We sat down with Madelaine McMahon who plays Leah in Lynn Faces at New Diorama from the 18th Feb to 1st March.
What is Lynn Faces about?
Lynn Faces takes place on the eve of Leah’s 40th Birthday as she brings her Punk Band Lynn Faces to the stage for the first (and maybe last) time. It’s a band inspired by Lynn from Alan Partridge (and a really bad break up), and the play is the gig. It’s about friendship, break-ups, growth, ridiculousness, resilience, absurdity in the face of adversity, Alan Partridge, Lynn (of course), and PUNK music!
How did you come to be involved?
I met Laura working on her Edinburgh Fringe Show Breathless back in 2023, it was a one woman show about hoarding behaviours and shopping addiction that went on to win a Fringe First award and transferred to Soho Theatre and New York. We really enjoyed working together and I’m a big music fan, so when Laura started talking about revisiting and the idea about a bad punk band born out of a bad break-up, she asked if I’d like to be a part of it.
As central character Leah you are forming a punk band – have you ever had musical aspirations?
I’m a singer and saxophonist. Singing in harmony with other people is one of my favourite things to do. So yes. I mostly listen to more more Jazz, Pop, Rock (Billie Holliday, meets P!nk, meets Skunk Anansie) so the Punk inspiration behind this has been an education. Our brilliant Composer and MD Anna Wheatley will tell you she keeps having to iron jazz riffs and pop ‘licks’ out of me (though if you ask me, licking people seems pretty punk). So I’ve been trying to embrace my inner shouty punk goddess.
This is your second time working with writer Laura Horton, what is it about her work that speaks to you specifically?
Firstly, we really get on. And working on new writing, you have to be able to trust each other to be honest and constructive. The things Laura tackles interest me and I see how tirelessly she works to make work that says something from the perspective of quiet, often overlooked, feminine voices. Also, when you only have a budget for two weeks rehearsal you have to work quickly! And having a shorthand with people means you can do that!
If you could give your younger self some career advice, what would it be?
Maybe to try and take myself less seriously. In Judi Dench’s biography, it says “By all means, take what you do seriously, but try not to take yourself too seriously”. Pretty lame to quote Dench, but I wish I’d absorbed that sooner. I’ve loved finding my own way and think it’s important to stay curious and keep learning. I’m lucky that both of my parents are like that, so perhaps as I’ve got older and closer to them, that got easier. The old adage of ‘the more you know, the more you know you don’t know’. It’s so true. Every project brings a new challenge. What a privilege.
What do you hope audiences take away from this piece?
I hope people feel the power of embracing our rage! Of looking out for our friends. That just because someone isn’t screaming, doesn’t mean they’re not hurting. Maybe they just can’t find their voice right now. And sometimes we need the people around us to remind us how to get it back.