A former leatherworker who graduated from drama school aged 50 has won a prestigious award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for his debut show.
Simeon Morris's one-man comedy Square Peg scooped a Fringe First award, which celebrates new talent. The play tells the story of the author's life, from his “troubled childhood” in rural Norfolk to working in the fashion industry. Its success means it will run at the Edinburgh Fringe for another week.
The autobiographical show looks at many things including his quest for identity and is billed as “a story about cross dressing, dressmaking, midlife crisis and blackbirds”.
“It's an astonishing thing to happen at my first production, my first run, my first attempt,” Morris said.
“There are plenty of people that spend years coming up here [to Edinburgh] to get an award so I'm deeply honoured and deeply grateful.”
Artists that have won Fringe First awards in the past include Phoebe Waller-Bridge with her original production of the show that become the BBC TV series Fleabag.
Mr Morris, now 51, decided to become an actor in 2017 while working as a costume designer for the Netflix/BBC TV series The Last Kingdom. He said he became “envious” after seeing actors get paid to ride horses and fight with swords.
In 2019, the former leatherworker, who had a workshop on Elm Hill in Norwich, decided to put his craftwork on hold to enrol at East 15 Acting School in Loughton, Essex.
He said: “The content of the show is really about the struggles I had in trying to be an artist and finding myself.”
Mr Morris said while he hoped his success at the Edinburgh Fringe would lead to more acting work, the ongoing Hollywood actors' strike means many productions have been cancelled or postponed.
He added: “At this point I might have to push back to the fashion world and do some leather work at Burberry, or one of the other fashion companies in London, just to make ends meet.”
Mr Morris said he had been approached by a producer from New York who hoped to stage Square Peg on Off-Broadway. There were also plans to perform to audiences in London and Norwich. The show runs at the Edinburgh Fringe, one of the world's largest arts festivals, until 27 August.
— CutC by bbc.com
