We sat own for a chat with Madeleine Brettingham about her latest play, Dear Martin, a darkly comic story of an unexpected friendship between a psychopath his secret lover’s husband.
What inspired you to explore such a darkly comic and unconventional friendship in Dear Martin?
I thought of the inciting incident and it immediately made me laugh. Obviously I went back and thought about the reasons why it did so later but that was the first impulse. It made me think, “what comes next?”
How did your experience as a comedy writer influence the tone and humor in this play about mental health and human connection?
Hm, good question. I think writing comedy professionally trains your ear for comic detail, rhythm and pace in a way that I hope has been challenged by the subject matter I’ve chosen. I see Dear Martin as almost like a sitcom premise that something else is bursting out of – like the chestbursters in Alien!
The dynamic between Dave and Martin is unexpected—what do you think makes their relationship compelling and relatable?
On the surface at least, Martin and Dave have two very different attitudes to relationships. One is a romantic and the other is a cynic. I think we all have a Martin and a Dave inside of us and, to me, that’s what makes their struggle compelling.
How did you navigate balancing the darker themes of exploitation and redemption with humor throughout the play?
I just followed my gut. I think tone is something you have limited control over as a writer. It’s almost like a fingerprint.
Can you share any particular challenges or surprises you encountered while writing Dear Martin as your debut play?
I enjoyed the freedom to write a piece that didn’t necessarily fit easily into any genre. I like it when you see another emotion lurking under a laugh, peeping up at you like a crocodile, or spot a laugh lurking somewhere it shouldn’t be. Dear Martin allowed me to play around with those things. It felt like getting a bigger toybox.
What do you hope audiences will take away from this exploration of relationships, love, and friendship in unexpected circumstances?
I don’t know, and that’s part of the fun! I hope the play leaves things a little open. However, I hope it will make the audience think about relationships – in all their frequently scary, disappointing and painful glory.
Dear Martin will run at Arcola Theatre between 5 – 29 March