Q&A: EDINBURGH 2024: Roann Hassani McCloskey and Joel Samuels on REMYTHED

BWW caught up with Roann Hassani McCloskey and Joel Samuels about bringing Remythed to the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

How did you each first get involved in the world of theatre?

Joel: I think we were both child stars in the making - or at least failed child stars, right?

Roann: Yep. I went to Questors Amateur Dramatics from the ages of seven to eleven, then left and went back when I was 25 to play Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk and had such a fantastic time I decided to be sensible and quit my well-paying job in TV production and make it as a professional actor . . . 

Joel: And I went to the infamous Anna Scher Theatre in Islington, from the age of eight. It was amazing - Anna was this inspirational, political and incredibly strict theatre practitioner. So many amazing people went there - Daniel Kaluuya, Zawe Ashton, Kathy Burke. I fell in love with it and haven’t been able to leave the industry since.

Roann: Have you tried to?

Joel: Not hard enough, clearly!

Can you tell us a bit about your show, Remythed?

Roann: I LOVE IT SO MUCH! I have never said that about a show I, or we, have made. But I do!

Joel: It’s the stories we wish we had been told.

Roann: Five queer storytellers each with a story/myth from their cultural background retold and framed through a queer lens. 

 

What inspired the creation of Remythed?

Roann: Joel and I were having falafel in Soho. 

Joel: The falafel spoke to us, I think?

Roann: We had made work that was autobiographical and work that had pain and tragedy running through it and we really wanted to find a way of going into the mystical/fantasy and finding joy. Reimagining, reclaiming and “Remything,” if you will.

Joel: (We know that isn’t a word).

What was the creative process like for Remythed?

Joel: We brought in three extraordinary queer humans (Ishmael Kirby, Emile Clarke and Lucy Roslyn) and pitched them the concept. Emile, we met via a call out on Twitter, Ishmael and I had worked together on some immersive theatre projects and Roann had met Lucy at a writing workshop.

Roann: We then asked them what stories from their backgrounds they wanted to queer or what aspects of their identities they wanted to draw upon to tell joyful queer stories that fully reflected who they are.

Joel: We went away and wrote a script and then the five of us pulled it apart and reshaped it, reworked it and Remythed it, into the thing that it is today.

Roann: We work without a director - if we all like it, it gets in the show and if we don’t . . . 

Joel: There’s a veritable feast of cast-aside ideas and concepts on our collective cutting room floor! 

Can you tell us about the company you are Co-Artistic Directors of, Bet’n Lev Theatre?

Roann: We have been working together for six years. In October 2023, we decided it was about time we started making work officially out of our theatre company. Reflecting our heritages; Bet’n is an anglicised version of “belly” in both Arabic and Hebrew, whilst Lev is Hebrew for “heart.” The work we make has guts, heart, humour and is absolutely political. 

 

What is it like bringing Remythed to the Edinburgh Fringe?

Roann: Hard and joyful.

Joel: Like so many of the best things.

Roann: But it is honestly the most relaxed we’ve ever been bringing a show here, right?

Joel: Easily.

Roann: And that’s based on like nine or ten previous experiences.

Joel: Too much of that is just me, unfortunately.

Roann: You are that old, it’s true! We are incredibly close as a company and so it rarely feels like work - we feel extremely lucky and thankful to be able to be more relaxed.

Joel: Which isn’t to say we aren’t panicking about ticket sales and getting reviewers in like everyone else!

What do you hope audiences take away from Remythed?

Roann: We hope that in this time, where the world is temperamental and scary, that they get an hour of true escapism and joy.

Joel: Yeah, and maybe feel seen? Or understand those around them a little better and ultimately - 

Roann: Leave smiling? 

Joel: That would be ideal.

How would you describe Remythed in one word?

Roann: Magical.

Joel: Joyful.

Roann: Cause there’s two of us, we cheated. Either works though! 

Joel: Magi-ful?

Roann: Joy-ical.

Joel: It’s a good show.

Remythed runs from 13 to 24 August at Assembly Roxy - Downstairs at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

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