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Aoife Kennan and Gabriella Bird discuss to us about Scratches
Writer Aoife Kennan and director Gabriella Bird from Plain Heroines have been ready years to deliver SCRATCHES to VAULT Festival. This 12 months it lastly performs from 31 January to five February and we had been delighted to have the ability to have a chat about their journey and among the roadbumps alongside the way in which.
Why don’t you kick off by telling us what audiences can count on from SCRATCHES?
SCRATCHES is a humorous play about self-harm, and about how two associates navigate telling a tough story while nonetheless playing around, and loving and supporting one another. It’s additionally a real story. I hope audiences who don’t find out about self-harm come away feeling a little bit extra enlightened, and audiences who’ve been instantly affected come away feeling extra capable of discuss their very own experiences. I additionally need individuals to have a enjoyable time, and revel in a pint within the bar afterwards! Self-harm remains to be such a taboo topic, however I’m hoping comedy could be the way in which in.
Plain Heroines is the theatre firm you co-founded with Kate Reid a couple of years in the past, inform us about your goals for the corporate?
Aoife – We first based Plain Heroines as a strategy to take two performs as much as the Edinburgh Fringe simply after we left uni. I had written a play based mostly on the Brontës, so I pushed my agenda to safe the identify ‘Plain Heroines’! After uni, Kate and I went to drama faculty, and Gabbie did plenty of assistant and affiliate directing. Then a couple of years later we got here collectively once more to start out making our personal work. We struggled for a very long time to discover a firm ethos, however I believe the easiest way to explain our work is ‘funny plays about difficult subjects’.
Gabbie – We wish to make performs that make you chortle and make you assume and I believe our work has been mixed by our comparable methods of coping with difficulties – breaking down limitations with jokes and laughter earlier than speaking frankly. But additionally we wish to make performs that may solely exist within the theatre with an viewers. Everything we’ve made collectively has all the time engaged with the distinctive and good expertise of getting a stay viewers sharing time and area.
Gabbie, when did you turn into concerned with Scratches? Does the corporate come collectively within the early concepts stage or is it additional down the road, later within the writing stage?
I turned concerned ages in the past – I actually can’t bear in mind after I first learn a script however it was again after we had been dwelling collectively so in all probability 2018 or 2019? I typically learn drafts of issues Aoife writes for theatre so I learn a extremely early draft of some scenes and thought it was good, and trustworthy and weak but in addition actually humorous and thought it could be an awesome present for VAULT Festival and I assume I’ve been engaged on it as director ever since in someway. However, I’m invested as a pal in addition to a director or producer. It’s a real story about love, friendship and psychological well being and occasions in Aoife’s life which I used to be there for and there’s a couple of moments within the play the place (spoiler alert!) the anonymous ‘friend’ is me or individuals we all know. A whole lot of my involvement has been about what we will and will stage and the way and we’ve completed plenty of experimenting and rewrites in response to rehearsals and suggestions. Zak Ghazi-Torbati, who can be an excellent author, has additionally been concerned for years and been important to the event.
Zak Ghazi-Torbati performs ‘Best Friend’. How did he turn into concerned? Having seen SCRATCHES, and I believe I can communicate for anybody who will see it at Vault Festival, we’ll be a little bit heartbroken if you happen to simply held a casting name and never some lengthy friendship!
Credit: Plain Heroines
Fear not! Zak and I are actual life associates! (Right, Zak?) We first met by means of a pantomime at Uni the place Zak was an unimaginable dame, and I used to be a really diligent ensemble member. We remained associates and possibly each peaked after we performed Sweeney and Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd– (we appeared very horny on the poster). Zak, Gabbie and I’ve been engaged on a number of drafts of the script since its inception- in all probability in 2019? I gained’t lie, the play started as a wierd, rambling means for me to rant about my ex-boyfriend (there’s nothing extra harmful than a lady scorned and armed with a laptop computer), and Gabbie and Zak had been very form in enabling my insanity over many a zoom learn by means of, however over time and the drafts and the workshop performances, we’ve all collectively honed it into the story it’s at present.
Aoife, this will likely be your third time taking part in at VAULT Festival, what have your experiences been with the competition over time?
It’s my third time! I find it irresistible. Over the years I’ve performed a liturgical dancer with a penchant for violence, a civil servant in Stormont, an English lawyer who will get entangled in Soldier F and this 12 months I’m lastly attending to play myself. VAULT is an absolute well being and security nightmare (damp and electricals ought to not combine), however it’s additionally such an incredible theatrical hive. When I believe VAULT, I believe comedy, pints and scurrying round at the hours of darkness with all the opposite inventive rats.
SCRATCHES performed one evening in Jermyn Street Theatre in November of 2021 – is it protected to imagine that the intent had been to deliver it to Vault Festival in 2022 earlier than the cancellation?
It was certainly! We’ve been making an attempt to get it to VAULT Festival for years! We initially utilized for the 2020 competition, 2021 by no means occurred and at last obtained a slot for the 2022 competition final 12 months however came upon that it was cancelled whereas rehearsing The 4th Country by Kate Reid in Park Theatre in January. We had been completely gutted, but in addition very grateful to nonetheless be making theatre, and we simply hoped and prayed that we’d get to go once more in 2023, particularly as we’d had such an excellent expertise with The 4th Country at VAULT 2020. We did take into consideration the Edinburgh Festival, however it’s such an costly danger to take so we determined to attend for VAULT Festival to rise once more!
What’s subsequent in 2023 for every of you and for Plain Heroines?
Who can ever actually know what’s subsequent for freelancers and artists? However Aoife is growing a brand new comedian play with the Sky Comedy Rep scheme, which will likely be carried out as a part of a competition on the Birmingham Rep Theatre in late May. Zak is growing a number of tasks for TV. He’s additionally not too long ago filmed on BBC Doctors. Gabbie’s engaged on a variety of theatre tasks and persevering with to spin plates as a contract director.
Hopefully 2023 would be the 12 months through which all of us turn into wildly well-known and horrendously wealthy. Say what you want about fringe theatre, however we’re in it for the cash.
Finally, simply how a lot of the price range truly goes on confetti?
All of it.
Huge because of Aoife and Gabbie for speaking time to speak with us.
SCRATCHES performs at VAULT Festival Tuesday 31 Jan – Sunday 5 Feb. Further info and bookings could be discovered right here.
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