Delving Into The Minds Of Soldiers At The Fringe

A dance show that delves into the mind of soldiers and reveals the mental and physical challenges of the military has made its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

'5 Soldiers, The Body is the Frontline' by Rosie Kay is the lead act of the Army @ TheFringe, a venue hosting drama, dance and other performance works.

The artistic director, Rosie Kay, says it is "all about understanding the physicality of soldiering":

"Take away all politics, weapons and technology, we’re still talking about flesh and blood, and I think that gets forgotten. I want to bring that right into people’s vicinity.”

Duncan Anderson, one of the dancers, said:

“Learning from the military makes this piece more authentic.

"We’ve learnt to do drill and patrol properly, we watched them do patrol and ambushes.

"We’ve watched how they interact in their downtime, with banter and joking around. All in all, this makes the piece more authentic”

The show is split into three sections: training, personal lives and front line.

The last part is the most dramatic, as the soldiers go to war.

The Army reserve centre and drill hall in East Claremont Street has been temporarily transformed into Army @ TheFringe.

Besides '5 Soldiers', it will present a series of acts, including 'Charlie's Letters', 'The Last Post' and 'What If I Told You'.

Lt Col Jo Young, the British Army's Officer for the Arts, spoke to Richard Hatch on Forces Radio BFBS to tell us about their two-week programme.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest arts festival, which last year featured 50,266 performances of 3,269 shows in 294 venues.