TOM WELLS found widespread critical acclaim in 2011 for his play The Kitchen Sink, and has gone on to pen himself a prolific career as a playwright of warmth, humour and great compassion.
No accident, then, that the man behind the pen is equally genuine in person, says Aura Simon, who was glad to catch up with him ahead of his new one-man musical, written together with composer Matthew Robins, beginning a short tour.
This musical, Drip, has its premiere tonight (1 November) as part of the Back To Ours Festival for the Hull UK City of Culture, produced by Script Club in partnership with Boundless Theatre.
Drip was created with and for young people in Hull through the Script Club project which takes writers back to their hometown to work in the local community to produce new works.
The first musical to result from the Script Club project, Drip is the second piece from Tom who also created the first Script Club production, Cosmic.
The musical will play venues, including Hull Truck Theatre, until 10 November.
How’s it all going in the City of Culture [Hull]?
I’ve moved back there now and it feels like a little bit of magic has been sprinkled! But what’s actually happened is that the really enthusiastic and supportive grass roots companies have been given a leg up.
These people are not complacent, they don’t say no – they just say yes, and figure out how to do it afterwards. Suddenly, the arts scene has a real buzz about it, and it’s quite a small change, but it’s just that they’ve chosen the right people to support.
Now, we know that ‘Drip’ is about a 15-year-old boy who cannot swim, signing up to join a synchronised swimming team – what else can you tell us about it?
Well, it’s a one-man musical – Andrew Finnigan the actor, and his guitar. He just tells you a story. I guess, in a broad way, it’s about belonging. Specifically, it’s about setting up this synchronised swimming team with his mate Kaz and not letting the fact that he can’t swim get in the way – because he’s not given a choice by Kaz, but also because he just thinks it’s right to be optimistic and to believe in stuff!
Jane [Fallowfield, director] always talks about a “little tear in the normal fabric of living” and I guess that’s what they’re hoping will happen with this synchronised swimming routine. They decide to perform at their local swimming pool as a sort of end of summer holiday pool party, and make a bit of a splash hopefully.
How did rehearsals go?
It was a while coming, but we’ve been able to hit the ground running with it. Apart from a few small changes, the script feels in quite good shape – touch wood! And the songs are lovely, Matthew [Robins, composer] has done such a gorgeous job with the music.
A lot of what Jane is focusing on is character work, and making the performance fit all these different spaces that it’s going to – they are all quite different, and so the conversations about design and sound design are quite important.
And what drew you to Andrew Finnigan for your lead role?
He’s just really natural – he sounds gorgeous, but also sounds as if he’s not using any tricks to make the vocals sound nice. It just sounds nice because he’s got a really beautiful voice and he’s very good at playing guitar. I think that sits well with Matthew’s compositions, too.
How did you and Matthew come to work together?
We met a while ago doing a thing for the National Studios, got paired together and have been working together lots ever since. One of the things that Matthew always says, which I really like and respond to, is that he doesn’t want it to sound polished, he wants it to sound more like life.
Because also, my lyrics don’t rhyme, and the shape of Matthew’s songs is often quite organic rather than being your classic ‘A A B A’ form. There’s a little bit more of an unusual shape. It still sounds really beautiful but it’s a little bit more interesting.
And what’s the process been like, between you both?
We sort of figure it out as we go along. Generally I come up with some words and then he comes up with a tune, but that might mean that the words don’t quite fit right, so a lot of back and forth. But it’s quite organic. I really trust Matthew’s instincts so it’s always worth it. We cling to things that are important to us. We also want the songs to sound nice and hope that people might hum them.
You grew up within a farming family within East Yorkshire and wanted to be a novelist originally – what drew you into playwriting?
I really liked reading, and when I was growing up, the library was one of the activities I looked forward to. But it’s quite hard to teach yourself to write unless you’re part of a group or someone’s telling you to do it and commit. At the time, the people who said they would do that were fortunately at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
Actor Andrew Finnigan
A letter – that’s all you had to do to take part in a workshop – and on that basis they picked 12 of us who had different voices and different experiences and stuff. The theatre thing happened a bit by accident.
It turned out to be the right home. Theatre’s more accommodating of the different tones a voice can take… and it’s always about people, that feels really important. Also, it’s a little team. That doesn’t always happen in the same way if you are a poet or a novelist.
When you’re making a bit of theatre, you’re making it together with actors, directors, composers, sound designers, stage managers etc. I really like that you make up a little gang.
Do you think those opportunities are still open to new writers nowadays?
I feel like accidentally finding out you’re a playwright is quite a nice thing to do, but a lot of the opportunities I had have changed or have gone completely.
I think that it’ll be interesting in the next few years to see how theatres making cuts to their grass roots communities influence the material getting told. Those theatres actively searching for new voices have now had to make cuts, and those are the cuts they’ve decided to make. It’ll be interesting to see if people come and step into those gaps.
I also think, though, because of the practicalities of living in London, which is quite hard, people are more open to the fact that a lot of artists are choosing not to. It feels like there’s a bit of a shift happening there.
Do your ideas come from the ether, or from your environment? Or do you sit down and think about what you’d like to write about next?
Well, I think it’s different each time. Sometimes you get a character you really like, or a story that’s worth telling, or sometimes it’s even just guided by genre.
With this one, there was quite a specific origin. I woke up in the night, thinking I had a really good idea, so I wrote it down and went back to sleep. In the morning the note said something like: ‘girl does synchronised swimming, but just by herself’ and I thought: “Ooh, I’m not sure this is such a good idea!”
But it was one of those things that takes root a little bit, and I guess that’s the story that’s ended up happening, except she’s not quite by herself, she’s got her friend who can’t. But within that it’s really about having the value of a mate who’ll stand by you and having a go at stuff.
That’s what we’re doing really, just having a go at writing a one-man musical, even if it’s a first attempt. We’re having a go, with our mates, and it feels like the right project for that idea.
He just tells you a story. I guess, in a broad way, it’s about belonging. Specifically, it’s about setting up this synchronised swimming team with his mate Kaz and not letting the fact that he can’t swim get in the way – because he’s not given a choice by Kaz, but also because he just thinks it’s right to be optimistic and to believe in stuff!
If you were to give advice to any new playwrights reading this, what might you say to them?
I think you just have to put your heart into it, write in your own voice, and tell the stories that you’d like to see onstage. It sounds really simple, but that’s how you make stories that matter to you.
Quick Fire Round!
What would you be if you weren’t a writer?
Ooh, I don’t know. I tried to be a teacher but I failed. I’ll leave it there!
Would you ever give synchro swimming a go?
With the right people, yes.
What play do you wish you’d written?
A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney
Best poem you’ve ever read?
I really love a poem by Stevie Smith called ‘Magna Est Veritas’. That makes it sound very pretentious, but it’s just really lovely, it’s about wearing a hat.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
I don’t believe in guilty pleasures. I think if you like something you shouldn’t feel guilty about it. I have a lot of what could be seen as bad pop music on my Spotify account, but I think you should embrace it. So I’m going to take a stand against guilty pleasures if that’s alright.
Favourite place in Hull?
There are two. There’s a brilliant cafe on the marina called Thieving Harry’s, which is just lovely. There’s also a theatre company called Middle Child and they have a rehearsal room in an old pub called Darley’s. Those are the two places that have a bit of magic in them for me, I think.
Best place you’ve travelled for work?
I got to go to America once, which was exciting, but I sort of like just going to interesting, funny places. This year I was mentoring a brilliant writer called Mike Southam, who’s from Wolverhampton. So I got to go there and it was just a nice day out I guess.
Last question, very important – favourite kind of tea?
Yorkshire Gold – accept no imitations.
www.boundlesstheatre.org.uk/productions/drip/
* Tom Wells is a playwright whose work includes Broken Biscuits (Live Theatre/Paines Plough UK tour, 2016); Folk (Birmingham Rep & tour, 2016); Jumpers for Goalposts (Watford Palace Theatre, 2013); The Kitchen Sink (Bush Theatre, 2011); and Me, As A Penguin (Arcola Theatre, 2010).
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