Steyning Drama Company explore "love in all its complexities"

SussexWorld

They are staging LOVE/SICK by John Cariani at The Barn Theatre, Southwick, BN42 4TE from Thursday-Saturday, April 24-26, with tickets available on https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/west-sussex/the-barn-theatre-southwick/love-sick/e-lkazza

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, lovely to speak to Rula. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at

00:06the Sussex Newspapers, an understanding drama company Iron Action. And you say one of your

00:11great virtues and also one of your great challenges, it's a relatively small company, you have

00:16to be quite picky in what you choose. You have chosen, well, it's a kind of compilation

00:20piece, isn't it, by John Cariani, and it's called Love, Oblique, Sick. Tell me about

00:27it. Yeah, well, as you've just said, it is a vignette-style play, which means it's small

00:35scenes which are all interconnected. So the theme, as in the title, is love and relationships

00:41and things when they don't necessarily go right, pre-wedding jitters, cheating, meeting

00:50random people in supermarkets and meeting old flames. It's a really versatile piece, the

00:55theatre. As a small group, we are limited in our resources and our rehearsal times. So

01:02being a piece that's made up of smaller scenes, two actors per scene, this play really spoke

01:07to us. Never more than two, then. It's always two.

01:09It's always two, yeah.

01:11Different permutations, clearly.

01:13Exactly. So, yeah, each eight scenes, every scene is in a different setting with the different

01:20two actors. We do double up, but they are, you know, hopefully, you know, different characters.

01:25It sounds terrific. But the point is that the writer takes these recognisable situations

01:30and magnifies them.

01:32That's right, yeah. I think everybody can recognise something of themselves or a scenario they found

01:38themselves in. So it's very relatable. But what the playwright has done is taken it to

01:43sort of an almost absurd scenario, which makes it shocking at times, poignant, and laugh

01:49out loud funny, some of the scenes.

01:51It sounds terrific. And you're saying with a smallish company, you tend to be very, very

01:55collaborative to the point. You are actually not just acting, you are co-directing as well.

02:01How on earth do you juggle the two then?

02:04Well, I'm doing it co-directing. So obviously, I've got a co-director, which definitely helps.

02:08So we've been able to split our responsibilities and ease the burden. So Glenn is also acting

02:15in the play. So we've both got dual roles. But it's a very small, friendly group. We lean

02:21on each other. It's been a joy to have a go at the directing. And I've really enjoyed

02:27it. And I really look forward to getting to the barn and seeing it all in action.

02:32Well, it sounds great. And at the moment, it tends to be one big production a year, but

02:35you would like to do more. What's going to happen for that to happen?

02:41I think the hardest thing is finding plays that we can do as a group with the characters

02:47and male, female roles and things like that. So finding the time to read them and get a piece

02:54that we can perform. So yeah, that's a challenge as a group that we face. But in the meantime,

03:00we have got things lined up for the Senning Festival, which will be in 2026, and obviously

03:07the Christmas Fair. So we do try and, you know, take part in as many local things as possible.

03:13Fantastic. And in the meantime, then, the play Love Sick is at the Barnes Theatre in...

03:19No, sorry, just so you can say it's 24th of April to the 26th.

03:26That's right. Yeah, 24. Yeah. Doors open at seven. Performance starts at half by seven.

03:32We've got a ticket source link. Hopefully we can put that in. Yeah, we've got a Facebook

03:37page, all the information's on that. So please, Senning Drama Company, everything you need

03:42is there. Fantastic. Well, good luck with everything. Lovely to speak to you. Thank you.

03:47Many thanks, Bill.

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