An actor who went viral online after she posted a tearful tweet about performing her one-woman show to an audience of one at the Edinburgh festival fringe has played to a sell out crowd only 24 hours later.
The actor and writer Georgie Grier received messages of support from comedians including Jason Manford and Dara Ó Briain when she posted on Twitter on Thursday afternoon: “There was one person in my audience today when I performed my one-woman play, ‘Sunsets’ at #edfringe. It’s fine, isn’t it? It’s fine …?”
The Gilded Balloon, where Grier is performing Sunsets, confirmed on Friday afternoon that the show had sold out.
Grier reportedly emerged on stage with the words “Hello Wembley” on Friday lunchtime, before launching into her show, billed as a play about romantic comedies and set during a live podcast recording.
On Friday night, she said: “What a wild start to my Fringe experience. From one audience member yesterday to a personalised video from Jason Manford, thousands of supportive messages on social media and seeing more faces in the audience today; it’s been a whirlwind 24 hours. When I posted, I was hoping for a few messages of support or advice from fellow Fringe acts, however I had no idea how much it would resonate with people.
“There are ups and downs every day (every hour) at the Fringe but ultimately I know I’m lucky to be performing here. The reaction and support from everybody including my family, friends, the staff at my venue, Gilded Balloon, people online and other performers has lifted my spirits, but I know there are still no guarantees.”
Her plaintive posting on Thursday, which has so far gained 5m views, elicited a deluge of sympathetic responses.
Ó Briain, the host of Mock the Week, replied: “We’ve ALL done it. Soon, you’ll dine out on this anecdote. More than once I had to buy my audience a drink, as a thank you for being the only ones there.
“Best thing though, it’s all stage time, and the show will get better every single time, ready for the big crowds later!”
Fringe veteran Manford responded with a video message, recalling his own Edinburgh agonies handing out flyers in the rain.
Manford told Grier: “It’s absolutely normal … for one person to rock up to your show, especially at the beginning of Edinburgh, and also for you to be a bit upset or annoyed or pissed off about it. That’s totally fine as well.
“I did Edinburgh in 2004-5 and I remember [the] first couple of shows, the first week I think, was just, it was such a slog and I was out in the rain and I was flyering and people weren’t coming.
“I got total impostor syndrome. How much is this costing me? What am I doing here? Look at all these amazing people. How embarrassing that … nobody’s turned up but, you know what, you’re on the path and it’s just the start, that’s all.”
Even the Tory peer Daniel Finkelstein was moved to respond, saying: “I went to Norwich to give a speech and it took me 4hrs of travel. There were only 2 people there.
“One of them was the person who invited me. I asked the other person to join the cause I was there to support. He said he would, but it might interfere with the terms of his parole.”
Meanwhile the single audience member from Grier’s Thursday show has come forward to say that she “smashed” the performance.
Sophie Craig, 32, told the PA news agency that Grier “should be so proud of herself”.
Craig, an actor and comedian who is performing her first show at the Fringe, said: “Georgie and I had connected on Instagram, because I think she asked a question about the industry or something like that, and then we were like, ‘Oh, we’re both taking shows up [to Edinburgh]. We’ll come and support each other’. She came and supported my show and I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll come and see yours, of course I will’, so I booked it.”
Craig, who is performing in I Love You, Now What? at the festival, said her fellow actor “gave it everything” and the performance “wasn’t any different to how she would be if she was performing to a full house”.
“It’s just so incredibly brave. Bringing a show up to the Fringe on your own, especially as a female and a new writer, is incredibly hard and she just smashed it.”
