Name Of Show: PowerPlay
Time: 5pm
Date: 4th and 5th August
Location: The Lion and Unicorn
It’s set in 2022 during the period of post-Brexit transition transition. Two newly elected MPs are inexplicably detained at a foreign airport; their personal lives become embroiled with the political situation and chaos ensues. A metaphor for Brexit, perhaps? I’m a former MP (1997-2010) so I know what these Parliamentary delegations are like…
How did you come up with the name of your show that you’re taking to the Camden fringe?
It’s a play about power. And the word ‘powerplay’ is increasingly being used to describe Brexit shenanigans – since I wrote the play!
Tell us a little bit about your style of show?
It’s a drama for four characters in two acts using a very simple set. Each act starts ‘straight’ and serious, ends more comedic and absurd!
What will your set be about?
The set is a secure room in the bowels of a middle-eastern airport (if that’s what you mean by ‘set’)
What other acts are you looking forward to seeing at the fringe?
I’ve seen Norman the Dapper Rapper before and looking forward to seeing him again. Quite honestly the demands on a writer / director of a new show with a new company, rehearsing in Norwich, to perform in the fringe’s first week, are such that (except on the Fringe launch night) I’ve little idea what else is on!
Have you done the fringe before? What have been some of your favourite shows to date and why?
I’ve not done the Camden Fringe before, though I have written and performed a show for a Camden theatre (‘Making Allowances, Diorama, 2010) and for the Buxton Fringe (‘No End of an Ass’, 2009).
Some acts have already tried it and done shows in the environment but do you think virtual reality has a space to be used in a stage environment and what other modern technologies do you think could alter the way we interact and watch stage shows in the future?
We’re having a professional video recording done of the show – the technology to do that is much easier to access than it used to be. And my niece – Catherine Allen – is a pioneer of VR so I look to her to answer that question! But I’m sure the answer is yes.
If people want to find out more about you where can they follow you on social media?
‘Powerplay – a play about power’ is on Facebook.
And Finally in three words – Why should people come and see the show?
Challenge Brexit Now!
Categories: Camden Fringe Festival 2018, Festival, Interview, Theatre