Firstly, please tell us more about ASSISTED which you are taking to Edinburgh Fringe this year (2022).

ASSISTED is a new play about love and artificial intelligence which poses fascinating questions about the future of tech in our lives. It is also Greg Wilkinson’s first performed work, which is especially exciting: a very accomplished piece of writing from a new playwright inevitably feels like a bit of a coup. ASSISTED enjoyed a short run at The Golden Goose Theatre last year as part of their Emerge21 Festival, at which point I was engaged as a consultant. The reception was overwhelmingly positive and I was delighted to be brought on board as producer under the banner of newly founded Oxia Theatre. London Pub Theatres also spotted the play’s potential, billing ASSISTED as 'A terrific start to the Emerge Festival, ASSISTED raises excellent debates about the next generation of Alexa'. At the Drayton Arms (and subsequently at Edinburgh) we will be taking the play to the next level in terms of design and have brought Gwenan Bain (Bread & Roses Emerging Director, 2018) in to direct. I can’t wait for people to see it.

Image: ASSISTED rehearsal

"In short, the quality of the writing is fundamental."

"I’ll probably always be hardwired to think like an actor."

Image: Sarah Lawrie starring in THE GOOD DAD at Old Red Lion Theatre and The Hope Theatre

As an actress you’ve worked at a number of pub theatres including The Old Red Lion and The Hope. How does your work as an actress feed into your work as a producer and vice versa?

I’ve been an actor for much longer than I’ve been a producer but can honestly say that as soon as I started doing both, I’ve been in the mix for way more opportunities. Wearing those two distinctive hats has made it possible for me to meet people in different capacities with whom I’ve ended up making work happen.

. A case in point is playwright Rena Brannan, who I met as an actor when I helped develop one of her plays for the Arcola Theatre Lab in 2018 and am now working with closely, as producer and performer, on SHUTTERS: A Lesbian Rock Opera, which we plan to take to full production next year. I only really started producing to create vehicles for myself as an actress. I felt I was leading lady material and wanted to prove it. Full disclosure: my dream role had always been to play Madame Bovary, and I ended up producing a version adapted by Rosanna Lowe at The Hope Theatre in 2014 as part of the So & So Arts Club’s HopeFull season. That’s when I discovered that I actively enjoyed producing. It kept me in balance in terms of using my left and right brain. In terms of pub theatres specifically, my experiences from both sides of the fence have given me a very good working knowledge of the huge amount of passion and perspiration needed to mount work at this level, and a realistic understanding of its pleasures and pitfalls!

Amazingly, you’ve also recently dipped your toe into working as a director (MISCONNECTIONS at White Bear Theatre 2022). What was this experience like for you compared with your other work?

It was a wholly different experience, but I really enjoyed it and learned a lot about myself, and theatre-making, in the process. I’m definitely more of a pack animal than a leader, so taking the lead in the rehearsal room felt very alien to me. Case in point: I kept forgetting to bring an end to tea breaks. On some level, I’ll probably always be hardwired to think like an actor in terms of looking to defer to someone else for those ultimate creative decisions, but the team was lovely, and I was very well supported by Michael Kingsbury and Pack a Punch Players, who produced the show. If the opportunity arose, I would be more than happy to direct again.

It would appear to be true that you have a massive portfolio of work, what do you do in your down time?

If I were a stick of rock and you broke me in half, it would probably say “theatre animal”. I’m an unabashed geek. My main way of relaxing is going to the theatre and it’s the basis of my social life too. I probably see up to six plays a month, including lots of pub theatre, and try to catch understudy runs and support friends in shows whenever possible. Working on the producing side of the business also means being comped, which is the best occupational perk! Live performance has always done more for me than screen. If proper downtime is forcibly imposed on me then I enjoy walking, drinking coffee and exploring London.

Please also tell us three positives about the pub theatres venues you have worked in.

Pub theatres aren’t beholden to the canon. They encourage growth in the collaborative process of theatre making and actively elevate new voices.

There is an intimacy in pub theatre that simply can’t be achieved in larger spaces. There is a longing from audiences to sit around a metaphorical campfire and listen, interact, and muse.

Working at a pub theatre gives you a much greater awareness of the many moving parts involved in making a show happen. At a more commercial level, you simply don’t get a handle on the colossal infrastructure that supports a piece of theatre. Pub theatre involves more of an ‘all hands-on-deck' approach. And that's a great experience for anyone who wants to understand the bigger picture of theatre making.

What about any negatives?

Access remains a major issue at most pub theatres, for the simple reason that most of them are either below or above a pub – spaces that weren’t purpose-built in old buildings that would require major reconfiguration to support wheelchair access. When we mounted Scrounger (a play about living with a disability in modern Britain) at the Finborough, there was some dissent, but – as Athena commented – there are practically no affordable ‘entry level’ theatres supporting new writing. As such, Athena crawled up the stairs of the Finborough each night to perform in her own play. A major funding initiative is needed to resolve this. It would transform the London fringe.

Please tell us something about any actors, directors, writers or producers who have particularly inspired you in your work?

I started my career at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow and did lots of work in Scotland upon graduation from The Poor School. I met lots of brilliantly daring people during this period and would credit the Citz for giving me a more fearless approach to theatre making. Another big gamechanger was meeting Sarah Berger in 2012 and getting involved with The So & So Arts Club. Sarah opened so many doors for me and I honestly don’t think I’d be producing theatre at all if I hadn't met her. She’s a remarkable person. I’m also inspired by the writer DHW Mildon, whose play LEAVES I produced at Jermyn Street Theatre last year. They have a fantastic body of work, which I'm ambitious about putting before a wider audience.

Coming back to ASSISTED, what is your ambition for this play?

All the way to the top! Upstairs at The Royal Court perhaps?

Finally, what does the future hold for you personally?

I’m producing Edwin Flay’s excellent new play The Quality of Mercy at The Courtyard Theatre in September. And am off on tour (as an actor) with Original Theatre Company this autumn which is exciting. Next year I’m planning to tour The Good Dad: A Love Story – a one-woman show by Gail Louw that began life at The Old Red Lion in 2020 which I perform and produce under the banner of And Tomorrow Theatre Company. We also want to develop LEAR ALONE into a stage show. People keep asking when I’m going to choose between acting and producing but I don’t see acting as Plan A and producing as Plan B. So, I guess my hope is to continue to forge ahead in both capacities. (I don’t really believe in Plan Bs.) 

ASSISTED is at Drayton Arms Theatre 12 – 16 July 2022

Jordan and Connie want their next-generation AI voice assistant – Alivia – to make their perfect lives just that little bit better. But what happens when the technology starts to take control?

A funny and searching exploration of love and domesticity in the near future, ASSISTED explores the trend for technology to play a role in the most intimate parts of our day-to-day domestic existence, capturing and manipulating increasing amounts of unfiltered information about ourselves and our lives. ASSISTED speculates on what might happen – in how we communicate, how we love, and how we exercise agency – as that technology stops being purely our servant.