Ella Ella Ella, eh eh
Words by Lizzie Simner
Ella Hickson, 24, Playwright and Director:
‘I’m trying to tackle the negative reputation that my generation has earned itself. We need to prove we’re not all apathetic, drug-munching, no-brainers. We do have something intelligent to offer and we’re not afraid of having political punch. It’s about time we believed in something.”
After graduating with an English degree from Edinburgh University just last year, Ella Hickson’s play ‘Eight’ swept the board at the Edinburgh festival, winning the Carol Tambor ‘Best of Edinburgh’ award, the Fringe First award and the National Student Drama Festival’s ‘Emerging Artists’ award. After going on to win critical acclaim after its New York run, with rapturous reviews from the New York Times, amongst others, it is back this summer for one final show in London.
Laid out as a series of eight monologues, of which the audience choose the four that they want to hear, ‘Eight’ cuts a lucid portrait of a generation who are struggling, not just to survive, but to care about survival. We caught up with Hickson to talk about success, her next play - and why theatre still matters.
Disappear Here: Where did the idea come from?
Ella Hickson: I asked a group of twenty-somethings what they thought defined our generation. They spoke about the recession, prostitution, 9/11- but the main theme that emerged was of apathy. So the play was really different manifestations on this theme of apathy - perversely to fundamentalism - sexual politics, religion, and the dissolution of religion. It’s about questioning what it is to be normal.
DH: Why theatre, as opposed to other forms of writing?
EH: Theatre is one of the very few areas that remains untouched by commercial pressure, it allows you to do what you want without having to bow to the Simon Cowells of this world. It’s collaborative, you write something, it’s your idea, but has the energy of sharing something with other people. I am learning from people my age - theatre shows generational concerns, and has a contemporary responsibility, I’m not going to learn that from reading in a dark room!
The eight stories are varied - one dispels the American dream, one is a guy attacked in 7/7, one shows how apathy leads to rampant consumerism. It’s kaledioscopic in that sense; one theme, in eight different ways.
DH: The New York Times described you as ‘a powerful voice.’ Is there anything you would shy away from writing about?
EH: Probably things that are very personal. You should respect people’s privacy.
DH: Do people ever think that characters are about them?
EH: Less characters, more names. I try not to base the characters on people, for example Billy Driscoll had the same surname as a friend who had phoned me when I was writing it.
DH: How was New York?
EH: We were very lucky - New York was a great success, sold out by the end of the week, it was a very British play but it transferred well. The original format of the show was longer but we ended up bowing to the British lack of attention span.
DH: Did the selective nature of the format mean that some actors got to work more than others? Who were the most popular?
EH: Some did - it’s funny if you have the picture of the guy with big muscles or the girl with big boobs getting picked! It was an interesting social experiment because there was no guiding narrative, it’s a collection of stories.
DH: Who was your favourite character?
EH: Ah the actors have asked me this before and I don’t like to have favourites! Probably Miles, the 7/7 bombing victim, or Jude, a 16 year-old schoolboy seduced by a 60 year-old.
DH: Any favourite playwrights, ones to look out for?
EH: David Greg, Scotland’s leading writer.
DH: Any advice to young playwrights?
EH: Don’t get it right, get it written. I’m a big believer in cooking time, let things brew - and don’t indulge an artistic outlook too much - it’s a job and it won’t get done in some artistic flurry.
DH: What next?
EH: Working on my theatre production company, Tantrum Productions. My new play has been finished and written, and I’ll be directing that - it’s a very different way of writing to people who don’t direct. We’ll be showing the new play in August.
DH: Your new play, Precious Little Talent, what’s it about?
EH: Set in New York, it’s about graduating into a recession and coming face to face with your mediocrity. Success is so ubiquitous, and there’s that underlying thing of it being incredibly hard to get there - the contrast in where you are and where you want to be. We’ve been told by schools and parents how precious we are, and we are striving not to be forgotten. It’s the idea that being more than mediocre, being exceptional, is harder than you think.
With this amount of talent, and such huge success already, Hickson’s grounded attitude is inspiring - perhaps being exceptional must feel pretty normal by now.
‘Eight’ will run from July 6-25th at London’s Trafalgar Studios.
‘Precious Little Talent’ will debut at the Edinburgh Fringe in August.
Posted Tue, June 09, 2009