"ONE MINUTE, manages to strip back what is essentially an

extraordinary drama, to the humanity of the people experiencing it"

This revival of Simon Stephens' One Minute at the King's Head Theatre (20 – 26 March) is presented by The Working Actors Studio. Lee Lomas is founder of the company, producer and actor and Demi Leigh is the director of the show. The play which focuses on a missing girl, explores with great tenderness and unflinching honesty what it's like to live in London in times of terror, change and uncertainty. 

LPT: It’s a fantastic opportunity to see a revival of Simon Stephens’ play ONE MINUTE. Why choose this play right now?

Lee Lomas: Simon Stephens has been one of my favourite writers for a while, we both come from Manchester and his voice has always resonated with me. Just like him, I too moved to London, and I think he captures the loneliness of London beautifully. The city is finally recovering from the lockdown, and it felt like a great time to produce what is a really excellent play.

Demi Leigh: Lee and myself have a great appreciation of Simon Stephens’ plays. His style works well with our Studio’s acting discipline. Why ONE MINUTE, now? I re-read it recently, and I was struck by how current it felt, how much I could relate with it. The play was first produced in 2003, when every western big city was going through a molecular change, in the wake of 9/11 and the ensuing anxiety. The pandemic changed London in a similar way. In ONE MINUTE London is ever-present, the character’s defined by the fear and lack of control we feel living in a megacity, the love/hate relationship with its vastness, and the terrors, as well as the joy it hides between its shiny high streets and derelict estates.

LPT:  What do you consider to be the real heart of the work?

Lee Lomas: The profound feelings and philosophies that can only be born out of tragedy. When we’re faced with tragedy it makes us realise what is really important/makes us question what is really important to us and our lives. That’s what all the characters are going through.

Demi Leigh: In my opinion, there are two ever-present themes. First, is the grief. How it changes, over a period of months, how it changes you in relation to the world around you. And how it affects the people around you. Second, and relating to London, would be the human connection, the struggle to form connections in the anxiety and hustle of the city. 

LPT: ONE MINUTE has been called a work which is dedicated to form more than to plot or character, what is your response to that?

Lee Lomas: To be honest that is the kind of work I’ve always been drawn to. It feels to me to be a truer reflection of reality. Of course, it’s always nice to get swept away in a strong narrative but what about all the bits in between? With One minute you get to see all that.

Demi Leigh: That’s true, in the way that ONE MINUTE is not your typical ‘hero’s journey’ or two-act drama. The entire play is made out of little slivers of moments, each scene more of a glimpse into the everyday life of the characters than a device to move the plot forwards. Through those moments, you learn about the case of the missing child, little breadcrumbs of information guiding you through. There is immense beauty in the simplicity of the dialogue. It serves to expose the flaws, the humanity of these Londoners that have experienced something so traumatic, so out-of-the-ordinary, but still try to negotiate their everyday lives to the best of their abilities, and they struggle, and they fall, but they keep trying. I truly believe the form of ONE MINUTE, manages to strip back what is essentially an extraordinary drama, to the humanity of the people experiencing it, challenging the empathy of the audience.

LPT: Stephens’ script has also been described as ‘screamingly painful, his descriptions of loneliness, his observations of life in the metropolis, make one ache’ (Exuent magazine). How far do you agree with this?

Lee Lomas: I agree completely, and I touched on that above. As someone who has moved to London with the expectation of more social life, more connections, more opportunity to be met with the reality of - further commutes, busier timetables and a lack of people being open to genuine connection, I think the above description is very accurate and Simon Stephens’ depiction is equally accurate.

LPT: How are you approaching the play as actor and director?

Lee Lomas (actor): I’m approaching the play as I approach all my work as an actor, from a place of truth. What is true for me, that is also true for Gary? What aspects of his life are similar to mine? What outlooks do we share? On top of that is the practical preparation of the Birmingham accent, which is fun, although most people in London might not be able to tell the difference between a Brummy and a Manc accent there are quite a lot of differences.

Demi Leigh (director): At Working Actors Studio we follow, for the most part, Practical Aesthetics, the Mamet acting method. At its core, it means acknowledging the reality of the moment, and truly talking with the person that’s in front of you in a scene, denying nothing, inventing nothing. I’m using this method to compliment the naturalism of the text, and the themes of the play - namely the struggle of creating human connections, in contemporary London. With this approach, my goal is to create moments on stage that are real, relatable, immediate, that draw the audience in and allows you to feel empathy for the characters.

LPT: Who are the major characters in the play and how do you personally relate to them?

Lee Lomas: All the characters in the play are equal in their influence on the story, it’s fairly even in stage time too. All of the characters are looking for connection, it’s as if the missing girl has made the characters acutely aware of what’s missing in their own lives. 

LPT: The King’s Head is usually in the round, how are you approaching the set and sound for the piece?

Demi Leigh: I love the King’s Head stage, it is one of my local theatres and I’m always excited to see how different productions utilise the stage. We will be performing with a thrust stage, utilising the multiple exits and entrances to create the different settings of each scene with a stripped back set. We utilise sound to mark the pauses, the oppressive silences, sounds of typewriter and the streets of London interspersed, as the investigation stalls, picks up, and comes to a head.

LPT: Finally, what can audiences expect from the play?

Demi Leigh: Emotions. Humanity. Hopefully, catharsis, or something similar thereof. I would love for the audience to giggle along the goofiness of the rookie detective, empathise with the passion of the witness, wonder about the mother, feel for the characters every step of the way.

ONE MINUTE by Simon Stephens

King's Head Theatre, Islington

20 - 26 March 2023

Mon-Thur 7pm, Sat & Sun 6pm

Box Office 

Produced by The Working Actors Studio

Cast: Reshma Morris, Lee Lomas, Frederik Lysegaard, Imogen Mackenzie, Imogen Davis