HAILING from the quiet countryside of Fermanagh, Emily Braddick has taken her passion for performance from local drama groups to the bright lights of London’s theatre scene.
A graduate of the London College of Music, Emily, pictured right, is now carving out her own space in the industry as co-founder of TOPBRA Productions — a creative partnership born from friendship, ambition, and a shared love of storytelling.
Within just a year of launching their company, Emily and collaborator Katerina brought their debut play ‘333’ to the stage at the Voila! Festival.
‘333’ is a comedy drama following two flatmates, Mill and Gen, who, much to their dismay, find themselves trapped together by the London housing crisis. What begins as a mild irritation spirals into a battle of stubbornness, culture and quiet desperation.
“The inspiration from the play came from Katerina. She was looking at how obsessed the current culture is with self optimisation, productivity and this constant need to improve yourself,” Emily told the ‘Herald.
“And how we’ve internalised this and made it some twisted life philosophy that if you aren’t following – you’re a failure.
“We met up to discuss these ideas and then before we knew it, Mill and Gen were born. One representing these ideas of ‘self optimisation’ and the other embodying the total opposite.”
Debut
After all the hard work that went into creating ‘333’, the moment finally came for Emily and Katerina to share it with an audience for the first time.
“I was so nervous I was throwing up beforehand That could also have been from a few too many pints the night before,” Emily said.
“It’s always so exciting getting to show something you’ve worked so hard on but there’s always gonna be a slight element of fear because it’s something brand new that audiences aren’t familiar with.
“We had done everything from writing, to acting, to designing and funding it.
“It was very personal to us both. But the moment we got on stage we sort of relaxed into it and I think that’s when the excitement really started.
“It was just so brilliant getting to hear the reactions from the audience, and of course, there was a lot of people there who understood some of the ‘Fermanaghisms’ I snuck in; which was just fantastic and a real boost.”
After the buzz of their first festival showing, Emily isn’t slowing down any time soon. She’s already thinking about the next stage for ‘333’ and beyond.
“I’m fighting off the Oscars as we speak. But jokes aside, we’re going to keep developing ‘333’ as much as we can,” She added.
“We would love to take it to Fringe festivals across Europe and continue to look for a producer or venue to support the show. What we’ve presented is just the bare bones of what we hope will become a fully realised production in the (hopefully) not too distant future.”
