Guest Blog: 'Theatre is a Powerful, Collaborative Art Form': Director Vicky Moran on Accessibility, Underrepresentation and her Latest Play, £1 THURSDAYS

When I read £1 Thursdays by Kat Rose-Martin, I was immediately drawn to the first thing in the script which says ‘none of the characters should be presented as rough. They graft and have it hard but they take pride in who they are. Swearing is a part of their everyday language and should be treat as so’. I loved this. Stacey and Jen (the two lead 17 year old girls) aren’t some sob story. They know how to have a laugh, they are smart, talented, outspoken, they take the piss - they’re the type of girls you’d wanna spend a drunken night out with cos you know you’d have a million stories to howl about the morning after.
 

The play is set in 2012, the year I turned 18, so it makes me feel very nostalgic. I wish I could turn back time and do it all again with my best mates! Those years were life-changing and it’s been really beautiful looking back and realising just how much these experiences shape us in adult life. It’s universal in that way. 

Whether it was getting told off in school or being a drunken mess on a night out, I see a lot of myself in these girls. I feel really held by the characters. They are flawed individuals, yet somehow you still adore them despite their fuck-ups. This is the message we need to be sending out to young people. There is so much judgment faced by teenagers. Shouldn’t we be empowering girls to be their authentic selves? Can’t we celebrate when we make mistakes? That’s what this play is - an unapologetic account of what it means to grow up. 

I started out in the arts as a Community Artist and have worked for over 10+ years with theatres and organisations with companies such as Cardboard Citizens (who create work with people who are experiencing or have experienced homelessness) and Clean Break (who work with women who have experienced or are at risk of the criminal justice system).  I find there is a lot less judgment in community work, a lot more openness too. A mixing pot of backgrounds and experiences. And a whole lot of fun! I feel sometimes we lose some of this in the professional world because of the immense pressures we put on ourselves when creating a show. 

I am always thinking about community and engagement work I’d love to do alongside directing. With £1 Thursdays, I wanted to provide opportunities for those who are thinking about entering the arts, but maybe haven’t had as much experience or opportunity due to financial barriers. I remember when I first started out, I had mentors telling me 'the best way to learn more about directing is to see loads of theatre' - but how?! Theatre tickets were expensive then and extortionate now. There were so many shows I wanted to see but my bank account said no, I wasn't on press lists and didn't have the contacts.

That’s why it’s important to me to make theatre more accessible now I’m further on in my career. We opened our rehearsal room doors and paid 10 emerging working class artists to come and observe for a day, chat to the wider team and make contacts for the future. It’s mad that things like these don’t happen often - we were inundated with applications. We also ran a ‘young persons night’ where we gave out lots of free tickets to community groups to watch the show and ran a post-show Q+A where myself and the cast spoke about our routes into theatre and how we made the show. 

It makes no sense to me that people in the industry don’t open their doors so others can learn and grow their craft. It’s no bother to me, but means so much to that individual. Creating learning opportunities for new artists costs next-to-nothing. Theatre is a powerful, collaborative art form. Welcoming and empowering new creatives through accessible routes is the only way to enrich it. 

I hope there will be more plays programmed like Kat’s. Honest and unapologetic stories of underrepresented groups that will make the industry sit up, listen and create opportunities for the next generation to bring their stories to the stage, whatever their background. 

£1 Thursdays is at the Finborough Theatre until 22 December

Read our review of the show here and our interview with actors Monique Ashe-Palmer and Yasmin Taheri here.

Main Photo Credit: Jake Stewart

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