WORKING on STAGS and HENS

A pre-performance interview
with LAURA YATES,
Director of
LANCASTER UNIVERSITY THEATRE GROUP's
recent production of
STAGS and HENS by Willy Russell

The critic/cynic converted by
an intelligent and vibrant approach

It is a while since our Chief Arts Correspondent Michael Nunn met Laura Yates of Lancaster University Theatre Group (LUTG), who directed the third and last of this term's LUTG offerings, to talk about Stags and Hens. The action takes place in the gents' and ladies' toilets of a tacky Liverpool Nightclub, where Dave and Linda have decided, unbeknownst to each other, to hold their stag and hen parties.

All good steamy stuff, but Michael had gone to meet Laura with some reservations about Willy Russell's plays, and about this one in particular. However, it was a sunny day by the canal outside the Water Witch, and Laura was keen to talk about how the production was coming on. Would our man be convinced? Read on …

MN I recently read Stags and Hens, and thought I should also have a quick read of one or two other Willy Russell pieces. A cynic might say they dwell on the depressing and pessimistic sides of life, and that they read rather bleakly.

LY The words on the page are only half of the dramatic action – there's a lot bubbling away under the surface of these characters that they're not even aware of. The play becomes more sinister as it goes along. Most of the comedy is in the first act, and the second half is more gritty.

MN Yes, there are certainly some unappealing characters in it.

LY If you've not got much going for you in your life, bullying is a way of giving yourself some kind of credibility through belittling people. In Stags and Hens especially you can see a real hierarchy of finely-drawn characters, with the boys as well as the girls. You can see the balance of power shifting too, and the arrival of Peter really throws the social balance into disarray, sets the cat among the pigeons.

MN Peter is certainly pivotal to the action.

LY As a character, he is so much more laid back than the rest, he is trying to develop himself. Robbie is trying to pick a fight with Peter, who does not feel the need to show his status among the group of the lads. He deflects the challenge by simply changing the conversation.

MN Eddy, the bully, is immensely unlikeable – John and I actually knew someone who used to get off on manipulating his friends, and coming between partners, family and friends.

LY Eddy is all about hypocrisy, the secret drinking and the fact that he doesn't go after tarts.

MN Perhaps he plays this down because he knows, inside, that he wouldn't even have a chance?

LY Yes, there is an underlying lack of self-confidence.

MN Is Eddy gay?

LY We were wondering in one of our discussions; a couple of the cast raised that very question. But we questioned whether Eddy, in those social circles, would ever let it be known, let his guard slip.

MN And his closeted drinking, too?

LY Maybe. I think it's just another indication that what he really is, is quite far removed from what he claims to be. Also, the pairings-off at the end are interesting – it's almost as if Russell created the male and female equivalents of each other.

MN But we don't see Bernie and Eddy snog …

LY No, but they do pair off to find a taxi at the end, while the others are kissing. This act in itself suggests some kind of character parallel. Bernadette is another key figure – she's the only one who's married, and it's blatantly clear that it's not a happy marriage and she's almost proud of that. She's the one who rallies Linda for the wedding tomorrow – ‘This is what you do'.

MN So is there any hope at all?

LY Certainly – when Linda breaks the glass (but I won't give away the plot), and in Eddy's final line. There's an odd duality, too – when they go out for a night like this, their stag and hen nights, it's escapism. But in fact it's just as monotonous as their days.

Marriage is the only rite of passage we have any control over. This is a very basic text from which flow several fundamental and universal issues about life in general.

MN I like your bon mot. But let's move onto how the production is shaping up. Your job as a director is to turn what some see as a very dreary text into a vehicle for these broad truths.

LY Yes, and at the start of the play the audience is lulled into a false sense of security – and this heightens the guiltiness, the tragedy, the darker side of life we meet later on in the piece. In fact, it is through some of the culture specific comedy we are made aware of a much more tragic tedium that envelopes their lives.

MN What about staging, and how will the production look in the very large Princess Margrethe Hall at St Martin's?

LY It is very difficult to stage, with two separate areas, the ladies' and the gents' loos. [At the time of this interview the details had not yet been finalised.] Another vitally important task is to balance the budget and the demands of the text.

It is a very wordy play, and there are actually very few stage directions, so we have to make it as visually engaging. We paid closer attention to our habits on nights out, to give the characters without lines more naturalistic actions, this added layers to the play, an in fact, as a general overview, has made it a lot more funny!

MN Did the men go into the ladies, and vice versa? Have you seen inside a gents' loo?

LY I have now. This show has opened my eyes in so many ways! We're actually having a ‘trough', which I had to have explained to me by one of the male cast members. I was horrified, and more so when I was poster-ing inside the gents at the Sugarhouse (there was no one in there!) and saw one up close!

MN There aren't many plays set in toilets, and it can't be easy to stage this. What problems have you encountered?

LY The main problem was blocked sightlines, but we have rectified this by abandoning any divides between the boys and girls toilets and the corridor. This division of space is now identified by different flooring and is suggested by the acting.

MN That is an interesting approach.

LY The toilets in a nightclub are like the wings of the stage – quite often this is where the real side of you shows before you go back ‘onstage' and whilst you ‘do your things' – such as make-up, hair, eyes etc.

MN Yes, what an interesting perspective. Perhaps we all do it, unthinking, whilst we are in the loos, preening ourselves and preparing for the next turns in the conversation or chat-ups …. But to other performance matters. How are you all coping with the Scouse accents?

LY The linguistics are very important to the whole effect of the play. We have done a lot of language workshops and some hilarious warm-up sessions. All of the cast have enjoyed themselves thoroughly during rehearsals, and we have introduced lots of bling, grease, and the ‘chav and slag' look.

MN I can imagine! – and it sounds great fun. What about the music? That is surely a key element in the production, too.

LY Yes, the whole play is about the alcohol and dance culture. Therefore I wanted to make more of the music played in the club and link it to the text somehow. The lyrics of modern dance music lyrics can be quite poignant, and we're going to build on that.

Willy Russell actually says that you can tweak in ‘updates' – for example Rod Stewart, who features in the original 1985 text, has been ‘replaced' with a more contemporary sounds. The discussions at rehearsal over this were, er, rather heated …

MN What are the worst features about the production so far?

LY The set – how much space to use, how much space it can take up, and how much it will cost. But the cast and crew are being most helpful here – they are all very responsive. Also, the accents. We've been having fun working on this, so we are breaking down some of the initial lack of confidences, and we are certainly feeling we are all being stretched. They are passionately keen to get it right.

The Scouse accent can sound very sing-song, but it only hovers around two separate notes and so can come across as something of a monotone. It is not as melodious or as mellifluous as, say the Welsh or other Celtic accents.

MN Some have said that it has a whining sound to it.

LY Everyone thinks it's high-pitched and staccato, but it isn't. If you listen carefully, it generally occupies a rather low register. You have to differentiate between the ‘stereotyped Scouse joke' accent, and how people in and around Liverpool really speak.

MN It's the idioms, or turns of phrase, as well as the accent. What are the best things about the production so far?

LY The cast. They gripped early on the fundamental themes that emanate from the text, such as the power struggles, the sense of ‘obligation' to have a good night out. There is also the sense of having very little in the characters' lives, and their lack of direction.

The cast has also grasped a good awareness of the dynamics of the characters: their homes, their past lives, their relationships, and we have worked on this, for example, through ‘hot seating'.

MN What do you mean by that?

LY It means asking questions about the past lives of the characters, such as ‘what was your best subject at school?' and ‘what do you do for a living?' so as to ‘get under the skin' of the parts. From this we found out that Bernie has been in prison for three months and Maureen works in a shoe shop.

And the cast, whilst not on stage, have helped with the direction, as they understand the ‘superobjective' of the play and their own ‘through lines of action' In fact, we're all creating it together, it's a lot more enjoyable that way! They tell me when to go for breaks! And it's not just the cast – the crew and other production team have been very productive and supportive too.

MN So, why did you choose this particular play? Your background is from middle-class Cheshire, so it is hardly the story of your own life …

LY I have a few reasons for choosing this play. The scale was feasible and I liked that all the characters had relatively equal parts. I though that a play about twenty-year olds who go out clubbing … using real-life, twenty-odd-year olds who also enjoy going out clubbing, had great potential! Also, I wanted to attempt the Scouse dialect, as I have always had an interest in accents and language. I started Spanish when I was fourteen, and studied it in my first year here in Lancaster. I have a keen ear for dialect too, and love to mimic people.

[Here Laura did some uncannily convincing take-offs.]

MN For a smartly casual, well-spoken and outwardly serious young lady, you have hidden abilities!

LY [Demurely] I am fascinated by the differences between formal and spoken language.

MN Such as what you read in ‘the better sort of books' and what people actually say to each other in the street, the pub, on the beach or in bed …

LY Sure, and I also like the ‘wordiness' of the text – as I said, it only conveys half of what the production can show.

Another reason I like the play is because the parts offer equal opportunities to each cast member to do good character work and development. Even Brad the Roadie [a smaller role who only appears late in the action] – has a very interesting life pre- and post-play!

It's a very fertile text, because we have explored the idea of sequels to Stags and Hens, I would call it ‘Desperate Scousewives'! What do they do afterwards? The Roadie could open his own music business; Bernie maybe goes back to prison; Francis starts a teaching course whilst Carol opens a salon, and who knows what the future hold for Peter and Lynda?!

MN Is Willy Russell's best-know play Educating Rita a spin-off, since you mention teaching and hairdressing? That play really is a vindication of my earlier fear of Russell's bleakness and negativity ….

LY It is only when a catastrophe occurs that a world can reorganise itself. Peter's arrival throws the world that the characters live in into disarray, but because of this the characters are forced to re-asses their own self worth, and Peter's example, Lynda's exit and Eddy's last lines all offer a new found sense of hope.

And, over two hours and several cups of the Water Witch's excellent coffee, Laura has converted my doubts into real optimism and enthusiasm – not just for Willy Russell's writing in general, but for this forthcoming production, which promises an outrageous night out …

Copyright © 19 June 2005 Michael Nunn

Ed: And so indeed it was. Read Michaels review here.

Postscript
Some time after this interview Michael and John encountered Laura and some of the cast and production team on a ‘research' night out some days later, and found them full of enthusiasm for the play. Despite some tiny reservations which we won't go into here, they were all clearly loving every minute of it ….

From left to right: Dan Walden (Kav), Andrew Gallie (Robbie), Sam Barker (LUTG Publicity Officer), Brad Cassidy (LUTG Social Secretary, also playing Roadie), and Laura Yates (Director).

Photograph Copyright © John Burkinshaw.

Performances of Stags and Hens, by Willy Russell, took place in the Princess Margarethe Hall at St Martin's College, Bowerham Road, Lancaster, on Tuesday 14,Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 June 2005 at 7.30 pm, tickets priced £5 (concessions £4).

To see the trailer for the show, click here.

Photograph from the front cover of the Methuen Drama play text of Stags and Hens, Copyright © the Senate.