BWW INTERVIEWS: Jez Butterworth At The OLIVIERS 2010

Miriam Zendle talks to the acclaimed playwright...

How are you feeling?

It's a really brilliant evening. It's great to be in London today, first of all, because I've been in America for the last ten days or something. To come back, I've spent the day in the park with the kids. It's gorgeous.

So are you feeling a bit jetlagged?

A little bit, but if they give you that little food and that much wiNe You're going to be feeling something.

Were you expecting to do so well tonight?

It's been amazing. It's lovely to see everyone here because I haven't seen Ultz or Stephen Warbeck or anyone since we started the production, so it's really nice to see them.

Were you always aware of what you wanted for the set when you engaged Ultz?

Yeah, pretty much. I had a pretty clear sense of it. Also, I think, unlike a lot of the other things that he does, he listens quite precisely to the first things I say, some of which I'm making up. He gets really, really into it and tends to produce stuff that's really close to what he hears from me.

People were shocked by how realistic the set was, with the trees and the mud...

Yeah, the minute I walked in there it felt exactly like it should.

It's very different from your last play, Parlour Song.

I don't know where and how you line up the things that you write. It's like having different kids, you know. It's like saying... people often spend time describing how kids are different to each other, and it's really really fun in a way. But in a way they are different beings.

What's next for Jerusalem?

That's other people's business.

Are you busy working on your next piece, then?

I've got a play that I'm working on.

Any details that you can reveal?

None!

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