Charlotte Cole talks to writer and director, Josh King and Jemima Standen-Jewell, of A Writer’s Lot, an original play written and performed by Royal Holloway Students.
What can you tell me about your lives here as students?
JK – I’m a third year English and Creative Writing student. I’ve done a few things on campus, like Midnight at the Boilerhouse and the Writing Society. It’s all built itself up to this from first year, so it is a massive thing for me to be able to do this.
JS – I’m a second year Drama student and I’ve done quite a few shows on campus helping out backstage, but this is my first time to actually direct a show.
What can you tell me about A Writer’s Lot?
JK – It’s about William, a playwright, who through his fixation with writing plays about death, has to eventually choose between his art and his mind.
How did you come up with that? It sounds pretty intense.
JK – Yeah, I took one to PLAY! 2012 last year, which involved a woman shooting her husband, a light comedy you could say! There is no way of getting a better drama and making something more interesting by killing someone; it’s something that affects everyone in an immediate and quite emotional way.
How do the cast and crew feel about everything?
JS – The crew are amazing, they’ve been the backbone of it, as well as the cast. It was great at the first read through because no one had read it and, after that, everyone was really excited for Josh’s play.
How have you been fundraising?
JS – We’ve had our pub quiz every Tuesday at the Foresters Arms until the end of term as well as applying for grants. We’re going to do a big fundraiser on the green, as well as the preview show which is at the village centre on June 10th.
How long did it take to write A Writer’s Lot?
JK – It’s my final project for my playwriting course, so I have been slowly writing it throughout. When they [intwothewings] posted that they wanted scripts, in a fit of desperation, I just wrote it. I’d written half of it over the past year and I quickly wrote the rest and sent it to them, as a rough first draft.
What can you tell me about ‘intwothewings’?
JS – Everyone on the production team are taking on a new role, which they’ve never done before, and so everybody is sort of being trained by others who have experience. That is why we wanted the ‘wings’ in the name, to represent our focus on the crew and production elements of a play as well as the actor and performance element. It also has the double meaning of ‘taking off’ on our first play. The ‘two’ represents Eleri Owen and I, who is also producing A Writer’s Lot. It’s nice to have our little family made.
In one sentence, why should people come to see A Writer’s Lot?
JS – What’s that line from the play? It’d be perfect for this.
JK – “It’s vivid, it’s visual, it’s a bloody play.”