I’ve spent this afternoon with the director and cast of my new play, Playing God, which is being performed at the HatWorks Museum in Stockport, opening Wed 28th March and running until Saturday 3rd March.
It’s always a scary experience to see your words come to life, especially if you haven’t been involved in rehearsals; so it was with some trepidation that I turned up to rehearsals this afternoon. There’s always the danger that it doesn’t work: that the actors aren’t hitting the right beats, and the vision of the play just isn’t what you envisaged.
However, I’m overwhelmingly happy to say that what I watched today was a great representation of my script, and the actors are bringing the characters to life with skill, great timing, and a massive portion of playfulness. It’s a dark place where fun things happen - this world of Playing God - and the director and actors have got that balance of complicity and comic tension just right.
Our wonderful director is Leni Murphy. I’ve known Leni for years as an actor - she’s performed during practically every ever Studio Salford Development Week. She’s a brilliant actor, so when Maureen, our great producer, suggested Leni, I knew that she would do a great job - and she really has.
The piece is being produced by Maureen O’Neil for Viaduct Theatre. This is their debut show, which I’m very excited to be a part of. Maureen spent a long time working abroad, and came back to Manchester after many years of working away, to discover a thriving independent theatre scene. She was massively excited by the energy and quality of work she saw in Manchester - and, being a Stockport girl, she had a vision of introducing that same energy to Stockport. She feels that Stockport is an independent theatre scene waiting to happen, and she’s taking that leap of faith to kick start it. We need trailblazers in our industry, so I was very excited when she asked if she could produce Playing God as her premier piece.
It’s a dream to have a great producer on board because they make things happen - and as a writer who has worked extensively in the fringe theatre scene, I know only too well how much work producing entails. So, I’m enjoying the luxury of being just the writer. And Maureen is doing a brilliant job.
Leni and Maureen have managed to gather a cast who completely embody the characters on the page. We have -
Helen O’Hara as Sophia
Morag Peacock as other important characters
John Tueart as Simon
Antonia Whitehead as Mo
and Greg Kelly as Finn
Playing God is being performed at the HatWorks Museum, Stockport SK3 0EU.
Wed 28th Feb - 7pm
Thurs 1st Mar - 7pm
Fri 2nd Mar - 7pm
Sat 3rd Mar - 2pm & 7pm
Tickets available from viaducttheatre.co.uk
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