Following its preview in front of DU Players, Uncanny Valley blew audiences away at Edinburgh Fringe 2024. Created by Aimsir Theatre company and directed by Aoife Cronin and Lucy Bracken, Uncanny Valley ran from August 19-24 in theSpace @ Niddry Street. The play follows three sisters as they tell two stories; one is the biblical story of the creation of man and the second is when their mother walks out on the youngest sister Phoebe’s 18th birthday.
In an attempt to understand why their mother abandoned them, they intertwine their own stories with bible tales, creating a mesmerising relationship between each girl and the religion their upbringing has been steeped in. Starring Leah Coghlan, Lauren Kelly and Juliet Arpac, Uncanny Valley succeeds in creating a surreal and hypnotic production, which the title alludes to. It is impossible to look away.
In the aftermath of its Fringe success, Trinity News sat down with Cronin and Bracken to discuss the creation of Uncanny Valley and what the road to Edinburgh Fringe looked like. “We’ve gone to the Fringe before as audience members, so to be part of the artists’ community was really wonderful,” Cronin and Bracken told Trinity News. Both Cronin and Bracken are recent graduates from Trinity’s Drama and Theater Studies degree.
Having developed the show as their capstone project, they knew it was something they wanted to bring to a wider audience. “The creation of the show started with our decision to collaborate on our cap.