We sat down for an exclusive interview with Panos Kandunias, writer and performer of I Bought A Flip Phone which is coming to Oxford Playhouses’ BT Studio from 3-4th September. Tickets can be bought here.
1. I Bought A Flip Phone highlights the contemporary struggle between an individual’s relationship with the outside world and their self-esteem through the lens of social media and technology. What drew you to this specific topic and the challenges it presents?
I’m fascinated by the fact we’re all more connected than ever before, able to witness each other’s lives constantly, able to reach others at a moment’s notice and yet by many metrics, loneliness is on the rise. What a contradiction. So why is that? I reckon it’s largely because the quality of communication that we’re engaging with on our phones is quite poor.
It’s also a really anxiety inducing medium. I’ve been guilty of, and privy to many conversations with my friends where we are anxious about when someone is going to text back/if someone seems off with us over message. It’s a medium where things can get really misconstrued and your tone doesn’t necessarily come across accurately. Similarly, we are able to construct ideas and fantasies about what someone’s life is like by looking at their profiles, when the reality is often very different.
I was drawn to all of this because it’s something a lot of people feel, but I hadn’t seen talked about or explored thoroughly, in a fun, upbeat, not just doom-and-gloom, newspaper column way.
People laugh a lot in the show which I’m really proud of!
2. You have created a character who wrestles with the pressures of modern life, do you think there’s a part of Charlie in you or is he a purely fictional character?
I naively didn’t factor in that performing a solo show that I had written, would mean that audiences so far have often presumed that everything in the show is completely autobiographical! It really isn’t though. Charlie is a work of fiction. I love him and he feels so different to me.
Of course there’s parts of my own experience in there though, and things that I relate to. Then again, the show is about loneliness, spending too much time on your phone, arguments with your best friend or mum and feeling like life is passing you by. Who among us hasn’t felt those things at some point in their life? Those aren’t unique experiences to me.
3. How do you see I Bought A Flip Phone resonating with people outside the demographic of their late twenties? Is there a universal message you hope to communicate?
The thing I’m really proud of about the show is the variety of demographics who have come up to me afterwards or sent messages saying how much they related to it. Of course, I’ve had gay guys in their 20s say that it really spoke to them, which I’m so glad about. One night I had a gay man who was 24 say how much he loved it and how it really spoke to his own experiences, but when I left the theatre and the next, a straight couple in their 60s were saying how much it resonated with them and how it had made them laugh a lot, but given them lots to chew on.
The message of the show though is ultimately to really connect with other people in our lives. To say how we’re really feeling. Because often we think that by not saying how we really feel, it will mean that we won’t burden someone else or that it might cause a rift or tension between us. I think we’re really reared to avoid ‘difficult’ conversations. I hope that the show reminds people that actually by having those ‘difficult’ conversations with people we care about, we become closer.
4. This show is an exploration of mental health, anxiety, and depression. How did you approach writing a character that feels so specific and relatable to such a wide audience?
That is my hope! That the character feels real and lived in but is ultimately relatable to a wide audience. I’m a big believer that in the specific lies the universal (OK, no one’s ever said that before, I think I just heard the ground break), so I think I just set out to write this character’s story to the best of my ability. Very quickly I knew his own voice (both metaphorically and literally, his style of speech as well as his accent), mannerisms and quirks. This serves to help the audience feel as though they’re watching an authentic character.
I think that allows people to connect with the vulnerability of what he says. I also think that because the show is very laugh out loud funny, audiences feel really comfortable and relaxed because it’s upbeat and comedic at moments, which then relaxes them for the more heartfelt moments!
5. The show is stripped back to just one man on stage with a phone, what made you choose this setup and how does it serve the story you are telling?
I would love to have a clever answer to this but… it just happened?
The bare stage with just a bench and stool do really work for this story though. A lot of audiences say at moments that the show feels like stand-up comedy, which I think makes the story and themes easier to get into. Again, I think this also helps people to feel that the character is authentic and speaking from the heart and less like we’re watching a PLAY. It feels less fictional, I think.
I think the bare nature of the stage also serves to highlight the amount of drama our phones carry. The phone drives everything Charlie talks about. The text messages and phone calls we receive are how we find out about his life.
However, if moneyed West End producers would love to put this on and want to collaborate with a designer to do something else on stage, I’d be 1000% open to it and they should for sure reach out!
6. After writing the story, how would you describe your relationship with social media and modern technology? Has it changed throughout the process?
It’s changed tons. I didn’t have Instagram or any social media when I wrote this show, which started to become a huge barrier in my career. I would have meetings or conversations with theatres, producers, agents and so on and I would be asked what my social media following was like or what my strategy on social media was. Many would be really dismayed or put off when I said I didn’t have any. It’s a part of the industry now, especially for newer artists, it’s so crucial to use these platforms to break through. Now I’ve got Instagram and TikTok. I resent it a little bit, that these platforms are so influential, but if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, is sort of how I feel about it.
I’m way more conscious of my screen time on my phone. I downloaded and paid for a Premium Subscription to an app called Opal. If you’re interested in reducing your screen time, I HIGHLY recommend.