This February, the New Works festival returns for its 13th year, celebrating the very best of student writing in Glasgow. We sat down with Noah and Kathleen, authors of Another One Bites the Dust, which performs on 26th February, Queen Margaret Union.
What inspired the idea of a chaotic murder mystery centered around Neil Letterman’s wake?
It all started way back in our National Five drama class in high school. As self-proclaimed theatre kids, we took the brief to create a short play very seriously and wrote an eight-minute script! That was the birth of ‘Another One Bites The Dust’. We let it marinate for a few years before deciding to work together again after our twenty-minute play ‘The Seventh’ for STAG Nights in November 2024. How could we NOT write this? It helps that we are already very chaotic in nature, so of course our play would be the same.
How did you approach balancing dark comedy with suspense in the story?
We wanted to establish a very clear line between dark themes we didn’t want to joke about (such as a character’s drug addiction) and grey areas that had the potential for comedy. The idea of meeting friends of friends at someone’s wake is a very awkward one, so we focused on that for character interactions. Coupled with each character’s belief that they had a part in Neil’s death, it made for a breeding ground for comedic moments and timing. All these characters have only one thing in common – they hated Neil. Combining all these together blended the genres nicely together. As we got to know our characters, it became easier to write them and their distinctive voices. Sometimes we can still hear Auntie Bobo in our heads…
Speaking of, what role does Auntie Bobo play in driving the plot and setting the comedic tone?
So Auntie Bobo wasn’t an original character in the version we wrote back in fourth year of high school, but she became an instrumental part of the plot – the heart of the show! We realised characters felt disparate without anyone binding them together: she’s the reason they all attend the wake and sets the tone for a good party! That’s what she’s all about (and, of course, playing detective and getting to the bottom of her nephew’s murder).
How did the themes of class and social dynamics develop throughout the play?
We were deeply aware of the dynamic firstly between Heidi and Andi, but as the script developed, the parallel between Morgan and Logan being lower class in a very upper-class environment was one we felt strongly about portraying. Historically, comedy theatre has been a mechanism for social critique and remains that way today – we really wanted to balance the comedy with deeper themes relating to the UK’s class system. We also have the character of Desmond, the unlikely butler-slash-drug-dealer. His flashback scene with Neil has deep-set class tension threaded throughout their interactions and ultimately result in Desmond lashing out at Neil. A lot of the characters have moments revolving around bargain and leverage: again, this was something that became more complex in edits and redrafts, but it was always a key part in our writing process.
What creative challenges did you face in staging the wake with such a chaotic group of characters?
In all honesty, the most difficult part was scheduling full cast rehearsals for six actors with very, very busy lives – uni students don’t exactly have the most free time! Several of the scenes we wrote involve intricate fragments of conversations between characters, so it was essential to ensure we captured the essence of this while also making sure that scenes didn’t feel incoherent. The constant back and forth between flashbacks and the present day kept us on our toes – the last thing we wanted was for the script to feel repetitive, so by breaking up Andi and Heidi’s flashback scenes with the smoke break scene, we think we achieved this nicely.
What do you hope audiences will find most memorable or surprising about the play?
Our serious answer? The balance of comedy and tender touching moments that we found ourselves tearing up a little while writing. Our not-so-serious answer? The unexpected yet tender relationship between Desmond and Auntie Bobo. Love conquers all, even an old woman and her shady butler.