The Sequel is a new comedy-drama from emerging writer Lucas Closs. When a novelist returns to the place that made her, she must face the people living with her version of them. We sat down with Lucas to discuss their upcoming production.
What was the very first spark that led you to write The Sequel?
I kept coming across places that had become museums of themselves, honouring their own depiction in a work of art. The setting of The Sequel (designed by Peiyao Wang) is a cafe preserved as the novelist’s description of it, not only out of the need for tourism but to celebrate a shared story, in the play this is Grace’s novel. I like how with these kinds of places there’s a gulf between the expectations set by the artist and their reality.
The play explores what happens when real people become characters in someone else’s story. Is that something you have ever worried about in your own writing?
Grace Thoth (played by Nisha Emich) writes the story of her adolescence. Though I don’t tend to write non-fiction, the characters I write are composites of quite a few people that I tend to be unaware of while writing them- I usually don’t realise who they resemble until the last minute and quickly must change a few details.
Grace returns to the place that inspired her book and discovers the consequences of turning life into literature. What fascinates you about the relationship between writers and their “material”?
How Grace used her surroundings for material, particularly her encounters with her old mentor, John (played by Jim Findley), is like how we all at times extract from and neglect our environment and the people in it for the sake of a story. Viewing things as ‘material’ can prevent us from existing or connecting with what’s in front us. Neither Grace or John are really able to hear or see each other due to their emotional distractions.
Your work has been described as blending contemplation with menace. How do you balance humour and darker themes on stage?
I tend to try and find the balance by what feels plausible. A good dose of humour can sometimes feel more real that pure drama. I also think humour is a grounded and enjoyable way to explore themes such as resentment and isolation. I’m very dependent on the director, Imy Wyatt Corner, to tell me what are strange jokes I’ve made up with myself and what translates on stage.
If audiences leave the theatre debating one question about authorship or responsibility, what would you hope that question might be?
This is the core tension for Martha played by Julia Pilkington- should I live my life as the central character in a story, or should I live ‘unnarrated’?
The Sequel comes to Kings Head Theatre, London on Monday 20th April – Saturday 2nd May 2026. For more information visit: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/the-sequel-5tbn