the crowd.

Edinburgh Anonymous. Credit: Jacquelyn Landgraf.

When Jacquelyn Landgraf started as the theatre’s Artistic Director on 1 August 2023, she had never been to Fringe (although that’s set to change this month, as she directs Three Sisters Not By Chekhov on the Free Fringe). She wanted to create a nurturing space for the Edinburgh-curious and -committed, so established the Percolator, and its informal after party, Edinburgh Anonymous. The latter sees experienced Fringe acts, both those who’ve had incredible experiences, and artists who have found it really rough, deliver a crash course to prospective Festival-goers.

“It's really important, I think, as part of The Elysian to be like: behind the best wild work, behind the most hilarious things, is a lot of labour, a lot of repetition, a lot of thought and care,” says Landgraf.

It was natural, then, to let audiences experience the effect of that repetition. Natasha Mercado and Griffin Kelly were already talking with The Elysian about their Fringe plans – Mercado had reached out especially to ask what the theatre could do for work in progress shows. Both performed their shows #1 Son and Ladies Ladies Lotion Time at every iteration of the Percolator.

“You could really follow the bouncy ball development of their shows,” seeing the Percolator as the centrepiece of four months of development for Mercado and Kelly.

Mercado’s been performing #1 Son for over a year now, but always knew she wanted to develop it at The Elysian: “People that are clown-curious float to the Elysian somehow and it really has… this rowdy ‘we're doing it’ kind of vibe.

“My shows at the Elysian were my favourite… there's so much amazing energy in the room that it would help me as the performer go all the way.”

Mercado’s protagonist asks: “Why did God make me his sexiest son?” Whilst he may be laddy and arrogant, she’s sweet and heartfelt – and absolutely obsessed with clown. The night before our call, her husband found her doing a practice interview in her sleep.

Part of clown, and LA clowning in particular, is the idea that everything is worked out on stage. You incorporate the process into the show – Mercado’s Elysian run gave her more chances to play with this.

“I would be in the middle of it and say, ‘Can the lights turn blue here?’, ‘Actually, can we take the music out completely?’ and so that became a dynamic within the show. That might stay, that might not stay, but every time I would yell at the tech – and I would warn them before ‘it's just play, I hope it's okay if I yell!’”

Poster distributor Out of Hand rejected the original design for #1 Son on the grounds of it being “too sexy” – the new version features a zipped-up hoodie which Mercado AI-imposed over her six pack. She explains that she never set out to skewer religion – this is just an expression of how a clown looks at the world.

“I didn't set out to be antagonistic but in hindsight I'm realising it has so many [religious] symbols in it that people take very, very seriously. I asked my Grandma who lives in Bolivia (she's Christian): is this bad that I'm doing the show? And she's like, ‘No, God loves to laugh.’ So if my Grandma can say that, then it's fine.”

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#1 Son - Natasha Mercado, Underbelly Cowgate (Iron Belly), 1-25 (not 12), 11.10pm, £7-11
Paulina Lenoir: Puella Eterna, Assembly Roxy (Downstairs), 31 Jul-25 Aug (not 12,19), 10pm, £7.50-12.50
Three Sisters Not By Chekhov, PBH's Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth (Chamber Room), 19-23 Aug, 12.15am, Free/PWYW