political

INTERVIEW: TIM EDGE (ONE OF THE BOYS) | London, Playground Theatre

Interview

Tim Edge is the self-professed rabble-rouser and writer of his acclaimed debut play Under The Black Rock (2023). His second play, One of the Boys (2024), is running at the Playground Theatre in West London, 1 – 26 October, 2024.

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— What inspired you to write One of the Boys?

Having been brought up in a household surrounded by women, I have always been tuned in to female voices and struggles. Also, I have worked in high-pressure environments, like those depicted in the play, where inappropriate male attitudes and behaviours made me feel deeply uncomfortable. I wrote the play because sexism ruins lives and careers. Ideally, I want men to see the play, and to change their behaviour.

— Now that we are all working from home, the days of office sexism are behind us; aren’t they?

Not a bit of it! Although the headline characteristics of office sexism are less blatant, its effects and reach are more insidious; particularly through the use of social media. My daughters, who are making their own way in the workplace, tell me stories to indicate that much still needs to be done before women can feel secure and valued in all work settings.

— To what extent is One of the Boys in the same style as your last play, Under The Black Rock?

Obviously, it’s a very different subject matter — the Northern Ireland Troubles to the corporate world — but very much the same style; which I characterise as gasps, laughs, and a punchy plot that races along. Ultimately though, the play is designed to confront, to engage and to get people talking. Our audiences so far tell us that this is being achieved!

— What’s next for Tim Edge?

A break to re-set and re-charge! I’m delighted, though, that my production company has been able to offer opportunities to a number of talented actors and creatives over the last two years. On the writing front, a third play called That Look is in development. I am also writing a detective novel, inspired by the works of Raymond Chandler and Derek Raymond.

One of the Boys plays at the Playground Theatre in West London, 1 – 26 October, 2024.

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INTERVIEW: DANIEL RAGGETT | London, Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Interview

Daniel Raggett explains his process for directing this new adaptation of Dario Fo’s comedy, Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1970), and how a 200-seat studio theatre production came to find a new audience on the West End.

– Congratulations on the West End transfer for Accidental Death of an Anarchist. How does it feel to have a show on the West End at this stage in your career?

This is a show that started off in a 200-seat studio theatre in Sheffield, and originally there were no plans beyond that. The most important thing about the West End run is that the show can be seen by more people. It is a piece of work I’m very proud of because it feels unique – a comedy that carries an important message at its heart – and clearly the fact it has returned for a third time means that people are responding to it.

– Accidental Death of an Anarchist is an Italian play from 1970, based on the true story of how a suspect in the 1969 Milan Piazza Fontana bombing fell to his death from a fourth-floor window of a police station during an interrogation. How can such a play make sense to an English-speaking, London audience, over fifty years later?

Crucially, there is a real case at the heart of the play: Dario Fo used the actual transcripts from the real event. But he was adamant that when productions were remounted, details should be adapted to reflect similar contemporary abuses – so that it speaks to the society outside the walls of the theatre, and the world in which the audience are watching the play. Dario Fo gave his personal blessing to Tom Basden’s adaptation before he died, because it does exactly this. Now, with the evidence of the Casey report, the relevance has only increased.

– Can you describe your directing style in a few sentences?

I don’t believe in a hierarchy. I think actors are a director’s greatest tool, and you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with, and that includes lighting, sound, and set. I’d also say my style is quite eclectic. I try to find the best process for that particular production, rather than having one process that fits everything.

– Some people say politics shouldn’t be theatrical, and theatre shouldn’t be political. What do you say?

From my point of view, politics is inherently theatrical – you just have to look at the Prime Minister’s Questions to see how much grandstanding and audience participation there is. More importantly, I’d argue that everything is political, including theatre. With this particular show, it isn’t our intention to lecture an audience but rather to convey a message. You may not even notice because you’re laughing so much – but, if we’ve done it right, it’ll stay with you.

Playing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket 12 June – 9 September 2023.

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CRIMEA 5AM | London, Kiln Theatre

Recommended

This free-admission, one-night-only performance is part of the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute UK/Ukraine Season of Culture, is produced by Dash Arts and supported in kind by Kiln Theatre. A cast of actors, activists and journalists will stage a reading of Crimea 5am in the Kiln Cinema, followed by a post-show chat co-hosted by Index on Censorship.

Highlighting the stories of ten political prisoners and their families, Crimea 5am is an international project that brings together voices from an extraordinary community of women, bound together as a result of human rights violations against Crimean Tatars since 2014. Curated by Alim Aliev and Nadia Sokolenko, this moving verbatim play tells the story largely through a female perspective, and how the women have been empowered and changed through their experiences.

Since 2014, civil activists and in particular representatives of the indigenous people of the Crimean peninsula, Crimean Tatars, have been persecuted by Russian occupying forces. Obscured by a news blackout, we know little of these events, little of the prisoners themselves, their families and life in Crimea under occupation.

Crimea 5am celebrates the sheer determination and activism within this oppressed community, the bravery of the prisoners in documenting abuses, and its defiant women holding the ravaged community together.

Playing at the Kiln Theatre 7pm, Monday 16 January, 2023. Free admission.

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THE CONVERT | London, Above The Stag

Theatre - Recommended

Following a sell-out run as part of Above The Stag’s CONTACT Season in 2021, The Convert will return for a full production from June 2022. Chillingly informed by real techniques that are used against LGBTQ+ people, Ben Kavanagh’s imaginative and timely play pitches nightmarish forces against our unerasable, shining humanity.

Alix and Marcus have been brought to The Facility to be “corrected”. If their condition is cured they may leave and return to the society. But if they fail, they will be sent to the Other Place, away from their friends and family forever. Failure is not an option, but in this confounding institution, where they only have each other, the greatest threat to their success is their own love.

“The play got such a huge reaction last year, and I am absolutely delighted that it’s returning,” says Kavanagh, about the original run at the same theatre in 2021. “It’s exciting to be able to develop the play for a full production and to have it published alongside the run so that the powerful subject matter may reach a larger audience.”

Gene David Kirk returns to direct, and is excited about the new possibilities for the show. “We have the opportunity to deliver a highly entertaining and theatrical evening of great writing alongside the highest production values. I couldn’t be more excited.”

Audience members are invited to book tickets for the play’s gala night on Wednesday 15 June 2022: tickets are £20 and include a glass of bubbly, a signed copy of the newly published playscript, and a Q&A with the cast and creatives.

Playing 8 June – 3 July 2022 at Above The Stag, the UK’s LGBT+ theatre.

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