EDINBURGH 2022: PSYCHODRAMA Q&A

Tell us a bit about Psychodrama.

It's a show about an actress in her forties under investigation for the murder of an auteur theatre director, whilst rehearsing a production of Hitchcock's Psycho. It plays like a gripping, fast moving thriller. With a lot of laughs.

What was the inspiration behind the story?

I had heard about a WhatsApp group created by a small group of fortysomething actresses. All of them are experienced professionals, some of them could even said to be stars, and they were sharing accounts of industry abuses and injustices which they had personally encountered. Their stories were often both shocking and extremely funny. From there the play came together fairly rapidly.

How has the play been received so far?

It's been incredible. We were due to come to Edinburgh in 2020, then Covid struck. So we thought, Well let's do a pop-up version in our local area of north London. A very cool local bar restaurant gave us their underground space and we went about assembling the most fantastic team we could think of, including Emily Bruni (of Peep Show fame), Elliot Griggs (who lit Fleabag) and Gareth Fry (sound designer for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). After four Covid-induced postponements, we finally did it last summer, socially distanced of course! And it sold out. We ended up bagging a couple of Off West Award nominations too, including for Emily's amazing performance.

Why did you want to bring it to Edinburgh?

If there's a place on Earth devoted to the art of storytelling, it's Edinburgh in August. And with this subject matter, it couldn't get more perfect.

What do you hope audiences take away from the play?

In part this is a revenge drama - so it should be very satisfying, particularly for those of us who have ever experienced betrayal. There are also lots of nods to what it's like being a female artiste in an industry dominated by stardust, youth and male power. Plus it's great fun for any Hitchcock fan. Above all I just hope that audiences are swept up in an edge-of-your seat story that constantly surprises. We want to entertain!

Photo credit: The Other Richard

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