Katy Nixon and Brian Logan on A Play, A Pie and A Pint's Jellyfish

The Skinny: Congratulations, Brian, on your recent appointment as Artistic Director of A Play, A Pie and A Pint (PPP) and congratulations, Katy, on winning the David MacLennan Award. Can you tell us about what this means to you?

Katy: I was really delighted and honoured even just to be shortlisted and get a day of R&D. I mean, that's like gold dust as well for a writer.

What was the process like?

K: There was a call late last year and the criteria was that you hadn't had something professionally produced. The ethos is that anyone has a story to tell and could write a play. You write a description of the play, like a synopsis, and then five pages of your script. Then in January, there were 30 writers that were longlisted. Then we got a day with Douglas Maxwell, which was brilliant. After that, we had until June to get a draft in. Then it was whittled down to three, and then we had an R&D day with Philip Howard. 

How did you come to the decision that this was the play that fitted PPP?

Brian: I mean, it wasn't purely a decision about what fit PPP. We just all thought it was a cracking play that had loads of personality and would be exciting for audiences and had important things to say about life, about mother-son relationships, about domestic violence, about, you know, a particular kind of generation gap that was smaller than usual. 

Katy, can you tell us more about how the themes of the story developed, and how the idea came to you? 

K: So I was in Berlin with my son for his 16th birthday, and it was a strange trip because he was fed up with my company. I was already writing a few notes about some funny things that had happened, and just not understanding each other. I had him at 19, and in my early 20s, I’d sometimes argue like I was his sister rather than his mum. In Berlin, I noticed he felt too old to be with me, but not quite old enough to explore the world on his own. We were in the zoo and went to the aquarium, and we loved the jellyfish. I later learned there's a kind that can pause aging, which spoke to how I sometimes feel paused at 19 in terms of emotional maturity. I also started thinking about absent parents and the impact on sons without a male role model, and how single mums navigate that. I was trying to make it honest. Brian’s been really helpful with feedback.

Brian, what's your approach to giving feedback? 

B: That's a good question. It's a skill I'm still developing because, in my previous job at Camden People's Theatre (CPT), I worked with theatre makers rather than playwrights. The first thing I do is imagine myself as an audience member and consider how the work lands with me, noting areas where I might need more clarity and what might raise the stakes. These thoughts are not demands but provocations. We’ve had conversations about the parameters at PPP, but mainly my focus is on the dramaturgy and understanding Katy's ambitions for the piece.

You mentioned parameters at PPP and your experience with CPT, highlighting some differences between the two models. Can you expand a bit?

B: Since starting my role in July, I’ve become aware of the perception that a PPP play typically features a maximum of three characters and lasts up to 55 minutes, often seen as naturalistic, set in one location, and comedic because it’s presented at lunchtime. I believe it’s my responsibility to challenge that perception and encourage a broader range of possibilities for what can happen on that stage, although the vision has not been narrow in the past. 

Will we see any jellyfish on stage?

K: Brian?

B: Yes, we're currently in contact with Edinburgh Zoo to arrange a shipment. I had my first conversation with our designer, Heather [Currie], this week about the show as a whole and the jellyfish motif in particular. So, watch this space. I can assure you, though, that no animals will be harmed.

---

Jellyfish, Òran Mór, Glasgow, 18-23 Nov, 1pm