thespaceUK @ Surgeons Hall
Theatre 3 – 13:45 (7-15th August)
Theatre 1 – 10:00 (17-22nd August)
In a new pitch black comedy, three ‘salesmen’ reunite in a shabby apartment in the middle of nowhere. What begins as a lighthearted affair soon turns into a much darker occasion, as the three men’s jovial discourse becomes tinged with threats and aggression.
Soon an unexpected fourth guest arrives, an ambiguous figure who raises the tension even further. The play cascades into a wild power struggle, no one knowing if the stranger is an ambivalent bystander or something far more sinister.
Production Company: White Box Theatre
Writer: Tom George
Director: Joe Taylor
Production Designer: Emily Fidel
Technical Assistant: Lydia Mckinley
Cast:Lee … Joe Taylor
Kaspar Hanek … James Wilson
Harris … Tom George
Johnson … Ibrahim David Thompson
The Fringe
What inspired this production: did you begin with an idea or a script or an object?
Tom George: I suppose it began with a script. I was in a hotel bar and started eavesdropping on a conversation between three men sitting nearby. Their conversation was quite interesting and amusing so I jotted some of what they were saying down. I was also surrounded by families playing card and dice games so I incorporated both elements and soon had about five pages of dialogue.
From there I developed more ideas about where the plot could go, but I found this process much easier than starting a script with a clear narrative and structure in mind, it’s more fun and exciting to write if you yourself don’t really know what’s going to happen next.What can the audience expect to see and feel - or even think - of your production?
Well, in all honesty, I don’t know. I didn’t write it with a particular genre in mind, but now the script is in its final stages I think it could be best described as a naturalistic black comedy. From that one would hope the audience emerge thinking that the play was dark yet amusing throughout, but I don’t want to prescribe an audience reaction.
If an audience member likes the dialogue, hopefully they’ll be variously engrossed, entertained and repelled by the four characters on stage.
What do you mean by real life? I am not sure I have one...
Real life to me is the illusion of normality. If you’re a critic, actor, comedian, most people wouldn’t consider your life to be ‘normal’ or ‘real’ because they’re very difficult to be successful in, and if you do make any headway you have a very privileged but restricted life as a result.
What do you mean by real life? I am not sure I have one...
Real life to me is the illusion of normality. If you’re a critic, actor, comedian, most people wouldn’t consider your life to be ‘normal’ or ‘real’ because they’re very difficult to be successful in, and if you do make any headway you have a very privileged but restricted life as a result.
The question is sort of answered in the play, one of the characters talks about jobs which are generic and uncomplicated. The four characters have lead such odd lives, avoiding honest professions, that to some of them the idea of an ordinary existence has become very appealing.
The Dramaturgy Questions
How would you explain the relevance - or otherwise - of dramaturgy within your work?
Dramaturgy played a huge role in the production of the play. Throughout the creative process people advised me on whether my intentions for the play were actually coming across in the writing, which was extremely useful.
The Dramaturgy Questions
How would you explain the relevance - or otherwise - of dramaturgy within your work?
Dramaturgy played a huge role in the production of the play. Throughout the creative process people advised me on whether my intentions for the play were actually coming across in the writing, which was extremely useful.
I think it’s vital that young writers such as myself are constantly provided with an outsiders perspective, asking questions such as – are the characters clearly delineated from one and other? Is the suggested backstory and subtext to the play clear to the audience? Does the play actually ‘say’ anything, is there an obvious reason why you’ve written it?
I don’t think I could afford to be insular or inward-looking during the creative process, I had to have people ask these blunt questions of me.
What particular traditions and influences would you acknowledge on your work - have any particular artists, or genres inspired you and do you see yourself within their tradition?
In terms of playwrights, stylistically I owe a lot to Pinter. That being said I don’t want to market the play as just being a Pinter homage, but it follows in the tradition of drama being found when characters enter or are found in rooms and you don’t know why they are there.
Do you have a particular process of making that you could describe - where it begins, how you develop it, and whether there is any collaboration in the process?
My creative process relied heavily on read-throughs and workshops. I wrote the first draft in December of last year and it’s amazing how much the script has changed through doing this – I don’t think a single line of dialogue from the first draft has remained. The script is still changing now, I often add things that have come through improvising etc.
In the rehearsal process the company has been very collaborative with directing and so forth, in essence so that the play didn’t become just my singular vision. Some people might view that in a negative way, but I think as long as people share the same basic ideas of where the script can go, the overall production can only be improved by collaboration.
What do you feel the role of the audience is, in terms of making the meaning of your work?
I would say that with a work such as this, the audience plays a crucial part in giving the play its meaning. As the writer and one of the performers, to me every line has a subtext, there are very few lines in the play which have don’t relate back to the plot. However, all of this within my head is absolutely meaningless, we can’t tell the audience what to think with every line and nor would we want to. My hope is that the audience can interpret the play in lots of different ways, as I quite enjoy that sort of ambiguity.
What particular traditions and influences would you acknowledge on your work - have any particular artists, or genres inspired you and do you see yourself within their tradition?
In terms of playwrights, stylistically I owe a lot to Pinter. That being said I don’t want to market the play as just being a Pinter homage, but it follows in the tradition of drama being found when characters enter or are found in rooms and you don’t know why they are there.
Do you have a particular process of making that you could describe - where it begins, how you develop it, and whether there is any collaboration in the process?
My creative process relied heavily on read-throughs and workshops. I wrote the first draft in December of last year and it’s amazing how much the script has changed through doing this – I don’t think a single line of dialogue from the first draft has remained. The script is still changing now, I often add things that have come through improvising etc.
In the rehearsal process the company has been very collaborative with directing and so forth, in essence so that the play didn’t become just my singular vision. Some people might view that in a negative way, but I think as long as people share the same basic ideas of where the script can go, the overall production can only be improved by collaboration.
What do you feel the role of the audience is, in terms of making the meaning of your work?
I would say that with a work such as this, the audience plays a crucial part in giving the play its meaning. As the writer and one of the performers, to me every line has a subtext, there are very few lines in the play which have don’t relate back to the plot. However, all of this within my head is absolutely meaningless, we can’t tell the audience what to think with every line and nor would we want to. My hope is that the audience can interpret the play in lots of different ways, as I quite enjoy that sort of ambiguity.
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