surreal

INTERVIEW: JIN HAO LI | Glasgow, BBC New Comedy Awards 2023

Interview

— Congratulations on winning the semi-finals of the BBC New Comedy Awards 2023. How did that feel?

Not to be gross, but the biggest takeaway was genuinely the friends I made. We all agreed to do this bit: when they announce the winner, if it isn’t you; bury your head in your hands in disgust and disappointment. Everyone committed. It was the funniest thing they filmed that night, and meant a lot more than if they just clapped for me.

— For someone who’s never seen you before, how would you describe your stand-up comedy style?

I would say it’s a warm hug that lasts too long.

— How did you get into stand-up?

The first live stand up show I saw was back home in Singapore. I was wearing my army uniform at the time and sat in the front row. I absolutely deserved getting roasted. But the biggest feeling that night was, if this is the standard that is acceptable to face the public, there is nothing to be afraid of.  So I did it the following week and once you start, you can’t really stop.

— What’s next for Jin Hao Li?

I’m building towards my first hour, which has to be excellent and immortalised. I’m working on two scripted projects at the moment: a sketch show, and a series that I’m writing with my friend Iris, about Chinese actors living in London.

Watch the BBC New Comedy Awards 2023 on BBC iPlayer.

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INTERVIEW: TOM FOWLER (Hope has a Happy Meal)

Interview

Tom Fowler is the writer of Hope has a Happy Meal, directed by Royal Court Associate Director Lucy Morrison, and playing at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, 3 June – 8 July 2023.

– Please describe your new play, Hope has a Happy Meal.

It is a magical realist fairy tale, about a woman called Hope, returning to the People’s Republic of Koka Kola, to find the family she left behind twenty-four years ago. I came up with the title and premise in 2016: at the time, Britain had recently voted to leave the EU, Donald Trump had just been elected president of the US – I heard a lot of people talk about hope as if it had just disappeared overnight.

– Is this a… ‘hopeful’ play?

I want to show ‘hope’ as beautiful and powerful, but unreliable. It can lift you up, but then tear you down just as easily. I would say the play is firmly rooted in now, but by it being set in the People’s Republic of Koka Kola, rather than Britain, there’s a detachment that hopefully makes it feel a little more universal.

– How have rehearsals been?

Rehearsals have been great. Lucy Morrison, who’s directing, has been reading and noting drafts of the play since the very beginning of the process, and also directed the short piece I wrote for the Royal Court’s Living Newspaper project, so there’s lots of trust there. Plus the cast and creative team are all brilliant – I feel very lucky.

– What does it mean to you to have your play on at the Royal Court?

Since learning about the Royal Court, and discovering some of the incredible writers and plays that started here, having my first professional production be here has always been a goal. So yeah, it’s amazing and I’m very excited to finally share the play.

Playing at the Royal Court in London, 3 June – 8 July 2023.

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INTERVIEW: SHAUN ESCOFFERY & GEORGE ASPREY (THE LION KING) | London, Lyceum Theatre

Interview

Shaun Escoffery (Mufasa) and George Asprey (Scar) are celebrating fifteen years in Disney’s The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre in London this April. They are now the longest serving actors for these roles in any production of The Lion King ever.

– It’s an incredible achievement to be the longest serving actors in the roles of Mufasa and Scar in any production of The Lion King. How does that accolade feel?

George Asprey: Slightly surreal. It’s more like an accumulation because you’re only ever as good as your last show. It’s taking it one show at a time.

Shaun Escoffery: I feel extremely lucky to be able to do something we love.

– How do you keep things interesting and varied?

Escoffery: This might be our five thousandth time, but it is the audience’s first time, and we always keep that at the forefront of our minds.

Asprey: Also, having the freedom of knowing the character so well, it’s easy to change little things and nuances. Occasionally, you’ll come up with something, after fifteen years, and ask yourself why it’s taken all this time to explore that.

– What are the advantages of having worked together for fifteen years? Imagine if you hated each other.

Asprey: I always tell people that I have four sisters, and I always wanted a brother. I never realised that it would turn out to be this six foot brute from East London.

Escoffery: He’s my best friend.

Asprey: Because we know the roles and each other so well, if something does go wrong, nothing phases us.

– What are some of your fondest memories from the past fifteen years?

Asprey: Seeing Shaun again after COVID. That was a hug! That first show back was extraordinary. The bond created between those on stage and those in the auditorium was just immense. And it was a physical manifestation of reality coming back to normal.

– What’s your favourite song from The Lion King?

Escoffery: “Circle of Life”, every time.

Asprey: “They Live in You”, which Shaun sings: it’s extraordinary. And, I have to say, “Be Prepared”.

Shaun Escoffery and George Asprey are roaring in The Lion King in London’s West End.

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PÉLLEAS ET MÉLISANDE | London, Playground Theatre

Recommended

Debussy’s celebrated 1902 opera, Pélleas et Mélisande, is the only opera he ever finished. Normally running (with intervals) at three hours, Opera on the Move’s new production has cut it down to 90 minutes straight through, with a cast of just six: three men, three women. Edited and rescored for two pianos by Peter Brook and Marius Constant, this is a dark tale, in which things are rarely as they seem.

Based on Maeterlinck’s inscrutable 1893 symbolist play, a stranger arrives in a strange land. Golaud (Benjamin Schilperoort) discovers Mélisande (Emilie Cavallo) in the forest. Enraptured and obsessed, he brings her home to be his wife. In this home of dying patriarchs, jealous minds and hopeless futures, it is not Golaud she sees, but his brother – Pélleas (Ben Thapa).

Directed by up-and-coming director Gareth Mattey, this new production embraces the surrealism of this fin-de-siècle masterpiece. True to the original, this scaled-down production will be performed in French with English surtitles.

London’s Playground Theatre in Latimer Road is the perfect place for Opera on the Move’s first fully staged opera, bringing together an international cast of singers and performers. Founded in 2018, Opera on the Move is a touring company based in London, who believe that opera is an exciting, engaging, and accessible art form, dedicated to bringing it to places it’s never been before.

Playing 8th and 10th May only. Book tickets online.

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