What drew you to creating these two one-act plays? Why do they work well as a double bill?
Kathy: I wrote Dear Madeleine over Christmas 2022. I’d been pondering on how hard it is to say goodbye to someone you love or have loved; the words never seem to come out right, no matter how hard you plan. And also how robbed you feel when you haven’t had the chance to even try, because someone has died suddenly or unexpectedly. This was my chance to replay some of those missed goodbyes in my imagination at least.
Logan: I could not get this image out of my head of a man sitting on a white nothingness eating bananas. I had to find out who he was. Eventually it started to make sense as a stage show, which was tricky for me because I’d never written something for the stage before. But I was willing to follow that man and his bananas anywhere.
Kathy: They work well as a double bill because they are both short, compact pieces, but they both deal with the essential business of life – living it and leaving it.
Logan: They’re absolutely both about life and death - they have different viewpoints on them but both have enough levity and heart to keep things from feeling overwhelming. I think they’re a fantastic double bill.
What can audiences expect from the show?
Kathy: They are a complete contrast in style; and although the subject matter is obviously serious, we have tried to approach it in unusual ways, and always with an element of humour. Laughing and crying – two of the things that make us human, and we didn’t want to shy away from either of them.
Logan: Total contrast, but something deeply real. Kathy’s play is beautiful, tender and moving. Our play, Bananaman, is stranger. It’s this sometimes tragic, honest and hopefully funny attempt by a character to not tell us how he’s feeling. I think both plays really give the audience a lot to think about in very different ways.
Are there recurring themes that link the two plays despite their very differing settings and stories?
Kathy: Letting go and holding on – two sides of the same coin!
Logan: It’s life and it’s death. When do we leave, how in control of it we are. It’s two characters both sitting where they think they’ll die.
What has been the most rewarding or challenging part of bringing these stories to life?
Kathy: For me, ironically, the biggest challenge was a series of health issues which came flying at me not long after I’d finished Dear Madeleine, and they seriously got in the way of getting it to the stage. The rewarding thing has been working alongside some of my favourite people and former colleagues in a creative venture again. That’s been a real boost.
Logan: Writing this was often strenuous, but fun nonetheless. Performing it is something else entirely - trying to keep an audience’s attention alone up on that stage is not easy. Working with everyone has been brilliant but having John Haswell come in to direct this version of Bananaman has been fantastic, he really just gets the show and has been able to find a new side of it for me.
Why should someone come and see this double bill?
Kathy: If you’ve ever wondered how you might go about finding the right words when the time comes … we’re here to help, sincerely and straight from the heart.
Logan: I don’t think you see theatre like this very often. Strange surreal theatre followed by
deep, personal and emotional theatre back to back with intertwining themes and ideas - it’s a
double bill truly worth your time. If we don’t make you laugh we’ll make you cry, or at least we’ll try our hardest to do both.
