20 February 2012 (Theatre Interview)

Interview by: Lauren O'Toole

In her forthcoming production in The Project Arts Centre, Purple, Edwina Casey is presenting a glimpse, not merely into the lives of a group of teenagers but, on a metaphorical level, that of a society in transition. As a practitioner Casey is excited about transforming how people see things and talked to me about how, through David Harrower's translation of Jon Fosse's play, she plans to do so.

Jon Fosse is one of the most performed contemporary European playwrights and yet he isn't very prevalent on the Irish theatre scene. Is there a reason for this do you think?
I was actually very surprised about this. I heard about him when Tom Creed directed Dream of Autumn with Rough Magic a few years back and became very interested in the subjects and themes of his pieces. I started to research him and found that there was a lot written about him but not in English speaking countries and then I was at a talk at the Irish theatre conference in which it was mentioned that he has been translated into something like 20 different languages. For some reason he's really popular abroad but not necessarily here and so I was interested if he can work for an Irish audience.

I think he's a beautiful playwright; he's fascinating and so poetic. Fosse takes his cue from Harold Pinter, and considers himself to be post-Beckettian - his language is very non-specific like that, which can be a huge challenge in rehearsals. You have a boy talking in a basement to a girl, but you're not given a character description and you're not given ages or any specifics. For a director that is very exciting as it leaves a lot open to me and lets me decide what my production is going to be, what I want to say. Fosse captures a glimpse of people which is almost like looking through a keyhole at someone else's existence.

What exactly is Purple about?
Purple is about a teenage boy whose grandmother dies. His grandmother is the only person in the world who ever loved him and this happens at a time when he has just started a band. The play is about him going into the rehearsal room basement deciding to leave the band and trying to explain that to his bandmates and the conflict that then ensues. There is also a love interest, a girl who sort of mixes things up, as girls do.

Jon Fosse lives in a fjord in Norway on his own in 24 hours of darkness so most of his plays are about depression. This play battles with the idea of depression and nihilism but ends on a hopeful note. I think it's very important to show that these teenagers don't have an all-encompassing view of bleakness. And funnily enough there is a lot of humour in the play. Fosse captures that Nordic awkwardness that immediately brought me to the play.

A lot of plays that address young people's angst and teen issues would usually lean towards verbosity and over analysis. Purple is more sparse in its language. Do you think that this is a better medium for the topic at hand?
I think it does if it's directed well, which hopefully it is! Approaching the play as a director it's a lot about subtext and what's going on beneath that language - what's not being said. I think what Fosse captures in the sparse text is the real bombastic emotions that teenagers have – one minute everything's "BRILLIANT" and the next everything's "SHIT!" I think he captures teenagers brilliantly.

Do you think, because of the subject, that the play will generally attract young people, or does it appeal on a wider level?
Well for me Purple is a metaphor for how we are living at the minute and so I think it appeals to a more adult audience. But also, hopefully, it will get a lot of young people in, because it works with their issues. It's so important to try get people in and talking about the canon of theatre. I think what interests me in art is ways of seeing and how you can transform that.
 

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