We sat down with Michelle talking about Mind How You Go. Through tales of Irish independence, family folklore, and humorous reflections, Burke unravels the complex ties between heritage, religion and personal growth in a deeply resonant, lyrical journey.
Thank you for chatting with A Young(ish) Perspective! Introduce us to who you are and what your doing at the Edinburgh Fringe this year?
Hi, I’m Michelle Burke, a singer-songwriter from East Cork, now based in Glasgow. This year at the Edinburgh Fringe, I’m excited to bring my new music-theatre show, Mind How You Go, directed by Gerda Stevenson. It grew from an album I co-wrote, produced by Duke Special, which will be released this autumn. The show weaves songs and stories exploring family, identity, and what it means to be Irish in Scotland.
A Youngish Perspective platforms accessible arts and champions the huge scope of different perspectives – can you tell us about the show you’re taking to Edinburgh Festival Fringe as if you’re flyering to both a young first-time-Fringe goer and a festival veteran returning every year?
Funny, fierce, and folk-infused. Mind How You Go is a music-theatre show full of original songs, family stories, and a few Irish ghosts. If you are new to the Fringe, it’s a warm, honest experience with music and storytelling that will make you laugh and hopefully stay with you.
For Fringe veterans, it’s not your usual gig or play — it blends music, storytelling, with nuns, moving statues, and American cousins with magazine hair. The show explores what it means to be Irish in Scotland — about home, identity, and those tricky in-between places.
Throughout history, folk music has been used as a tool for political and social expression, how does that inform Mind How You Go and your work as a separate artist?
Folk music tells the stories that don’t always make the headlines. My Great-grand uncle was a political prisoner on Spike Island during the fight for Irish independence, and a poem he wrote while in prison has become a song in the show — set with Duke Special. It’s his voice, still being heard over a century later.
Mind How You Go is about identity, migration, religion, and the echoes of where we come from. It gives space to voices that might otherwise be forgotten. I’m from Ireland but live in Scotland — so a lot of my work sits in that in-between place, with one foot in the soil I came from, and the other dancing on foreign ground.
This is a story about your family and your upbringing. Do you find it comforting to know that this legacy will be carried on through the people who see this show or do you find it overwhelming?
To be honest, it’s a bit daunting and I do feel vulnerable. When you share your own story, especially your upbringing and family history, you’re revealing the parts that shaped who you are. But I think that vulnerability is also what makes storytelling meaningful.
Who would your surprise dream audience member be?
Michael D. Higgins