 I Dreamt You Differently is an intimate two-hander that asks a much bigger question: what happens when the language of business collides with the language of art? Written by and starring Abbey Gillett, alongside Andrew Pearson-Wright as Billy, and directed by Elsa Strachan, the play explores ambition, class, grief and the impossible economics of being a modern creative.
Billy Mason is the embodiment of traditional working-class success. Having built himself into a successful businessman in the bar snack industry, he understands a world governed by effort and a personal touch. His daughter Mariella lives in an entirely different economy. Locked away in a hotel room for 45 days attempting to create her debut album while hoping to catch the attention of the record executive staying above her, she inhabits an industry where talent is no guarantee of opportunity and hard work often goes unseen. Under Strachan's direction, the hotel room feels like a purgatory where artists wait for validation from unseen gatekeepers. What makes I Dreamt You Differently compelling is that it refuses to suggest either of them is wrong. Billy isn't dismissive of his daughter's ambitions. In fact, he believes in them absolutely. He hears the voice of his late wife in Mariella's singing and desperately wants that gift to be recognised. The tragedy is that the rules that made Billy successful simply don't apply in the creative industries. Artists are no longer expected simply to make art. They're marketers, accountants, publicists, content creators, salespeople and entrepreneurs, often before anyone has even heard their work. Success isn't solely determined by talent but by algorithms, networking, branding and luck. Billy's frustration stems from trying to solve Mariella's problems using the logic of commerce, while Mariella is painfully aware that music rarely rewards those who simply work the hardest. The play also speaks powerfully about class. Billy and Mariella are both grafters born out of their working-class upbringing, yet both find themselves in industries increasingly dominated by corporate overlords. Billy has witnessed independent businesses swallowed by larger companies, while Mariella faces a music industry where working-class voices often struggle to be heard unless they can package themselves into something commercially digestible. Different worlds but strikingly similar battles. There's an equally fascinating generational conversation running beneath the surface. Billy represents a generation taught that security comes through stability, hard work and perseverance. Mariella belongs to one where success is increasingly precarious, careers are built on visibility and are often expected to be endless free unpaid labour. The play never ridicules Billy's worldview because, for him, those values genuinely worked. Instead, it asks whether those same principles still have currency in a radically different economic landscape. Billy's determination isn't born from controlling his daughter but from love and loss. Every conversation is haunted by Mariella's mother, whose absence has shaped both their lives in different ways. Billy pushes because he wants to preserve something of his wife through Mariella's music. Mariella pushes back because she needs to find her own identity rather than simply becoming the custodian of someone else's memory. It's this emotional undercurrent that elevates every disagreement beyond a simple father-daughter clash. Strachan gives these quieter moments room to breathe, trusting silence and the chemistry between her two performers. Abbey Gillett gives Mariella an effortless charisma. Her opening appearance in a fur coat, coupled with an arresting singing voice which grips the audience and immediately establishes someone who looks every inch a star which is essential for us to believe in her. Yet the play cleverly questions our perceptions, is she actually all fur coat and no knickers? Andrew Pearson-Wright is equally impressive, resisting every temptation to turn Billy into an overbearing stereotype. Instead, he creates a man whose certainty comes from experience rather than arrogance. Billy understands how to build a business, but he cannot comprehend an industry where extraordinary talent can still leave someone isolated in a hotel room, waiting for permission to succeed. I Dreamt You Differently is about the uneasy relationship between art and capitalism, about what working-class success looks like across different generations, and about parents and children who love one another deeply but have inherited entirely different rulebooks for navigating the world. The play asks whether talent should be enough and in today's creative industries, its answer is heartbreakingly clear and one many will experience first hand this Fringe festival Lee Hutchison 4/5 I Dreamt You Differently at 4.15pm, from Wednesday 5 August – Sunday 30 August at the C ARTS programme at C venues, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, aquila Studio, Roman Eagle Lodge, 2 Johnston Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2PW. Tickets: from £9, with concessions Box Office: 0131 581 5555 WEB: cthefestival.com |
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