…a humble young maiden excitedly preparing for a wonderfully happy future; she has the man of her dreams, a new social standing and a castle all of her own, what could possibly go wrong?
Out, Damned Spot asks you take a fresh look at Shakespeare’s original devil woman. Come, explore what sort of existence pushes a person to the edge of their conscience. Throw away your preconceptions, immerse yourself in medieval castle life and see how a naive young girl becomes a cold, commanding woman. Perhaps long before her tragic ambition Lady Macbeth had longed for a simple marriage? And once upon a time could the infamous murderess have been a loving, devoted mother? Watch how expectations, wishes and desires slowly wither and die, watch as innocence is brutally stolen; watch as a love story twists into a tragedy.
How are things going, you all ready for the Fringe?
They are going well, the script is finished and I’m learning my lines ready for rehearsals next week, got a technician in place, have flyered and postered in Camden and am doing lots of internet and social network promotion for the show. There are still lots of things I’m nervous about, will I get all the props and costumes? Is the play what I always wanted it to be? Will I get the audience in…etc. So no, maybe not ready at all, haha!
Best five words that describe your show?
Love. Hope. Loneliness. Humanity. Tragedy
Tell us a bit about your show, what can we expect?
This is the tale of Lady Macbeth, prior to Shakespeare’s tale. It’s a one-woman play showing a woman rattling around a castle in Scotland over the course of about 15 years. Lady Macbeth begins Shakespeare’s tale as a heartless demon and I’ve always wondered who she was before, I don’t believe she was born like that as, on the whole,it is our life experiences that shape us. Shakespeare only gave us very small clues to her previous life but I have taken them and (hopefully) shaped a human life, one who’s experiences take someone who is looking forward to a happy life and slowly turn her into the cold blooded murderess of Bill’s tale.
How do you write your show, what inspires you?
Like most writers I guess I am interested in human frailty, how our fears and weaknesses shape our lives as much as our hopes and desires. My first play ‘NOT Stalking David Tennant’ was about how people struggle so hard to ‘have it all’ they lose sight of the good things they all ready have and how you should just live your life sometimes and not be concerned with looks or money or success of love to make us ‘whole’. Then my next play ‘Do Look Back in Anger’ was similar in theme to this one in that it took literary characters and re-imagined them, looked at what they got up to in the margins so to speak. With this play its been growing within me for years, possibly since I auditioned for drama college at 16 doing Lady Macbeth’s first speech! Later I compared two types of physical theatre based around my ideas of her life before Macbeth, one of which (the Butoh piece) made it into Not Stalking, then in Do Look Back she was one of the characters we got to take a fresh look at. When I realised I was ready to write again the full expansion of her story became the obvious choice. Her story has built in my mind for years and I was finally ready to put it down on paper and up on the stage. I just hope I do her credit. As to writing, as you can tell I spend quite a few months building the story up in my head and then when i am pretty sure of what i want and I sit down and write. I don’t tend to get writer’s block as things are pretty planned out before I get to the writing stage.
What do you think makes doing Camden Fringe so worthwhile?
This is my third Camden Fringe, performing my own work, and I really am a big fan of it! I did my first show in the fringe’s second year in 2007 and was helped through the whole, very daunting experience as a newbie, by Zena and Michelle (the founders) and given help and encouragement all along the way. I then took the same play to the Edinburgh Festival the following year, which whilst being worthwhile almost caused a breakdown as I had problems with my venue and very naively thought I could do everything on my own up there. I ran back to Camden in 2009 with my new play with the trust that everything would be run professionally, helpfully and with a passion for the new work and performances and I wasn’t let down! The Camden Fringe is in the heart of London so it gets a varied audience, it’s affordable and has well run, professional venues. As a producer it is always a relief to know I am in the Camden Fringe and performing at The Etc as I know I am in a well run fringe, in a well run venue. It’s getting bigger each year and really is becoming an alternative to Edinburgh. Michelle referred to me as a veteran of Camden at this years launch and I was proud as punch!
What would you want your audience to take from the show?
A sense of being thoroughly entertained whilst looking at something from a fresh perspective. I’m not trying to excuse the person Lady Macbeth is in Shakespeare tale but show some explanations of how someone can be driven to her desperate ambition. Who can say they are wholly good or bad? Hopefully we wouldn’t be driven to her lengths but the premise of Out, Damned Spot is to give the audience an understanding of how this woman is pushed to them.
What advice would you give someone bringing a show to the fringe?
Make sure you get yourself organised and do everything you can to sell your show! I’ve been approached and put on my plays in other venues thanks to my Camden Fringe exposure, it is definitely worth doing! Camden is a great platform for getting new work up on the stage without hopefully losing a fortune! It’s good fun and hard work but mainly I would say: Do it!
| Not Stalking Productions Out, Damned Spot [act details] Theatre |
Etcetera Theatre
7:30pm (60 mins) |
£8.00 |
