Director Monique Touko on Nostalgia and Young Talent in Reviving DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE at Guildhall

This October, Monique Touko will direct Roy Williams’ Days of Significance at Milton Court Studio Theatre, with Guildhall School actors in the title roles.

The play is set five years after the invasion of Iraq, Days of Significance follows the complex love lives and mortal fears of young soldiers departing their English market-towns for the deserts of the Middle East. With questions around morality at its heart, this thought-provoking play examines the cost of sending naïve young people to war, and the catastrophic reverberations for the West’s moral authority.

Monique is a London-based multidisciplinary artist – director, dramaturg and producer. Her most recent directorial credit was for School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play at the Hammersmith Lyric. She spoke to BroadwayWorld about bringing the play to life at Guildhall drama school.

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This summer, I received a call from Orla O'Loughlin, Vice Principal & Director of Drama at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Orla expressed that the School had got the rights to perform Days of Significance, Roy Williams’ acclaimed play, 20 years on from the start of the Iraq War.

I had just finished School Girls at the Lyric Hammersmith and was eager to get into an education setting to work with the next generation yet again. My last drama school show was Gloria by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins in 2022 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Guildhall has been on my radar for a long time and the opportunity to stage something in the Barbican was extremely appealing. Furthermore, the chance to stage one of Williams’ plays was something that I couldn’t say no to. He is a writer I have grown up on, from Fallout to Sucker Punch, his work has continued to show worlds that I could access and give a necessary voice to the marginalised.

Days of Significance has many central themes that intrigued me and aligned with my interests as a director: youth culture, gender roles and friendship, to name a few. It was necessary for me to show a depiction of young people that was nuanced, truthful and layered. The first Act of the play takes place at night in Croydon town centre and after reading this once, I was sold. The opportunity to stage a chaotic, vulgar, drink/drug fuelled meeting of young individuals just before heading to war was extremely compelling for me.

The contrast of war in Act Two, particularly in a world now where war is around us, felt very timely and necessary to depict in 2023. In all my shows, movement and music are key elements and the opportunity to work with Kloé Dean yet again felt fitting and necessary to paint the different worlds of the piece: Croydon town centre, the Iraq War and the wedding of Steve and Clare.

We have had four weeks to stage this show, which have consisted of research, table work, character work, blocking, and building the shape of the piece. This is the actors’ first third-year show and first exposure to the industry. They have coped extremely well as we have been working hard in the room to make sense of this beast of a play. The actors are able to play roles that are close to their actual age and engage with subject matter that is relatable, resulting in a fruitful and playful room.

In addition to the actors, the creative team and stage management are also in training and have to contend with a tech heavy and demanding show. This has been a true group effort and I have enjoyed watching them develop and grow day to day, gaining a greater understanding of stagecraft and the mechanics of staging a full production.

I hope for the audience there is a sense of nostalgia - a throwback to 2003/2004 - a time of Smirnoff Ice and Britney Spears. Our designer, Amy Jane Cook, has honoured the time through costume and created an abstract space with a crossroad, symbolising coming of age and the choices/directions young people could take at such a pivotal time in their lives.

The show is intended to be immersive, with traverse staging, and at the end of the show I hope the audience feel as if they have a real insight into the lives of these young people. That they understand and do not judge them, empathise and sympathise with them and experience these young creatives in training at the top of their game.

Days of Significance runs until 28 October for eight performances in the Milton Court Studio Theatre.

Photo Credit: Alex Brenner

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