Tag: oxford

REVIEW: The Party Girls

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Visually striking, brilliantly acted, and unafraid to challenge its audience. If you can still get hold of a ticket, it’s absolutely not one to miss.

Walking into the Oxford Playhouse for The Party Girls, I had no prior knowledge of the Mitford sisters, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I found was a piece of theatre that was visually slick, tightly performed, and thematically challenging in all the right ways.

The production immediately set the tone with a silk-like curtain billowing gently on stage. This wasn’t just decoration: throughout the performance, the curtain became a projection screen for time and place, guiding the audience through seamless jumps from 1942 to 1932 and forward to 1969. Behind it, the set shifted fluidly, creating a sense of cinematic transition that never stalled the action. Designer Simon Kenny and lighting designer Aideen Malone deserve huge credit here, the staging transported us from Washington D.C. to Oxfordshire and out to France with elegance and clarity. The moving set pieces also meant the drama never paused for clunky scene changes, which kept the energy alive.

Equally impressive was the work of Kelly Cox (wigs, hair, and make-up). The transformations were so strong that by the time the story jumped to 1969, I genuinely had to double-check whether the same actors were on stage. The aging process was subtle yet convincing, adding depth and realism to the storytelling.

As for the performances themselves, every actor brought something distinct, making it impossible to single anyone out. They all worked as a unit, balancing humour, charm, and the darker undertones of the narrative. The pacing felt spot-on, carrying us through decades of history without dragging or feeling rushed. If I had one critique, it would be that in moments of shouting, some of the intensity slipped. The delivery occasionally felt a bit forced, where a more controlled rawness might have kept the tension sharper. Still, this was a minor blip in an otherwise excellent set of performances.

The play doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable, particularly the openly antisemitic views expressed by Unity and Diana Mitford. In today’s world, hearing such rhetoric on stage is jarring, but it’s also essential. These views were a real part of history, and the production didn’t sanitise or sidestep them. Instead, it forced the audience to confront the disturbing reality of how these women aligned themselves with fascism. The discomfort in the room was palpable, which only highlighted how effectively the actors delivered these moments. Theatre isn’t just about entertainment; it’s also about holding up a mirror to society, and The Party Girls did exactly that.

Overall, this was a fantastic piece of theatre: visually striking, brilliantly acted, and unafraid to challenge its audience. If you can still get hold of a ticket, it’s absolutely not one to miss.

IN CONVERSATION WITH: Jesse Jones and Mark Edel-Hunt

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Next week, Oxford Playhouse stage its own co-production of Hugh Whitemore’s compelling play, Breaking the Code. In partnership with Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and Landmark Theatres, the play is adapted from Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges. Whitemore’s evocative production tells the story of Alan Turing, the mastermind and code breaker famed for cracking the Enigma code at Bletchley Park. Breaking the Code explores Turing’s life, highlighting both the triumphs and tragedies that shaped him. 

Breaking the Code opens on Tuesday 7 October and will play until Saturday 11 October. For tickets, visit the Oxford Playhouse website.

Ahead of the Oxford run, we spoke to director Jesse Jones and actor Mark Edel-Hunt, who will play Turing. 

What can audiences expect from Breaking the Code? 

Jesse Jones: It’s a portrait of somebody we associate with having done one main thing – breaking the Enigma code – but it delves into his life and his relationships in a very human way. It’s funny at times. It’s heartbreaking at times. And it really does the job of making him human. It breaks the code of him a little bit, I suppose.

Where did this project start from – what was the impetus to do a play about Alan Turing? 

Jones: I’ve been artistic director for two years, but I was resident director [at Royal & Derngate] 10 years ago and a producer at the time passed me the play and I fell in love with it. It is an exquisitely well-written play. Also, being in Northampton, you go past Bletchley often. So it lodged itself in my brain as a play that I was really excited to do, and when I reread it, it felt like it had an important story to tell, around how the state tells people how they can exist, and the conversation around intelligent machines. 

Do you think Turing’s life and work still deserves to be better known? 

Mark Edel-Hunt: For me, while homophobia exists, we have to keep telling these stories. That’s one reason why we have to keep shouting about it. And the other thing is we are living in a world where AI is hurtling towards us – and Alan Turing was the first person to really daydream about a computer that could think for itself. AI is going to profoundly change what ‘thinking’ is – and being around Alan might help us start to understand what AI might mean, and how we should handle it. 


The conversation about AI really is moving terrifyingly fast – do you think it makes this play seem particularly pertinent? 

Jones: Yeah, I do. Those words get louder and louder in the play. The play is not about AI, but inadvertently, the question of morals, of right and wrong, folds into the AI conversation – around who is in control of it, and who we want to be making decisions for us about it. 


What do you think Turing would have made of us all having a computer with AI on it in our pocket? 

Jones: I think he probably would’ve said, I told you so! There’s a passage in the play that says, ‘by the year 2000, I don’t think it would be unusual to speak about an intelligent machine that can think and feel’. So he might even go, what took you so long?

Edel-Hunt: He was excited by the idea of creating a machine that could think for itself, and so you would think chat GPT or whatever would be exciting to him. On the flip side, as I get to know Alan a bit better, he was also someone who was really energised and delighted by the deliciousness of human thinking. And in a sense, AI’s helping us not to think anymore; it’s going to do the thinking for us. And I wonder how he would feel about that. 

The story of the cracking of the Enigma code is remarkable – but the play is also so much about Turing’s personal life. How are you finding the balance of those?

Edel-Hunt: If Alan was sat here, he’d be the first one to remind us that he didn’t do it on his own: I think he’d be dismayed at the idea of being heralded as the man who single-handedly broke the Enigma code. And he believed passionately in his work, but he wasn’t interested in celebrity. But that tension between what the establishment wanted him to be and who he actually was is really what the whole play is about. He was a brilliant mind, and yet he couldn’t fully be that mind because he lived in a world that was going to punish him for being who he was. That tension is what drives the whole play. 

Has there been anything that you’ve discovered about Turing while working on this that surprised you?

Jones: I think because of some previous interpretations of him, [I was surprised by] his cheekiness, his charm, his sexiness… He’s really funny. He’s really direct, and sometimes rude. But that’s the picture of a human being, and that’s beautiful.

Edel-Hunt: There’s a lazy assumption that because he’s good at maths, he’s a geek and he’s socially incapable. And actually, when you read his letters, he’s witty, he’s quick, he’s engaging. And also, he’s sexually active: he is a man who has sex with other men, he’s not just sat in some dusty room. So that was a fun thing to discover.

In the play, Turing is unapologetic about being gay, and has a very rational attitude towards his sexuality. Do you think that will speak to us today?

Jones: I really do. It takes incredibly brave people to speak their truth for us to be able to move the goalposts of how accepted we can all be in society. It’s not easy for Turing to live the way that he wants to, but he cannot pretend to be something else. And that’s a lesson there – that is an important thing for all of us to hold onto. 

Edel-Hunt: Homophobia, misogyny, racism – they are irrational feelings. And because Alan was a hyper-rational creature, he wouldn’t let that go. I guess the depressing part of rehearsing this play is that, yes, things have changed, but sadly whether it be 1952, 1986 when the play was written, or now, that irrational feeling still exists. I think Alan would be rather surprised by that: that we can make AI, but we still sometimes think that being gay is wrong! 

This production has a new epilogue by Neil Bartlett, that’s been written specially for it, bringing the play up to 2025.  Why did that feel necessary? 

Jones: I wouldn’t say that it’s needed; I think the play speaks for itself. But I was very aware that since the play was written in 1986, an audience’s relationship to Turing has changed quite a lot. And [we wanted] to speak to what it means to have a gay man, a brilliant national hero regardless of their sexuality, on the £50 note. That is a statement of a shifting tide… but also, the work is not done. The world can move backwards as quickly as it can forwards. 

REVIEW: I’ll Be Back

Published on by Joshua VartyLeave a comment

Rating: 4 out of 5.

“Comical, surreal and touching.”

If you’re a fan of the terminator franchise, a lover of self-deprecating humour, 90’s references or comedy then you’re in for a treat with this show.

Justine Malone’s one woman show takes us on a somewhat confusing journey that is a mix of sci-fi cheese, excellent visual comedy, some meme-worthy referencing to the 90’s and heartfelt story that shares some similarities to moments in the series ‘Spaced’ (For those old enough to know what I mean).  While many may have ended up creating a fanfic with a piece like this, Justine managed to layer the story with cultural insight and hit on something we’re all guilty of, by thinking things were better or easier in the past.

The Old Fire Station has been fully stripped back for this piece, a black box with minimal props, through some very fun disco lighting when required, which it most certainly is for the excellently silly dance number we are given. I do feel this brings me to my only criticism of the show, which is the tech. I feel there was a lack of precision and slickness to the ques throughout the show, which unfortunately did leave the piece feeling a little slow in pace for me. There were delays between action and sound that stalled the show only for a few moments, but consistently so.

Justine’s menagerie of character’s kept me giggling throughout, and her delightfully awkward Windows ’95 powered Terminator made for an excellently awkward protagonist for this story vehicle. The method of telling was challenging at first to get into, though this may also be due to all the exposition and caching up everyone who either; a) Wasn’t around in the 90s or b) Has never seen the Terminator series. Once we’d gotten the setting, background and goal of the show secured in our minds, the mix of theatre of the mind, mime, multiple characters addressing each other as one person and use of projection flowed well together and kept the comedy fresh. I’m loath to say I enjoyed the appearance of Clippy (the old Microsoft Office help assistant that would never leave you alone) but it was a delightfully silly joke throughout.

Overall, this was a very fun piece to watch. With some improvement and sharpening up, it would vastly improve the pace and unite the comedy with the speed of the action it needs. It does well to capture the sense of ‘Golden Age Syndrome’ that seems to be going around currently while also being a love letter to action sci-fi of the 80’s and 90’s.

REVIEW: Improbable Sessions

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

“Improbable Sessions is experimental theatre at its most alive: bold, imaginative, and unafraid to blur boundaries.”

Improbable Sessions: AI and Consciousness at the Oxford Playhouse was an evening of ingenuity, unpredictability, and surprising resonance. Bringing together improvised music with thoughtful commentary on artificial intelligence, the performance created a wholly unique dialogue between sound and ideas that left the audience captivated.

The stage, minimal at first glance, became a canvas for invention. A pianist, cellist (Juliet Colyer), violinist, a range of wind (Max Gittings) and percussion instruments (Joley Cragg), and a vocalist combined to form an ensemble that built each piece from a single note into layered, shifting soundscapes. Guided by the pianist-conductor, the music unfolded with spontaneity, embracing risk and reward in equal measure.

Threaded through these improvisations were three short talks on artificial intelligence. Each reflection on creativity, consciousness and the unpredictability of new technologies found immediate responses from the musicians. A striking highlight came when one speaker described AI as “a cat out of the bag.” The vocalist transformed this image into a playful yet poignant vocal improvisation, supported by the ensemble’s witty and inventive accompaniment. The result was as humorous as it was thought-provoking

What distinguished the evening was its interplay of intellect and artistry. At times playful, at times deeply moving, the music was never mere backdrop; it challenged, complemented, and illuminated the spoken word in real time. The performers’ willingness to embrace mistakes and surprises gave the event an honesty and immediacy that felt rare.

The intimacy of the Oxford Playhouse heightened every detail, from the delicate resonance of strings to the smallest breath of the vocalist. By the final notes, the atmosphere was electric, and conversation buzzed long after the performance ended — proof of the event’s impact.

Improbable Sessions is experimental theatre at its most alive: bold, imaginative, and unafraid to blur boundaries. It is an experience that lingers, inviting audiences to continue the dialogue it sparks. An evening not easily forgotten.

REVIEW: Sláine: The Horned God

Published on by Joshua VartyLeave a comment

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

“Immersive, engrossing and enchanting storytelling”

Whether you’re a lover of the comics, a lover of Celtic mythology or just a sucker for storytelling; this is a show to watch!

Jason Buck has a fantastically mischievous nature about him from the moment he walks on stage. With little more than a wave of his hand and the audience was rapt and ready for a story. An excellent use of call and response between teller and audience draws us in quickly and sets up nicely the potential for participation throughout the telling.

There are no changes in lighting, no special effects or distractions in this piece, just the audience and the storyteller, a strangely intimate method of telling a story in the modern age, but very much welcomed. I do wonder if perhaps the audience set-up was a little at odds with the story telling method, I would have very much embraced an ‘in-the-round’ set-up which may have fit to the medium better, leaning more into the stories round the fire style that this draws from.

The retelling of the Celtic myth is all played out in the theatre of the mind, with vivid descriptions verbally painted for us, accent and voice changes to denote each character. I caught myself multiple times leaning in closer during the piece, finding myself deeply engrossed in the story, delighting at the moments of humour and sound effects that Jason himself makes throughout.

With the whole two hours being told by one man, there were moments where Jason seemed to lose his place in the story, but this did not detract from it. Overall, his enthusiasm and momentary nods to the audience on any slip ups or double entendre warmed us further to him as our storyteller. Jason was engaging throughout the piece, his subtle linking of the story to comparisons on how we live in the modern world were a fantastic way of using allegory.

I was amazed as well by how many times I connected tropes of this myth with countless others we hold dear to the British Ilse. Beowulf and King Arthur certainly felt most prevalent in their similarities to Sláine though decidedly less metal, but what do you expect from a Celtic hero?

Ultimately this piece executed exactly what it set out to do; to give us a reimagined retelling of an ancient myth in traditional storytelling methods. I enjoyed every moment from the gruesome creatures to the brave heroes and snivelling rogues. If you’re in the mood for a good story, then this is highly recommended.

IN CONVERSATION WITH: Richard Beecham

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The life of the Mitford sisters burst onto stage later this month at Oxford Playhouse in Amy Rosenthal’s compelling new play, The Party Girls. Once glamorous figures of the glittering world of debutantes and dukes, the bonds of their sisterhood are threatened as Fascism rises. Directed by Richard Beecham, an alumnus of the University of Oxford, we spoke to him ahead of the show’s run at The Playhouse. Playing from Tuesday 30 September to Saturday 4 October, tickets can be purchased here. 

The Mitford sisters are such a fascinating and controversial part of British history. What excited you most about bringing their story to the stage?

There’s so much contemporary resonance between them and us, between then and now. We live again in a time when the populist far-right is resurgent and this chimes so powerfully with the rise of Hitler and British fascism with which at least two of the Mitford sisters (Unity and Diana) were so intimately connected (Diana married Oswald Moseley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, whilst both she and Unity were great friends of Hitler and Goebbels and avid supporters of the Nazis). Jessica (Decca) was a Communist and fell out terribly with her Fascist sisters  – and this idea of families being torn apart by extreme political and ideological positions also speaks to  now when we again live in such polarised times; I know of families whose members no longer speak to each other over love or loathing of Trump, over October 7th and the Gaza war, over conspiracy theories around Covid and so on and so forth. If this makes the play sound very serious, then the other side of what excited me about bringing the Mitford story to the stage is that, despite the ghastly politics, they were incredibly witty, engaging and fascinatingly contradictory characters  – ripe for dramatic reinvention.

The play explores both glamour and division – high society fun alongside the rise of political extremism. How do you balance those very different tones in the production?

Any Rosenthal, the playwright, solves this problem through the sheer quality of her writing. She is subtle and deft as a writer and so can talk about very serious things with the lightest of touches. She relishes humour and absurdity and so she brings these tones and qualities to everything she writes, no matter how serious and dark some aspects of the material are. The actors communicate both the light and shade of her writing by observing both qualities equally and playing their characters truthfully and without judgement. 

You and the cast recently visited Asthall Manor, the Mitfords’ childhood home. What did being in that space add to your understanding of the story?

Having researched so much and imagined so much about the Mitfords before we started rehearsals, it was magical to be in the rooms and gardens where the sisters actually lived and played and fought. Actors thrive on experiences, so it was wonderful for them to be surrounded by the ramshackle beauty of Asthall and to let their imaginations run riot there. We also got such a strong sense of how isolated the young sisters were from the outside world in this huge house in the middle of the countryside, and that helped us all to make sense of the intense sororal bond they formed, replete with a private language (Boudledidge, spoken between Unity and Decca) and a whole lexicon of Mitford words and phrases parroted by the whole family.

As a director, what has been the most rewarding part of working on The Party Girls so far?

Above all, I’ve loved working with the playwright, Amy Rosenthal, all the way from script development through to the workshop, casting and rehearsal processes. It’s such a luxury to have the playwright on hand – after all, they’re the expert on the play! I haven’t actually directed a new play for quite some time, so it really was a pleasure to work so closely and collaboratively with Amy, and it was so creatively exciting. And, of course, working with an ace cast and creative team is always immensely rewarding. 

What do you hope audiences take away from seeing The Party Girls?

I hope audiences will have a really good night out at the theatre; enjoy a compelling true-life story, be thoughtful about some of the more serious issues and questions the play raises, have a good chuckle at quintessential Mitford eccentricities, absurdities and witticisms, and also be moved by the complicated love story between Decca and Bob Treuhaft which sits at the heart of the play. Hopefully there’s something there for everyone!

IN CONVERSATION WITH: Gary Clarke

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Gary Clarke Company’s acclaimed dance theatre show, DETENTION begins its autumn leg of its UK tour this month. The show explores the devastating impact of Section 28 on the LGBT+ community, we sat down with the company’s Artistic Director, Gary Clarke, to find out more. 

Gary, DETENTION is such a powerful title. What does that word mean to you in the context of the stories you’re telling on stage?

The title DETENTION came from the research I did about Section 28. I knew that pupils and staff at schools were hit particularly hard by Section 28, and my experience of it was very much in the school environment. When we think about detention we think about school and doing something you’re not supposed to, and being detained or silenced. Looking back over decades and centuries, gay men in particular have always been detained in some way; lots have been sent to mental institutions, conversion therapy, prison; in a way the community has always been in some sort of detention. It’s a sense of being oppressed and locked down by a higher power than you. It’s both a metaphor and a reality, I think.

This piece follows your earlier works, COAL and WASTELAND, which also explored pivotal moments in recent history. What made you feel that now was the right time to create a work about Section 28?

It was timely because of the trilogy and our plans as a company, we felt it just made sense to make a trilogy out of Thatcherism. If COAL was dedicated to my parents and grandparents, and WASTELAND was for my older brother, DETENTION was my story and my generation, and it was something I could 100 percent connect with. I started to look at Thatcher and what she had done in her tenure as PM, and I learned about Section 28 and realised I was directly affected by it, so I was compelled to make this show and shine a light on the hidden legislation that impacted so many people. The show is a way to inform and educate, while looking at world today and thinking ‘have we moved on? Have things changed?’ It acts as a tool to look back and look at now and how we can change things for the better.

Dance theatre can often express things words can’t. How did you approach choreographing something so emotionally charged?

I spent six months doing a very detailed and thorough research process, using a wealth of archives around the country, including Bishopsgate Museum and Manchester Library. I spent hours interviewing people and gathered a catalogue of information and distilled it into cohesive themes I was interested in exploring. From that, I built a timeline of events, which gave me a structure to work from. I could see cause and effect and was able to pinpoint pivotal moments, which I presented to the dancers and together we’d try and identify where the movement was. We started with action rather than emotion, thinking about what activates the body, and then get to heart of what it was about – and it wasn’t that difficult because a lot of the research was already emotionally charged.  I specifically chose a company of highly emotional performers who could easily connect with a very honest place and brought them together to create the work.

Your company has a reputation for blending raw history with powerful movement. What has the rehearsal process been like for this particular show?

Enlightening. Shocking. Upsetting. Liberating. Educational. Powerful. Reflective. Horrifying. 

As a director I was very careful to create a supportive and safe environment where we could all uncover the research and fully invest in it, knowing we all were held. We are all LGBT+ and we have experienced a lot of what the research was covering, – a lot of homophobia and stigma. We had regular in depth and lengthy conversations around being gay, coming out, family, and shame, as well as school years and growing up. The process was difficult but needed and we brought all that research to the present day and understood it all from a personal point of view. A big part of DETENTION is about us putting our own autobiographies into the work. We also did a lot of laughing and there was a lot of humour in the room, and we built social time with each other like going to pub after rehearsal. It was tough but fun and I think we all knew we were trying to create something really powerful and important, and that drove the process and kept empowering us to keep honouring the legacy of it.

You’ve spoken before about using art to give voice to communities whose stories might otherwise be overlooked. What do you hope audiences – especially younger generations who may not know about Section 28 – will take away from DETENTION?

One of our great strengths is we collaborate with local communities and people directly affected by the subject matter we’re exploring in the show, to bring lived experience to the stage. Our unique approach of integrating local people into the company gives the work a startling authenticity, so as an audience you’re looking at the real deal on stage. Having a wide range of ages and life experiences on stage and reflected in the work is very important, and as an audience you feel you’re looking at people rather than a company of dancers, so you should be able to connect with them as people. A lot of audiences are coming away with the authenticity of it, it feels like truth and that’s really important for us. I would hope audiences of all ages can really connect with it.

Gary Clarke Company’s DETENTION plays at Oxford Playhouse on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 September, before touring to Cast, Doncaster (Tue 30 Sep & Wed 1 Oct), Blackpool Grand (Wed 8 & Thu 9 Oct), and Brighton Dome (Tue 14 & Wed 15 Oct). 

REVIEW: Shotgunned

Published on by Joshua VartyLeave a comment

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

“Hard-hitting, bitterly comical and painfully real”

Shotgunned really does come at you with both barrels from the beginning. Directed by Matt Anderson, the show depicts the tragedy and beauty of a relationship through good times and bad. With only two actors and an hour-long performance, the play blasts you with deeply charged emotion and leaves a lasting impression on the mind. Throughout the play we are treated to dynamics of Dylan and Ros, their self-deprecation, use of sarcasm as a means of protecting themselves and goofy interactions offer a grounded and tender look at young love.

Fraser Allen Hogg’s performance of Dylan was delightfully dorky and touchingly natural to witness, coming across at times like a Scottish Michael Cera with his strange meanderings. The tongue in cheek jokes at actors and creative types were so real I was cringing at myself at the jokes while laughing at their relatability. The character of Dylan offers an everyman in the sense that his insecurities, his need for validation and quest for love are deeply intrinsic to everyone.

Lorna Panton’s Ros was tender in the right moments and brash when needed, her constant seeking for her true happiness felt genuine, and those moments of vulnerability struck a deep chord with the audience, you could certainly feel the change in atmosphere during those moments. The play handled tragedy well without being too gratuitous, which with the subject matter, was much appreciated. Ros’s depiction as the cool but secretly dorky girl edges a little into ‘manic pixie dream girl’ but ultimately comes across as someone genuine and in need of stability.

Watching Ros and Dylan’s relationship through non-linear snippets was a nice change of pace in storytelling. With the opening scene being the end of the relationship, we are left to slowly piece together how it all came to an end. Transitions between scenes were slick and always left the audience eager to learn the next part in the story.

My only critique is for a show that focused very highly on the naturalism between the two characters, there was one scene that felt at odds with the rest of the show. While a nice break from the intense and raw emotions being laid before us, it just didn’t quite gel with the rest of the show.

Overall, I left this show with a deep sense of catharsis and a need to tell my loved ones just how important they are to me, so I can say with confidence that it left a lasting impression on me.

REVIEW: I Bought A Flip Phone

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

Deeply visceral, tragically satirical

If you have the chance to see this show, or you’re reading this review before deciding to purchase a ticket. Stop what you’re doing, book the ticket, then continue reading.

You won’t be disappointed.

‘I Bought A Flip Phone’ is an excellently built piece. A one-man show with a single prop, the eponymous flip phone. The set for this show is minimal, but with a piece like this, anything more would be distracting.

Panos, the writer and performer, is pure joy to watch on stage. From the moment he entered, the bubbly personality he exudes almost makes you forget you’re watching a piece of theatre. His addressing to the audience catching you off-guard at first but soon find yourself sucked into the world of the character, Charlie. If you’re lucky, some of the more invested audience members will become a second source of entertainment as they buy into the conversational aspect of the piece and start addressing Charlie as if having a natter with a friend.

The piece is excellently paced, allowing enough foreshadowing of the true reasons behind Charlie’s choice of purchasing a flip phone that make it feel like a genuine confession. Panos is unnaturally natural throughout, offering us a tender but also wonderfully entertaining character to journey through the play with.

I can truly say the show struck a powerful chord with me, and I imagine the entire audience. The way Panos strips back the guise of sensibility we all hold and the masquerade of being happier than we may really be feeling is darkly humorous and powerfully heart-rending. The play certainly gives credit to the phrase “many a true word hath been spoken in jest.” While the show may start as a ‘TED Talk’ on the evils of smartphones. We soon see the truth of what is really going on. With a focus on ‘Golden Age Syndrome’ and the duality of life that we all can relate to. I think we all can feel like Charlie, and listening to this piece brought a full spectrum of emotions that I was certainly not prepared for.

I left this show with a deep sense of catharsis and a little more understanding of myself, seeing much of my own thoughts and feelings bared out by another just goes to show how common these situations really are. Panos has done an excellent job of capturing the human condition and is well deserved of all congratulations to him with this piece.

In conclusion, I highly recommend seeing this show if you get the chance. Though I can’t say I recommend actually buying a flip phone.

IN CONVERSATION WITH: Panos Kandunias

Published on by Tabitha JamesLeave a comment

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.