1. Pedro, what inspired you to create “Say Goodbye to London” and how did you come up with the idea for Norris Jones’ journey?

I’ve been a part of quite a few productions both on and off stage mostly as a performer. Prior to this project I had never actually put something up of my own production let alone of my own writing. I think actors nowadays and creatives in general are all the more rounded and we live in times where the opportunity-cost to experiment and grow in more diverse fields is more of a possibility than before. It was something I wanted to do, having seen other people doing it in such a manner that always inspired me to give it a shot too. So in a year of initially less activity I decided why not now? Regarding Norris Jones’ journey, I wanted to create a story that reflected the life and emotions of an outsider in a city he loved but had taken the best of him. Especially after Covid I saw a lot of people leaving London and going back to their countries or trying other countries and we all know how difficult it was to go through Covid so I wanted to explore a journey of someone who started hopefully in a positive field like Comedy spiralling down together with a city that started off buzzing and lively and slowly fatiguing on and in itself with the successive events over the years that have marked London in the last years and its citizens. 

2. Can you tell us more about the show’s structure. You mentioned it’s like a “Two hander but under a One Man Show formula”? How does this unique format contribute to the narrative?

It contains all the trademarks of a One Man Show. Continuous narration with the same performer playing different characters. One big monologue interrupted by a few dialogues. It happened so that, especially pertaining to the character of Marge, the dialogues between her and Norris started gaining a life and length bigger than I had initially expected, so running through it and from an entertainment point of view I thought it would be more faithful to the spirit of the scenes if we were able to bring another performer to breathe that life into it. And that’s when I thought of the lovely Alex Kidder who will play Marge and I really think it will make the interaction gain a new highlight for the show.

3. The blurb mentions Norris Jones abandoning his dreams of stand-up comedy for internet notoriety. What do you hope audiences will take away from this aspect of his story?

Without giving too much away, Norris finds himself desperately getting into a fatigued mindset and he just wants to “get it over with, get it quickly” – he doesn’t want to go up the ranks, he wants what others seem to have and that is a quick get rich or get famous scheme, and the Internet is the perfect place for that. Although that doesn’t mean you’ll be performing your potentially best work just because you want it quickly and at all costs with no regards to the quality of the work you’re doing, exchanging in essence, shock and virality for what’s truthful to you. 

4. How do themes of morality, fame, and the cost of viral success play out in the show, and why do you think these themes are particularly relevant today

I’ve always been drawn to themes of morality, and a piece of fiction is always a great place to stretch that concept and see where we can go with it, it may be the only safe space to explore extremes as the stage or screen are a perimeter limited by running time and fiction, outside of which it ceases to exist. Themes such as morality, fame and cost of success, be it of yourself or those around you, have always been themes we as humans are attracted to and in an era where it is easy to become famous (not necessarily to remain as such though) it is interesting to see how places like the Internet that mix fiction with reality can influence these long lasting themes in human life.

5. “Say Goodbye to London” is described as a darkly humorous chronicle. How do you balance the poignant and humorous elements to effectively convey the story’s message?

You can almost see suffering and comedy on the same face of a coin depending on how you flip it. The same text can be interpreted in a dramatic way or in a comedic way. Say Goodbye to London tries to combine the dramatic with the comedic making it for quite an eerie but empathetic experience.I think this can be sought in any text really, just depends if you’re taking these specific lenses to approach it.