Frustrated playwright Amédée has a secret. A big one. And one that's getting bigger by the day. For fifteen years, something has been growing in the flat he shares with his wife Madeleine, and it's not just his perpetually in-progress manuscript.
Returning to Birmingham for her fifth REP performance, Josie Lawrence stars alongside Trevor Fox in a hysterical new translation of Eugene Ionesco's surreal comedy Amédée, showing until Saturday 11 March. We spoke to the actor, improviser and long-term Comedy Store Player to find out more.
“Amédée lives with his wife in a kind of paranoid, dystopian world. Their flat has one bedroom that they've had to move out of because there's a body in there that's been growing for years,” Lawrence explains. “The full title is Amédée or How to Get Rid of It, and it's kind of an analogy of people leaving their problems until it all becomes too much.”
While Amédée whiles away months and years failing to complete his masterpiece, Madeleine just about manages to keep them financially afloat in their dingy city flat through her job in telecommunications. As the couple continually neglect to take action and resolve the the issue that they're facing, they begin to offer conflicting accounts of how the trouble started.
“Eventually they don't even remember what happened, so they start to make up 'truths' instead. Apart from the end, it's mostly done in real time. There's a clock at the back that whizzes round at one point, so it does jump forwards, but it's all set in the same space, which gives you a real sense of claustrophobia.”
But while the story mainly focuses on their rocky relationship, this isn't wholly a two-hander. As well as younger stars (Jamie Samuel, Leah Walker and Duane Hannibal) popping up in their memories of happier times, there's also a surprise final scene featuring a larger community cast – though you'll have to go along to find out exactly how they're involved...
Romanian-French playwright Ionesco is best known for his wit and absurdism. Yet there's a surprisingly dark undercurrent running through this story, too, with an atmosphere of tension, fear and suspicion pervading the whole play. As director Roxana Silbert points out, this is partly a reflection of the turbulent post-war reality that Ionesco inhabited. Completed in 1954, Amédée was originally staged against the backdrop of a France still reeling in the aftermath of Nazi occupation, even as the spectre of Cold War nuclear annihilation began to haunt the imaginations of people around the world. This “freely adapted” version dispenses with the historical setting, but it's not without a potency of its own: there are obvious parallels between the austerity, political polarisation, media manipulation and displacement of mid-20th century Europe and the world we live in now.
“Madeleine is particularly paranoid about the neighbours and their whisperings. There's one speech where she says that they can be so cruel with their callous curiosity. But it's their silence that scares her the most. She'd rather they shouted out their nasty comments or made spyholes in the walls than carried on in this secretive way.”
Penned by leading playwright, director and comedian Sean Foley (Do You Come Here Often?, The Play What I Wrote), the brand new text for this production is, rather remarkably, the first English translation of the play in 40 years. But despite having received widespread acclaim for his direction of shows like The Ladykillers, What The Butler Saw and the RSC's A Mad World, My Masters, other commitments have meant he's mostly stayed hands-off with the staging.
“Sean is so busy, bless him!” says Lawrence. “He did The Dresser, which was magnificent, and he's now working on The Miser with Griff Rhys Jones. We did manage to get him for a cup of tea and a cake during the second week of rehearsals, though it was a very short meeting! But I think he really enjoys the slightly off-kilter way that Ionesco writes.”
Although Ionesco's play Rhinoceros was adapted into a 1974 film, his work still isn't staged in Britain as often as one might expect. According to Lawrence, at least, UK audiences are probably missing out.
“He's a phenomenal writer. I think sometimes people can get a bit put off by the idea of absurdism, but it's been fantastic to work on and the dialogue is wonderful! It's like vocal and physical gymnastics, and every time you run through it you find something new. And it's very moving as well, which I didn't expect. It's probably the strangest thing I've ever done, but it's very funny and completely understandable.”
Coming from a performer best known for her off-the-wall, improvised comedy shows, this is no small claim. Having made her name in the international hit series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Lawrence has also been a member of the much-loved impro troupe the Comedy Store Players since their inception in the 80s.
“We're now in our 32nd year, and we're in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's longest-running comedy troupe. It's fantastic because it means that, since 1985, I've never not worked. There are six of us who are there regularly, and if any of us have to leave for other jobs, they get guests in. I took nearly two years off when I was performing in Stratford, but once I'd finished, I just slotted back into my old place, so it's the best thing in the world for an actor to have.”
Though she views her comedy as a secondary, “part-time” addition to her “real job” as an actor, her natural talent for thinking on her feet and responding quickly to changing situations has proved equally invaluable in both arenas.
“I suppose I do use impro in the theatre if something goes wrong. I would never worry if somebody forgot their lines or anything like that because I always know that I can improvise my way out of it!” she laughs.
In addition to last year's Whose Line Is It Anyway? live show at the London Palladium, most recently, she's been touring with some of the leading lights from the next generation of impro stars in an all-female group called The Glenda J Collective. Named not directly after the acting legend and former MP, but rather after Lawrence's pet cat (naturally), the four-piece also includes Austentatious' Cariad Lloyd, as well as Showstoppers' Pippa Evans and Ruth Bratt, who met Lawrence through their own guest appearances at the Comedy Store.
And in 2017, not only is there a new generation of performers to contend with, there are also more and more young audiences beginning to discover her work for the first time.
“At the Comedy Store, you have to be 18 to get in, so we do get quite a lot of young people coming along. Recently, we realised that in two years time, people who were born in the year 2000 will be able to come and see us, which has been pretty hard for us to compute!”
Born and raised in Old Hill, Lawrence has a long history with the West Midlands region, and shows in Birmingham were an early influence as she developed her passion for performing.
“I'm very fond of Birmingham – it was like going up to the posh place when I was younger. I always used to come and see the Christmas pantos, and my mum and dad would often go and see things at the Old Rep.”
Running just before the theatre closed for redevelopment in 2010, Lawrence's last appearance at the REP was in Tom Stoppard's translation of Chekhov classic The Cherry Orchard.
“It was very fitting, actually, because The Cherry Orchard is about leaving a place you've known for years, and it was the last play to show at the theatre before everybody had to move out. So when I arrived back here it was strange because it was a bit like coming home, but at the same time, I didn't know where anything was. It's all very big and plush now – especially the rehearsal rooms!”
Josie Lawrence stars in Amédée at Birmingham REP until Saturday 11 March.
Frustrated playwright Amédée has a secret. A big one. And one that's getting bigger by the day. For fifteen years, something has been growing in the flat he shares with his wife Madeleine, and it's not just his perpetually in-progress manuscript.
Returning to Birmingham for her fifth REP performance, Josie Lawrence stars alongside Trevor Fox in a hysterical new translation of Eugene Ionesco's surreal comedy Amédée, showing until Saturday 11 March. We spoke to the actor, improviser and long-term Comedy Store Player to find out more.
“Amédée lives with his wife in a kind of paranoid, dystopian world. Their flat has one bedroom that they've had to move out of because there's a body in there that's been growing for years,” Lawrence explains. “The full title is Amédée or How to Get Rid of It, and it's kind of an analogy of people leaving their problems until it all becomes too much.”
While Amédée whiles away months and years failing to complete his masterpiece, Madeleine just about manages to keep them financially afloat in their dingy city flat through her job in telecommunications. As the couple continually neglect to take action and resolve the the issue that they're facing, they begin to offer conflicting accounts of how the trouble started.
“Eventually they don't even remember what happened, so they start to make up 'truths' instead. Apart from the end, it's mostly done in real time. There's a clock at the back that whizzes round at one point, so it does jump forwards, but it's all set in the same space, which gives you a real sense of claustrophobia.”
But while the story mainly focuses on their rocky relationship, this isn't wholly a two-hander. As well as younger stars (Jamie Samuel, Leah Walker and Duane Hannibal) popping up in their memories of happier times, there's also a surprise final scene featuring a larger community cast – though you'll have to go along to find out exactly how they're involved...
Romanian-French playwright Ionesco is best known for his wit and absurdism. Yet there's a surprisingly dark undercurrent running through this story, too, with an atmosphere of tension, fear and suspicion pervading the whole play. As director Roxana Silbert points out, this is partly a reflection of the turbulent post-war reality that Ionesco inhabited. Completed in 1954, Amédée was originally staged against the backdrop of a France still reeling in the aftermath of Nazi occupation, even as the spectre of Cold War nuclear annihilation began to haunt the imaginations of people around the world. This “freely adapted” version dispenses with the historical setting, but it's not without a potency of its own: there are obvious parallels between the austerity, political polarisation, media manipulation and displacement of mid-20th century Europe and the world we live in now.
“Madeleine is particularly paranoid about the neighbours and their whisperings. There's one speech where she says that they can be so cruel with their callous curiosity. But it's their silence that scares her the most. She'd rather they shouted out their nasty comments or made spyholes in the walls than carried on in this secretive way.”
Penned by leading playwright, director and comedian Sean Foley (Do You Come Here Often?, The Play What I Wrote), the brand new text for this production is, rather remarkably, the first English translation of the play in 40 years. But despite having received widespread acclaim for his direction of shows like The Ladykillers, What The Butler Saw and the RSC's A Mad World, My Masters, other commitments have meant he's mostly stayed hands-off with the staging.
“Sean is so busy, bless him!” says Lawrence. “He did The Dresser, which was magnificent, and he's now working on The Miser with Griff Rhys Jones. We did manage to get him for a cup of tea and a cake during the second week of rehearsals, though it was a very short meeting! But I think he really enjoys the slightly off-kilter way that Ionesco writes.”
Although Ionesco's play Rhinoceros was adapted into a 1974 film, his work still isn't staged in Britain as often as one might expect. According to Lawrence, at least, UK audiences are probably missing out.
“He's a phenomenal writer. I think sometimes people can get a bit put off by the idea of absurdism, but it's been fantastic to work on and the dialogue is wonderful! It's like vocal and physical gymnastics, and every time you run through it you find something new. And it's very moving as well, which I didn't expect. It's probably the strangest thing I've ever done, but it's very funny and completely understandable.”
Coming from a performer best known for her off-the-wall, improvised comedy shows, this is no small claim. Having made her name in the international hit series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Lawrence has also been a member of the much-loved impro troupe the Comedy Store Players since their inception in the 80s.
“We're now in our 32nd year, and we're in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's longest-running comedy troupe. It's fantastic because it means that, since 1985, I've never not worked. There are six of us who are there regularly, and if any of us have to leave for other jobs, they get guests in. I took nearly two years off when I was performing in Stratford, but once I'd finished, I just slotted back into my old place, so it's the best thing in the world for an actor to have.”
Though she views her comedy as a secondary, “part-time” addition to her “real job” as an actor, her natural talent for thinking on her feet and responding quickly to changing situations has proved equally invaluable in both arenas.
“I suppose I do use impro in the theatre if something goes wrong. I would never worry if somebody forgot their lines or anything like that because I always know that I can improvise my way out of it!” she laughs.
In addition to last year's Whose Line Is It Anyway? live show at the London Palladium, most recently, she's been touring with some of the leading lights from the next generation of impro stars in an all-female group called The Glenda J Collective. Named not directly after the acting legend and former MP, but rather after Lawrence's pet cat (naturally), the four-piece also includes Austentatious' Cariad Lloyd, as well as Showstoppers' Pippa Evans and Ruth Bratt, who met Lawrence through their own guest appearances at the Comedy Store.
And in 2017, not only is there a new generation of performers to contend with, there are also more and more young audiences beginning to discover her work for the first time.
“At the Comedy Store, you have to be 18 to get in, so we do get quite a lot of young people coming along. Recently, we realised that in two years time, people who were born in the year 2000 will be able to come and see us, which has been pretty hard for us to compute!”
Born and raised in Old Hill, Lawrence has a long history with the West Midlands region, and shows in Birmingham were an early influence as she developed her passion for performing.
“I'm very fond of Birmingham – it was like going up to the posh place when I was younger. I always used to come and see the Christmas pantos, and my mum and dad would often go and see things at the Old Rep.”
Running just before the theatre closed for redevelopment in 2010, Lawrence's last appearance at the REP was in Tom Stoppard's translation of Chekhov classic The Cherry Orchard.
“It was very fitting, actually, because The Cherry Orchard is about leaving a place you've known for years, and it was the last play to show at the theatre before everybody had to move out. So when I arrived back here it was strange because it was a bit like coming home, but at the same time, I didn't know where anything was. It's all very big and plush now – especially the rehearsal rooms!”
Josie Lawrence stars in Amédée at Birmingham REP until Saturday 11 March.