Q&A with Emma Bentley
With just a couple of weeks to go before What Goes on in Front of Closed Doors lands in Edinburgh, co-writer and performer, Emma Bentley, chats about theatre, the show and the Fringe! Unfortunately for you all, this interview does not include her Muppet impressions...
Tell us a little bit about your previous experience in theatre.
I went to Playbox Theatre Company from the age of about 14. We had weekly sessions and then you could also audition for shows at their amazing theatre in Warwick called The Dream Factory. It was so exciting doing shows there and feeling like a proper professional actor. Our workshop leaders got us interested in new plays and we did loads of Shakespeare too. Playbox was definitely where I got the bug for making theatre collaboratively. Then when I got into LIPA, it was great because I got to continue to try out all sorts of things whilst training as an actor. I tried out directing and devising, working with costume designers, set designers, musicians and sound designers. When I graduated, I knew the kind of work I wanted to create and be part of- devised, crazy, wacky things, thing that were funny and had big characters. Previously, I had done a research project as part of my degree and one of my teachers suggested that I created a presentation out of it. This was around the time of Fleabag, Bitch Boxer and all these other one-woman shows that were having a lot of success. I saw this show called Sophie Wu is Minging, She Looks Like She’s Dead, by Sophie Wu who is just incredible. So I turned this research project into a solo show. I was doing other bits of work at the time, like working with the all-female Shakespeare company Smooth-Faced Gentlemen- I had an agent and was going up for auditions, including some big theatre things, but nothing seemed to work out. I ended up focussing on To She or Not To She, which turned out to be wonderful even though it felt frustrating at the time. It was incredible because I was making my own work and world with people who I will continue to work with. I was working out how I wanted to create and with whom.
What made you want to start a theatre company? What do you aim to do with joue le genre?
After Camille and I graduated in June, we still had time left on our flat, so decided to stay on until the rent ran out. At the end of LIPA there was a lot of discussion about how we needed to create our own work and not just sit at home and wait for the phone to ring. With this in mind, we decided to hypothetically start a company, stemming into a research and development project to see how we would work as facilitators in a company environment. We created a piece called TROLL (don’t judge me on my dress), which was inspired by this opera singer who had been ripped apart by critics because of the way she looked. This was followed with a showing for an invited audience. Later, Camille had to return to France, but I wanted to continue To She or Not To She under the umbrella of joue le genre. ‘Joue’ meaning play and ‘genre’ meaning gender, alongside ‘genre’ in the English sense of how we think of art under a genre, fitted the content of To She or Not To She perfectly. We knew we wanted it to be about challenging gender stereotypes. Although the company has only gone through the solo show route so far, in the future we want to branch out while continuing to make theatre that is feminist, rabble rousing, funny and sad- all at the same time.
How different has your experience been from creating your debut show, To She or Not To She?
It has been much more relaxed, focused, less stressful- better in every way really! We definitely learnt from our mistakes and I think having a really solid team on board from day one and building that throughout the months has made such a difference. I also think I have worried less about changes to the production because there is less weight on my shoulders, in terms of writing the script, in comparison with To She or Not To She.
With the first show that you create, each time something changes drastically you panic, but this time I know that it will find itself. The other day, Calum spoke about the show as a Rubik’s Cube and how all of the colours are going to flip round and fit together- we are just a few twists away.
What do you hope audiences get out of the show?
I hope that it doesn’t depress them, as this was one of our major thoughts when creating the show as it is such a difficult subject. I set out with the intention of creating a comedy show- the first R&D was made up of funny sketches, but then Molly’s story kept on rising to the top of the pile. Molly emerged. She shined in the darkness. I hope that audiences feel like they have witnessed something very profound. I hope they feel like they have really met a young woman who has been to the end of the world and back and is still standing there in front of them and feel delighted to be part of the sharing of her story. I hope there is a realisation of how these things happen to anyone and how it is possible to get through it.
Do you have a secret recipe for surviving the Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
A little bit of party, quite a few shows, but a lot of eating and rest.
Who’s most likely to get kicked out of a venue?
Probably… Calum saying something offensive to someone. Oh wait, Camille. Oh wait, no, I am going to say Calum because if he really hated a show, he would start trying to have a debate with someone and then he would end up kicking himself out.
What Goes on in Front of Closed Doors plays at The Attic, Pleasance Courtyard from 2 – 28 August 2017 (not 14 or 21). For more details visit: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/what-goes-front-closed-doors#overview
London Preview at Old Red Lion Theatre on 23 & 24 July 2017. For tickets visit: http://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/what-goes-on-in-front-of-closed-doors.html
