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      Interview: Going 12 Rounds With On The Ropes

      by

      Director Anastasia Osei-Kuffour on bringing Vernon Vanriel’s story to the stage

      Boxing and theatre might not seem the most obvious of bedfellows, but we reckon there have been some wonderful plays that bring the two together. And we hope that On The Ropes, which is playing at Park Theatre right now, will add to that list.

      So we were delighted that director Anatasia Osei-Kuffour found some time out of her busy schdule to chat with us about bringing this real life boxer’s story to life.

      Photo credit @ Dujonna Gift-Simms

      What can you tell us about the play?

      It’s a dynamic musical drama set in a boxing ring with a twist, telling the story of the pioneering Lightweight boxer Vernon Vanriel. We see his highs, his lows and how he kept on fighting despite the challenges he faced in his life, not least the challenge of being caught up in the Windrush Scandal and being prevented from coming back home to the UK after visiting family in Jamaica.

      Was Vernon someone you were aware of prior to getting involved with the play?

      I wasn’t aware of him unfortunately. Realising that when I read the script, I immediately felt the draw to join the effort to bring him back into mainstream consciousness because his story is so inspirational.

      Did you get along to any boxing matches as part of your research/ prep for this?

      Zahra Mansouri, our designer, and I went to Wembley to see a set of matches and some of the actors and I went to a second boxing event at Alexandra Palace, both visits were very informative and useful for the process of working out how to put the show together.

      It’s a musical drama about a boxer – which sounds different! How does the rhythm and structure of a boxing match lend itself to music?

      Having visited a modern-day boxing match, I was struck by the many similarities there are to theatre, from the announcer who theatrically announces the boxers, the boxers entering the hall and then the ring to thumping music in performance mode, portraying the character they know the crowd have come to recognise them. At one match there was even a live professional singer performing for one of the boxer’s entrances. I was mostly struck by the thumping music played during breaks in the action and how the crowd sung along to anthemic songs and waived country flags in support of the boxers. It felt celebratory and animated, much like the style of our play.

      What musical styles can we expect then?

      The music in the play is the soundtrack to Vernon’s life and includes Reggae, Blues and Gospel.

      The play’s blurb promises us “12 metaphorical rounds featuring key moments in Vernon’s life” – how has it been working with that kind of structure as a director, what different challenges does it raise?

      It has felt right for the story to be presented in this way because the writing is so clear, Vernon and Dougie Blaxland, the co-writers have set out the story so clearly that we are easily guided by the script. Artistically the main challenge has been working out how we can take the staging of a boxing ring and make it say something more, communicate something theatrical and metaphorical about the story. Working with Zahra Mansouri was a great joy and really helped in figuring this out.

      It’s co-written by Vernon himself, have you spent time with him to discuss his vision for the play, or is he more hands off at this stage of things?

      In summer 2022, we had a research and development week where Vernon communicated his hopes and desires for this production. It was inspirational to have him in the room, have him talk about his life and even take the actors through some boxing training!

      The play is of course also about Windrush, is it important to keep making sure we talk about what has, and is in some cases, still happening with this less than flattering part of British history?

      It is important. The headlines have disappeared from news outlets, so we need to highlight the fact that there are still thousands of families still dealing with the repercussions of the injustice that happened to them. It’s important that the government stick to their promises of compensation and reversing some of the chaos they caused.

      On The Ropes is playing for a month at the Park Theatre, are there other plans to take it elsewhere afterwards? 

      There is hope that it will have a further life. What that will be will be determined by how the run at the Park Theatre goes.

      Our thanks to Anastasia for chatting about On The Ropes. The play is on right now at Park Theatre until 4 February. Further information and bookings can be found here. More

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      Interview: Make Mine A Pint

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      Matthew Blaney on The Best Pints.

      After a successful one-off night south of the river at the White Bear Theatre in 2022, January sees The Best Pints returning for four more nights, this time north of the river at The Hope Theatre. We caught up with Matthew Blaney, fresh from an Offie nomination for Lead Performance in Not Now at the Finborough Theatre, to find out just what is The Best Pints.

      Tell us about The Best Pints. What can audiences expect in the Hope Theatre this January?

      The Best Pints is about three old friends who meet down at their local a couple of times a week. They have a good laugh over a few pints of stout. But today one of the lads decides to go a little deeper… I think audiences can expect a fun and fast comedy about male friendship that’s ultimately very sweet and wholesome. It’s about the better side of drinking culture, which at its core is about community; being ourselves with friends and family. And I do a bit of dancing too, which’ll be well worth the price of admission.

      The play ran for one night only at the White Bear last year. Has the show changed at all since then? Were there any takeaways which have informed the return?

      We’ve only just got back into rehearsals again, but I think the main change now is we’ve more time to try things out in the space. As is the way with most fringe theatre, you’re really on the clock and have got to make fast decisions. There’s a pressure to get it right, which is understandable but unhelpful. We want to do a good job but it’s nice to know we’re able to rediscover the play and experiment a bit more this time around.

      If we put you on the spot now, do you remember your lines from that night? Are they something that vanishes totally out of your head once a play finishes or will they maybe come flooding back to you as you prep for this run?

      Nope. In one ear, out the other. We did a recall exercise the other day, where we just tried to go as far as possible without drying. I probably only got through half the first page before folding. Sorry Kay! [Kay Dent is the director – ET]. We’ll be off book after Christmas, here’s hoping.

      We have to assume the idea for The Best Pints came from a real conversation that writer Jack Gallagher had once (or nineteen times) in the pub with friends. We’ve certainly had it ourselves – what about you?

      Definitely. I think that’s what drew me to the play; being able to be social with your tribe is vital to anyone’s survival, and pubs do play a part in that. Whether that’s telling jokes, playing games, sounding out your worries or actually saying how you’re not doing very well to your mates. We’ve all done it! I know I have. And I think Jack’s captured that in this play very well.

      We had a chat late last year before Not Now played at the Finborough. This was a massive success, sold out for its run with great reviews (including our own) and several Offies nominations – not least of all one for yourself. Could you reflect a bit for us on the whole Not Now experience? 

      I just feel very lucky. David and Max took a chance on me and I think it paid off. I was given the opportunity – which we all need as young actors – to cut my teeth, so to speak. To be onstage seven shows a week for a month, opposite an actor as accomplished as Stephen Kennedy, my fellow Offie nominee, was all I’ve wanted since leaving drama school, and for that I’m extremely grateful.

      Tell us what you have coming up after The Best Pints?

      Back to grafting! Auditions and meetings hopefully.

      Obviously, our last question just has to be ‘tell us about your own best pint?‘

      Good question. I had a real heart to heart with my dad a few months back. It’s been a long couple of years for everyone, and it was the first time in a long time we were able to get into it and put the world to rights. We went for a drive from Belfast to Donegal in Northern Ireland, couple days on the road, and on the second we stopped off at a beautiful little pub down by the water. Couple of stouts and a good chat. We got proper into it! We took a picture of our round and it’s been my screensaver for the last few months. Then, I’m back home for Christmas and I found a photograph of our two pints overlooking the sea and a massive sky in a little frame in the hallway. That’s the best pint we’ve had in a while no doubt. Hard to beat!

      Our thanks to Matthew for taking time out from rehearsals to chat about The Best Pints. You can follow Matthew on Twitter here.

      The Best Pints plays at The Hope Theatre on January 22-23 and 29-30. Further information and tickets can be found here. More

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      Interview: Lining up with Emilia Teglia

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      Emilia Teglia chats about On The Line

      Writer and Director Emilia Teglia has developed On The Line with participants from Camden’s Action Youth Boxing Intervention. It plays at Stanley Arts in January and VAULT Festival in February, and we caught up with her to find out more.

      Tell us a little about On The Line. What can audiences expect?

      You’ll be hanging out with Tia and Kai, lifelong friends who’ve grown up on the same council estate. They’ll chat to you about that mad day they skipped school to go to the new schoolmate Sienna’s mansion – because “someone’s got to check it ain’t just Tik Tok filters” – and how their lives changed forever that day.

      On the Line is a Gen-Y play. It’s fast-paced with twists and turns, wit, deep themes, banter and emotion, and all told in contemporary London slang. It’s immediate and honest. It’s a bit like scrolling through your Instagram feed but it’s real. It’s based on the real experiences of a group of young people from Camden’s Action Youth Boxing Intervention.

      (c) Alex Brenner

      On The Line deals with a lot of socially relevant themes. Can you give us some insight into these and the importance of sharing them?

      It’s about growing up at the bottom of the social ladder whilst having to negotiate life-long loyalties, family values, aspirations, and handed-down generational trauma. It’s also about the real barriers to social mobility, the complex experiences of individuals behind the statistics. In Camden, like in other areas of London, the rich and poor gap is widening but is not unusual to see a student from a very wealthy family sitting next to a student living in poverty.

      The awareness is painful. Armani*, an outspoken sixteen-year-old girl living in an overcrowded situation, put this plainly during the writing process: “Our school is basically a prison for poor kids with the random children of famous leftie actors or Labour politicians.” Her brother Tyrese*, who has ADHD and a history of gang affiliation, talks about some of the richest streets in the borough. His eyes sparkle as he describes the flashy ‘whips’ (cars) and the ‘cribs’ (houses). Then he gets gloomy. He says: “this level of rich makes me feel sad. There’s people who’ve got too much, and we got jack.” All this is in On The Line, verbatim.

      You have a fabulous promo image for your show – it really caught the team’s eye here. How did the design come together?

      I’m glad you are curious about the image. People say it makes total sense after watching the play, so I’m not going to give too many spoilers.

      Photo: Paul Grieve, Giorgia Valentino  Design: Max Batty

      Like the rest of On The Line’s creative process, the design developed collaboratively. We wanted to show the ‘fish out of water’ essence of the story and at the same time the grit and the harshness of Tia and Kai’s background, as well as their playfulness. For the photo, I approached Paul Grieve, a street photographer that has a talent for capturing defiance, humour and tenderness in his portraits of everyday people. That was important because we also needed to convey the amazing friendship between the two protagonists and their ‘one front’ against adversity. Props were lent by friends and sourced by our amazing Assistant Stage Manager Andreea Pieleanu. We shot on Chalcots Estate in Camden, the actual setting of the play. Our leading actress Giorgia Valentino, who is also an incredibly talented portrait photographer took the headshot of Zacchaeus Kayode which ended up in the final image. Then Max Batty did the magic with his graphics. Max has been designing Odd Eyes Theatre’s posters and book covers for the past ten years and was immediately on board with the concept and aesthetic. It takes a village…

      On The Line has been touring around schools and we’ve seen some great feedback. How has that been, and are there any differences between playing in schools and playing in theatre venues?

      Huge differences! To begin with, theatre audiences come with a completely different attitude. They’ve bought their ticket and are determined to have a good time, a return on their investment. They’re easy. They respond, react, suspend disbelief immediately and get lost into the world of the play.

      In schools, we are playing to groups of teenagers who have often only experienced theatre as part of their statutory education: they are somehow compelled to watch it: it’s not a choice. So that’s already setting their attitude in a different way. They sit down, legs stretched, arms crossed or in their pockets, looking unfazed with a ‘show me what you’ve got’ kind of attitude. And then they hear the language, they start to get the story, the familiar Drill and R&B tunes come up, they get the jokes. You see them start leaning forward, elbowing each other, laughing, gasping, and they can’t get enough of it. Teachers turn to the low achieving students to ask the meaning of some of the words. It’s all in London slang – finally something they’re masters at.

      Most importantly, school performances are followed by Odd Eyes’ Creative Debate workshops. The students have a chance to let us know what they think of the issues in the play and develop scenes and short plays based on their response to the story and on their personal experience. Some of their stories go on to be developed professionally, and this is how On The Line was developed.

      Finally, what is next for On The Line and Odd Eyes Theatre?

      More theatre and school tours and a screen adaptation of On The Line. The film will be another great opportunity to involve young people in the rewriting process and as cast. Funders, producers and schools interested in partnering with us, get in touch!

      *Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality

      Our thanks to Emilia for taking the time to chat with us. You can find out more information about Odd Eyes Theatre on their website.

      On The Line plays at Stanley Arts on Thursday 19 January (tickets and info) and VAULT Festival on Saturday 11 February (tickets and info). More

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      Interview: Just who was Aphra Behn?

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      Claire Louise Amias tells us about Aphra Behn

      In early 2023 Claire Louise Amias will be touring her show about Aphra Behn, the UK’s first professional female writer. We caught up with Claire to learn a little more about this fascinating historical figure and to talk about how her story will be brought to life in The Masks of Aphra Behn.

      So, let’s start with the obvious question, who was Aphra Behn?

      Aphra Behn was arguably the first professional female writer in English. She wrote plays, poetry and prose. Her most well-known works today are her play The Rover and novella Oroonoko. She was born in 1640 and grew up in Canterbury, the daughter of a barber and a wet nurse, but ended up one of the most prolific writers of the Restoration era. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a spy for King Charles II in the Second Dutch War. A lot of her life story is unknown as she wasn’t aristocratic. However, she was part of the same libertine literary set that included the Earl of Rochester.

      She’s mentioned in Virginia Woolf’s book A Room of One’s Own: “All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn … for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.”

      What first brought Aphra Behn to your attention then?

      Photo by: Claire Newman-Williams

      I first came across her when I read The Rover in my twenties. I loved the play and directed some scenes from it with my acting students. It wasn’t until I did an MA at RADA that she came up again. We were doing a workshop on Restoration Theatre and my tutor, Andrew Visnevski, threw down the gauntlet by saying he’d never seen a one-woman show about Aphra Behn and that one of us should create one. I wanted to create it for my final piece on the MA, but after reading all of her plays, and a lot of her poetry and prose and three biographies, I got rather bogged down with too much information! However, I was drawn to the character of this vibrant libertine woman who achieved so much in the arts at a time when, because of her sex and class, it was nearly impossible to do so. What emerged was this enigmatic and engaging personality who, to survive, adapted to whatever situation she was in. To carry on exploring her work, I directed scenes from her plays and a rehearsed reading of The Lucky Chance at RADA.

      Five years later, in 2016, the opportunity to take part in the Women and War Festival at London’s So & So Arts Club came up. I realised the way to create the one-woman show was to pick one particular part of Behn’s life to focus on – and it so happened that her time as a spy in the Dutch wars was the best documented. As soon as I had the concept I wrote the show quite quickly. It was accepted for a four-week run at the Women and War Festival, then at the RADA Festival, and it went on a national tour, getting lots of four-star reviews. Pradeep Jey directed it – he’s co-artistic director of our theatre company, A Monkey with Cymbals, which we set up in 2009. We have a good working relationship, and a close enough friendship that we’re able to really challenge each other and our artistic choices.

      You’ve performed The Masks of Aphra Behn since 2016, there was a live-stream during lockdown and now you are playing a mini tour in 2023. What is it that keeps bringing you back to her story?

      I’ve decided to bring back my one woman show about her now because there’s currently a campaign to get a statue built to commemorate Behn, run by the The A is for Aphra Campaign and the Canterbury Commemoration Society. So the subject is very topical.

      Photo by: Greg Veit
      You must have done extensive research of Aphra Behn’s poetry, letters and plays?
      Yes, as I mentioned, it took a few years of research to write The Masks of Aphra Behn. My final project at RADA ended up being a dramaturgical anthology of scenes from Behn’s plays, plus bits from her poems and letters, which included autobiographical references to her life. I’m not sure if it was in itself a great piece of theatre, but it certainly gave me a foundation for writing The Masks of Aphra Behn. This helped give me a sense of her voice, so that her letters and introductions to her plays, and even a section from the opening of Oroonoko (which was thought by early biographers to be based on her own history), seamlessly flow into the lines I’ve written.
      It gives the show a sense of authenticity by containing some of Behn’s own words

      Tell us a little more about the A is for Aphra campaign.

      The A is for Aphra Campaign has a similar goal to my own. Aphra Behn achieved an extraordinary body of work and remains an important historical figure, yet she’s not a well-known name.

      The campaign organisers aim to have her celebrated publicly, and they’ve joined forces with the Canterbury Commemoration Society to get a bronze statue of this incredible woman erected in her hometown of Canterbury.

      When I saw that this campaign had launched on social media, I felt I had to get in touch. They’ve kindly promoted my show in their newsletters, and after each performance I suggest people donate to the A is for Aphra Campaign to raise funds for the statue.

      What would you like audiences to take away from your show?

      I’d like people to come away from the show knowing a bit about this amazing woman, and to be intrigued enough to read or watch more of her plays, and to be inspired by her tenacity and talent. And to listen to her sometimes very modern thoughts on sexual politics and her satirical take on the position of women in society.

      I’ve also attempted to write my show in the style of how I imagine Behn might have written her own life story, full of adventure, humour and pathos, so I hope the audience are entertained!

      What are your plans after the tour? We know you have been developing Woman Behind Glass – might we see that in 2023?

      I’m getting close to a draft of Woman Behind Glass that I’m happy with. It’s a ghost story that also touches on the subject of dementia. I’m a fan of MR James and the ghost stories of E Nesbit, and the play deals with a supernatural presence that’s possibly an emanation of past and present human trauma. Again, it’s an idea I’ve been playing with for a while. I always need a gestation period where the ideas formulate. Pradeep and I previously received an ACE grant for an R&D project about memory and photography, and this is certainly a development of that idea. We hope to apply for further funding this year. So, watch this space!

      Thanks to Claire for chatting with us and look for our review of The Masks of Aphra Behn soon. You can visit Claire’s website here and find her on Twitter here.

      The Masks of Aphra Behn plays at:

      White Bear Theatre January 11-13. Tickets and more information can be found here.

      The Space February 17 & 18. Tickets and more information can be found here.

      The Brooke Theatre February 22. Tickets and more information can be found here. More

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      Interview: Crowdfunding Buff

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      Scott Le Crass on bring Buff to Vault Festival via crowdfunding.

      Fresh from success with Harry’s Christmas at the King’s Head Theatre, director Scott Le Crass is crowdfunding for his next project, Buff at VAULT Festival. We caught up with Scott to talk about his next show, find out about the challenges that small shows face right now, and the support that VAULT Festival gives to all the artists bringing shows to the festival this year.

      It’s great to have a chance to chat Scott. Could you introduce yourself and tell us a little about Buff?

      I’m a queer, working class director and dramaturg from Birmingham. I’ve directed quite a few one person plays, notably last year Rose at Park Theatre [see our five star review here] and Harry’s Christmas at King’s Head Theatre as well as Sid back in 2016. I’m interested in the actor/audience relationship in one person pieces. I’m interested in creating intimacy, a sense of voyeurism and a time that feels like just having a chat with someone, or watching a piece of stand up. 

      Buff is a play which the writer, Ben Fensome, and I have been developing for several years, but due to the pandemic and other reasons has had several false starts. We’re over the moon that we finally have an opportunity to premiere it at VAULT Festival. Buff is about a plus-sized gay man who has recently come out of a long term relationship. He tries to start navigating the dating world via apps, but is presented with toxic attitudes about body image. It’s about (and for) the gay people we don’t see onstage. It’s very funny and poignant. 

      Can you give us some insight into the journey of development that the script has been on?
      Ben and I had previously collaborated on his play Every Seven Years back in 2016 at the New Wimbledon Studio and we’d built a good working relationship. We hadn’t seen each for a while, but caught up one day over a cuppa as I’d had an idea for a play, and it just so happened Ben was writing a play about a very similar thing – that was Buff’s conception (we actually went through several other titles before arriving at Buff). Ben wrote a first draft, we read through it together, I shared my thoughts and he then redrafted the play. After that we did a reading with an actor, which was really useful and allowed another redraft to take place. It’s been quite a spread out process, but I think it’s important with new work not to rush a play’s development. 

      There is a Kickstarter running at the moment to support Buff’s visit to VAULT Festival. What are the challenges that a small show like this faces? How much have those challenges increased in the current economic climate?

      We do have a Kickstarter campaign running. Here is a shameless plug!

      The challenge with small shows is that lots of people are fundraising. You need to get potential backers to believe in your production in order to get behind it. Also your project needs to stand out. For me, I only try to work on plays that I believe in and which say something important about the world we live in. I hope that a potential supporter can see the need for Buff to be told and champion us. 

      Money is tight for a lot of people at the moment, so asking them to donate at a time like this presents an added challenge. Ben and I hadn’t intended on producing the play, but… here we are. That’s another story.

      We’ve created our crowdfunder to make sure that Buff simply happens. It’s not flashy in terms of production values; it’s a story which doesn’t need to rely on that. Our campaign is to pay the team and book rehearsal space. We are not paying ourselves at it currently stands. This is an added personal challenge for Ben and I. As a working class artist I don’t have the luxury of wealth to put on my own work. Without the luxury, it has embedded a resourcefulness from making a little go a long way. 

      We’ve seen a lot of shows turn to crowdfunding recently and this is the second time you’ve run a Kickstarter project yourself. Do you think we’ll see more of this in the future or do you think this is a blip due to the current cost of living crisis?

      I haven’t done a crowdfunder in a long time, and that feels very telling. Unfortunately, I think Kickstarters and other fundraising initiatives are something we are going to see a lot more of. Aside from Arts Council funding, it’s one of the few immediate ways that working class artists can make new work without a producer. 

      Could you talk a little about VAULT Festival? We’ve seen you mention them giving advice and support. How has it been bringing Buff to the Festival?

      VAULT is a wonderful festival that presents a great range of new work, in, around and under the arches in Waterloo. Their team is very supportive in every aspect of your production, from marketing through to tech. We went through an application process, which is very thorough and competitive, so we are hugely grateful for VAULT in taking Buff forwards. 

      You directed Harry’s Christmas which finished at the King’s Head Theatre on Christmas Eve. There were some great reviews including one from original author Steven Berkoff. Can you reflect a bit for us on the whole experience?

      I’m still processing the whole experience. Having Steven Berkoff see the play and be highly complimentary about my reimagining was very humbling and reassuring. I’m chuffed with the reviews and the nominations, but the audience feedback really confirmed that I’d achieved what I’d set out to do – make them think about the Harrys they know, or to reach out if they are themselves Harry. I’m very proud of what Stephen Smith [the performer] and I have made. 

      Finally, are there more plans for Buff after the VAULT Festival? And what about yourself? We know you had a really busy 2022 directing seven productions, is 2023 going to see you just as busy?

      We’d really like to take Buff further, but nothing is confirmed yet. If any theatres out there would like to give it a home then get in touch. I’ve got another show at VAULT called Thirsty by Stephanie Martin, which is a lovely new four person play about a women who has just come out of her first same sex relationship,  as well as Merboy which is a queer retelling of The Little Mermaid at The Omnibus with Campfire Theatre. 

      Our thanks to Scott for taking time to chat with us. If you’d like to help him and the team out with Buff, here is that Kickstarter link again. We wish them all the best with the crowdfunding and with the show.

      Buff plays VAULT Festival on 31 January, 1-2 and 18-19 February. Further information and tickets can be found here. There’s also more information from Buff on Twitter. More

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      Interview: Childminding with The Manny

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      Sam McArdle is The Manny

      Sam McArdle is an Irish actor whose one man black comedy The Manny plays at the King’s Head Theatre in January 2023. We caught up with him to have a chat about developing and funding the show, as well as his own experiences working as a male nanny.

      Well, the title of the play probably gives a bit of a hint, but first tell us about the premise of The Manny.

      The Manny is loosely based on when I was working as a male nanny for rich single mums in West London in my 20s. I always feel the need (and rightly so!) to stress that the character is quite different to me. He’s quite a morally grey figure, who uses this flexible, well paid job to his advantage by living a ‘Peter Pan-esque’ life of casual dating, probably because he’s a little lost in his place in life. Although he comes across as quite confident, he also represents the anxiety that can come from society’s pressure to have achieved all of your ‘objectives’ by a certain age, and so he is settling for this life where he doesn’t feel anything. He meets an actress called Molly, who also seems lost, but in a different way. She came out of the top drama school in London with all of the agents coming for her, but after a few years she seems to have been cast aside by the industry, and it looks like she won’t achieve her dreams. She is also settling, in a different way, by being in a relationship with a ‘safe bet’. He works in tech, makes a good salary, but he doesn’t really ‘see’ her. Not in the way The Manny does. She’s drawn to his appetite for life and brazenness, and he’s never met someone before who is following their passion, no matter how much it hurts them. Finally, we have Michael. He’s a seven-year-old, pain in the arse, right-wing child with slightly Machiavellian tendencies, who is the product of a cold, loveless marriage. He’s settling for turning into every example of an entitled smarmy public school boy that we see today. But he himself is drawn to The Manny, as he has no role model in his life. So this brash, crude male nanny’s realistic outlook on life may act as an unlikely role model to the boy. In summary, it’s about how all three of these characters need each other and are changed by each other throughout the show.

      You have drawn on your own experience working as a manny in London; can we expect a Hollywood-style ‘any resemblance’ disclaimer?

      Everyone signed NDA’s so I’m safe! No I’m kidding… The character is very different to me. I wanted to explore those themes of societal pressure, loneliness in your 30s, and unrequited dreams, but I wanted to do that through the lens of The Manny. I also wanted to write about a character who goes on a journey throughout the show and is changed. So I wanted him to start in a certain place of thinking, and because of what happens throughout the show and the characters that he encounters, he ends up in a very different place to how we see him at the start.

      I worked with a variety of families; some were lovely to work with and I still keep in touch with! Others were different, but all the characters are based on real life people, apart from Molly. I did meet a child with slightly psychotic tendencies that Michael is based on!

      It’s been a long process to bring The Manny to the stage, from writing it in lockdown to hugely successful scratch nights in London. How have you found your script and performance developed?

      I started writing this show in early 2020, but as I had quit acting at that time it was still only in rough form. When COVID hit, I actually stopped writing it all together for a couple of months. It wasn’t until that summer when a Michael Jordan documentary called The Last Dance came out. It blew my mind how focused he was, and it made sense. I had been quite driven in my 20s (not that I’m comparing myself to MJ!) but I had lost that spark, through being ground down by the industry. There were a number of things that helped me get me back on track, and that documentary was one of them. I became much more disciplined with my routine, sleep and diet, and it all helped to constantly refine and refine the script. I would gather feedback from people whose opinions I trusted, and then in the summer of 2021 the director Melanie Fullbrook came on board. We’ve been close friends since we were in drama school, and she knows me better than anyone, so when I had the final script, she was able to shape and create my performance. This version of the show is very similar to the one we did last year. It’s taken a bit of time for us to find the right venue to bring the production to the next level, so it’s a great pleasure to be working with the King’s Head Theatre. They’ve been fantastic, especially Valentina Londono who’s been fantastic with marketing and selling the show.

      There was some crowdfunding to help produce this run. Tell us a little about that and the challenges involved in putting on a show like this?

      It’s been a huge learning curve producing this show myself, and raising funds is the most important thing – making sure everyone gets paid, and that we cover ourselves. We ran an IndieGoGo campaign in November, and that’s been instrumental in securing our funding. I also wrote to various trusts and boards, as well as doing the ACE application (50 pages of agony), and were rejected on them. I think crowdfunding is the best option for fringe shows. But still, we are doing this on quite a tight budget. There’s a huge financial risk with putting on any theatre, as we know, but we do need more help from the government. COVID, Brexit, various Tory governments are crippling the arts, and it’s difficult to get going in today’s climate. I don’t mean to be despondent, but I think Arts Council funding being cut for the major theatres, as we have seen, has a huge knock-on effect.

      How did you get involved with The King’s Head to bring this play to their stage?

      I wrote to Mark Ravenhill last year, who was very complimentary about the play, which was really lovely to hear, as I was a huge fan of Shopping and F*cking. From there, we met with Sofi Berenger, lead producer at the venue, and they offered us a great slot to kick off 2023!

      What are your ambitions for The Manny, and do you have any other projects coming up to tell us about?

      The Manny has a two-season TV show arc, which I would love to develop. I’ve got the TV pilot written, which we are currently pitching to networks, and some are coming to see the show. This is the first thing I’ve ever written, and I’m loving knowing nothing about it, but being on a journey of learning (as wanky as that sounds). So I want to get better at writing these characters for TV where I can properly flesh out their backstories and character arcs. My favourite character is probably Molly (at this point in time), and there’s a lot under the surface that we only catch a glimpse of in the 60 min show.

      Finally, are there any lessons or skills you learnt while dealing with other people’s children that you have been able to apply in the theatre? Do you find it easier to wrangle directors and producers or, dare we suggest, actors?

      I think the key to working well with anyone, from kids to adult creatives, is listening. Everybody comes to a discussion/meeting/argument with a list of pain points and objectives they want to get across. Most people just want to be heard and listened to. If you can put yourselves in their shoes, you’re normally able to meet in the middle and both of you come out of the meeting or argument feeling heard and willing to work together.

      But also, much like it’s sometimes easier to let a bratty child win the Mario Kart game, sometimes it’s easier to pick your battles and save your energy. I try and stay away from energy vampires, and if it’s not worth the fight, just smile and be polite. That was an unintentional rhyme! Ha!

      Our huge thanks to Sam for taking time out from preparing the show to chat with us. You can find him on Twitter and on Instagram.

      The Manny plays at The King’s Head Theatre from January 10-14. Further information and booking details can be found here. More

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      Interview: Off Main Stage bring Christmas cheer

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      Polly Waldron and Cameron Corcoran on Christmas Tales

      OffFest Nominated Off Main Stage (read our 4 star review of their most recent production Wolf here), are all set to bring some Christmas cheer to White Bear Theatre this December with three seasonal stories: Freaks, Bike and Scrooge. Ahead of the show, Cameron Corcoran and Polly Waldron discuss why they decided to make not one but three Christmas plays.

      What can we expect from Christmas Tales then?

      Well there are three plays. They’re about Christmas. Freaks is about two sisters clearing their dead aunt’s house over Christmas. Bike is about a step-mum buying her step-daughter an extravagant gift, and Scrooge is about – can you guess? I guess Scrooge is different because it’s a modern one-man version, where Scrooge is a lawyer with grand ambitions.

      Is there an over-arching theme within the three plays?

      I think we wanted something to show the audience that was cheerful for a change; we have a track-record for putting on plays that have a very dark tone. This was a chance to bring the lightness in and maintain what works for us: the absurdity of being. The over-arching theme, then: togetherness.

      So why Christmas?

      I mean it’s the most beautifully absurd thing, isn’t it? It’s like being British we hold back our emotions and our generosity and then we just unleash it over the Christmas period. It’s the best reminder that we’re human beings. It’s fun. Our plays are fun. Maybe if it was Christmas every day like Slade wishes we’d always be kind…

      Cameron Corcoran and Emily Wallace rehearsing Bike

      Tell us about the writing process you go through?

      We’re both big believers in having a script in the room, but that it’s not sacred: it’s limited to one person’s imagination and when you’re in a room there’s multiple imaginations to feed off. We can’t let the script get in the way of creativity, but of course we are faithful to the story being told, but sometimes rehearsals create a magic out of nothing and we always know that the script will develop for the better over the process – this is the sixth project we’ve done together and it’s worked for us so far…

      Annoying each other yet?

      Always.

      How are rehearsals going?

      Strangely. We are doing three plays, Polly is in Freaks, I’m in Bike and Tom Newton is in Scrooge. Due to schedules, we often have to rehearse the plays in separate locations, so we haven’t always been able to be present for each teams’ work in process. When we are though it’s reassuring to see that the work looks great and is actually really funny… and heartfelt… and relevant to the times we’re living in.

      Why should we come and see the play?

      Great question! They are human stories that we can all relate to. They’re exciting, provocative at times, sometimes uncomfortable, but deeply into the spirit of Christmas… and they’re all very funny. It’ll get you into the Christmas mood… and they serve a good pint downstairs.

      Our thanks to Cameron and Polly. You can visit Off Main Stage’s website here and follow them on Twitter here.

      Christmas Tales plays at the White Bear Theatre on 19 and 20 December. Further information and bookings can be found here. More

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      Interview: Turning Those Dreams Into Reality

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      Make It Beautiful Theatre Company on their improv show, The Dream Machine

      Lovely to meet you, why don’t you introduce yourselves and tell us a little about Make It Beautiful Theatre Company.

      Hey there. We are Make It Beautiful Theatre Company. We’re a London-based theatre collective, made up predominantly of Drama Centre graduates. We have a passion for dark comedy and improvisation. Our 5 star show The CO-OP recently performed at the Park Theatre, as well as our new show Sniff performing at Theatre503. We have also performed at the Norwich Theatre and the Black Box Studio in Slovenia. But the play we are bringing you this Chtistmas is The Dream Machine. 

      That show, The Dream Machine, will be at Golden Goose in December. We assume this isn’t a stage adaptation of the 1991 film of the same name? What is it all about instead?

      Unfortunately this is not a stage adaptation of the 1991 film – not that we even know what that is. Instead, it’s the Dream Machine. This is a long-form improvised show, based entirely from audience suggestions. Each show we ask an audience member to recount a weird dream they had and, from that, we create an entirely improvised full-length performance. We build a world full of crazy, funny characters and heartwarming stories based entirely from a stranger’s dream. We have performed the show for around two years – staging it at the White Bear Theatre, Space Theatre, Trestle Arts Base, the Cockpit and the OSO Arts Centre. Its next venture is the Golden Goose Theatre. 

      You say the show is made using improv and Russian-theatre techniques; we know about improv, but what’s the Russian-theatre technique then? What is the Russian connection within the company then?

      Whilst at Drama Centre we were lucky enough to travel and study at the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute in Moscow – this was where we got a lot of our Russian theatre inspiration from. This can come in the form of magical realism; something natural suddenly becoming something much more magical in a matter of moments. This is the Dream Machine in a nutshell. In 2019, we were invited for a residency at the Southern France Au Brana Theatre, with the aim of making a new show. Instead, we ended up delving into long-form improvised magical realism for 2 weeks. It was a hypnotic experience. Nevertheless, we ended that residency without a play. What we did have, however, was a new devising technique: the Dream Machine. This soon became our new improv show. 

      Isn’t improv just an excuse not to prepare an actual show, you know, roll up on the night and just make it up on the spot?

      Haha I think we wish this was the case. Oh the beauty of having lines to fall back on, pre-hearsed fight scenes and songs to bust out. Instead, we all have to trust in each other that we – as a group and without any conferring – are going to somehow make a sensical piece of theatre out of the ridiculous dream we have just heard. That is, I suppose, where the comedy comes from. We didn’t consider ourselves real improvisers for a very long time, but over the last few years we have a new found respect for them. 

      You’ve put this show on before, how weird are the suggestions thrown at you, any you care or dare to share? Do you ever get any suggestions you just have to pass over as too ridiculous?

      There’s never been a situation where we have had to deny someone’s dream. We can’t really imagine this ever happening. But there have been many gloriously odd ones. We have taken cats to space, birthed chickens, gone into the depths of the Earth to meet with a worm council – you name it, we’ve probably done it. In every dream there is a story, even if it seems impossible to find at first. We know that, eventually, if we continue to go down the path of ridiculousness, we will land on it. 

      And if you had to share your own dreams for the show, what oddities would that throw up?

      Honestly, our dreams always end up being far less weird than the audience’s. We will use our own for inspiration during rehearsals but they never have the same randomness or surprise as they do when we’re doing a real show. The bigger the group of people, the more odd dreams to choose from. 

      The show’s on just before Christmas, does that mean you will be throwing in a little seasonal theme here and there?

      Oh yes of course! The christmas spirit will be sure to have a firm place in the show. There will be Christmas bells and chocolates, all with powers to change the course of the show. Mark our words, you will feel the snow practically falling upon your head. The Dream Machine will be christmassy! No doubt about it. 

      What’s harder for you, putting on the improv of Dream Machine or staging a scripted production?

      If you’re talking about before the show, then the Dream Machine is definitely harder. The nerves you feel before a performance is unlike anything scripted. We literally have no idea what’s going to happen. But once it’s started and we’re moving slowly down the path of ridiculousness, then it’s usually freer and funner than a scripted production. 

      We’ve been full of praise for your previous works (Co-op and Sniff), are we going to see a new scripted production from you next year? What else have you got planned for 2023 so far then?

      Both Sniff and the CO-OP are our babies and we had a great time performing and making those. 2023 brings more excitement. We will be performing Sniff at the Jack Studio in early February – a dark comedy about drugs and addiction, set in a pub toilet. What’s not to like? And we will also be working on our new production. This play will be about a haunted pub. We developed it at the Norwich Theatre earlier this year and now plan to finish and perform it in 2023. Keep your eyes peeled for that! 

      And as it’s a Christmas show, if anyone is thinking of bringing along a gift for you, what would you all like?

      Just a pint. Please, for the love of god, if you feel like getting any of us anything, make it a pint at the end of the show. We’d love that. 

      Thanks to the team at Make It Beautiful Theatre for taking time out of rehearsals to chat to us. You can catch The Dream Machine at the Golden Goose Theatre between 19 – 21 December. Further information and bookings here. More