The Original Concept
The original concept was to find a way to showcase songs at a Fringe Festival, that didn't involve a verbal introduction followed by a song, followed by another introduction. By writing a story, Egriega hoped to attract a new audience.
At first, the story concerned a strange, confused being which left the audience uncertain about whether he was an escapee from an asylum or a stag party victim gone wrong.
Gradually, by adding songs that fitted the initial idea, the character of Mr Different took another shape.
We came up with the idea of a laundry bag, still holding the possibility of a stag prank, and also referenced Harvey, the play and James Stewart film about a man talking to an invisible rabbit.
Thereafter, the idea of a chance to comment on modern society and the ultimate possibility that Mr Different might somehow exist in a limbo between life and death emerged. However dark that might all sound, we wanted to retain a degree of humour. We thought of Samuel Beckett and men in dustbins or characters who were waiting for someone but didn't know who.
The final piece of the jigsaw in the first version of the show, was the penultimate song called 'I See You'. When originally conceived it was unconnected to the show but I sensed that a song about someone driving his car without thought for others would fit the script very well. The reviewer, Graham Jowett, pointed out that 'I See You' was also the acronym for ICU or intensive care unit. Suddenly the piece had a direction.
