Brief Play About Rage, The Cockpit
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Deane McElree‘s Brief Play About Rage will be making its full debut at Camden Fringe. It’s certainly a title that should tell you plenty about what to expect when it comes to The Cockpit (3 and 4 August, tickets here). But of course, it’s always worth finding out a little more, so that’s just what we did when we sat down with Deane to ask some questions, and receiving perhaps one of the more surprising responses to one of our questions we’ve had for some time!
What can audiences expect from the show?
A couple host a guest who they’d really rather not have in their home. This guest, sensing the unspoken disgust and resentment that is felt towards her, tries to draw this hatred out of them, to have it be spoken, by behaving as obnoxiously as possible. This then escalates to a place I’m pretty confident a lot of audience members won’t be expecting.
Basically, It’s a play about the things we don’t say, and about the ways people control each other – through politeness, obscenity, guilt, and violence.
Is Camden Fringe going to be the show’s first time on stage, or have you already performed elsewhere?
This will be the show’s first time on stage, and in fact the first play I have written to receive any full production. Its length (it’s in the name) is ideal for a Fringe show, so it seemed to be a no-brainer to debut the show as part of the festival.
What was your inspiration behind the show?
It’s somewhere between a Harold Pinter comedy of menace and an ‘I Think You Should Leave’ sketch, with maybe some other influences mixed in that I’m not even aware of. The Joyce short story ‘The Dead’ was definitely a direct influence on some plot points.
Is this version how you originally envisioned it or has it changed drastically since you first put pen to paper?
It started out like a simpler comedy – I wasn’t trying to do anything that mental beyond the comedic potential of what the *worst possible* house guest might do. It was getting into the why of it all that the play really got its legs – why would someone behave like this? What are they trying to achieve? What are they trying to make the people they’re tormenting feel?
Being a fringe festival, we all know sets have to be bare minimum, how have you got around this with your set and props?
Our director, Sophia, has an approach that’s really economic and rich. The symbolism of every object is examined, and how it interacts with each character, each theme. So I think the limits we’re facing as a small Fringe show have been very inspiring when it comes to making simple objects/images work on multiple levels.
Are there any plans for what comes next after the show has finished its run – for you or the show?
We’re hoping to do a longer run elsewhere, perhaps for a week, following the two days we perform at the Cockpit as part of the Fringe! Hopefully before the end of the year.
If you had to describe your show as a colour what would it be?
The soft golden glow of urine (dehydrated).
What’s the most valuable piece of advice you’ve received during your career, and how has it influenced your work on this show?
I think one of the most valuable pieces of advice I’ve received had a necessary harshness to it: that you’re not a writer, not really, unless your work is being seen by people. It can be so tempting to withhold whatever you’ve made because when you bring out into the light of day it’s then suddenly imperfect, it loses its lustre. But that’s what being an artist is. Rather than fantasising about being an artist. You have to put what you do out there.
Thanks to Deane for the chat. Brief Play About Rage plays at The Cockpit on Sunday 3 and Monday 4 August.
