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I catch up with Michael Bhim in an invigorating discussion on the state of the nation, film vs. theatre, and his play Tuesday. After a £1.3 million redevelopment of the White Bear Theatre and gastro pub below it, it is Michael Bhim’s play that reopens the new space in Kennington. And what a refreshingly honest voice for such an occasion.
Michael calls me whilst he is overseas in America. With an eight hour time difference he is the night owl and I the early bird with the worm… Here is what Michael has to say:
What are you doing in America?
I’m working on a TV development with Miramax and meeting a few other companies. I find that there's more opportunity to tell diverse stories in the States than there is in the UK.
Tell me about Tuesday and the inspiration for the piece.
I really wanted to look at two things. The struggle we have as thirty-somethings – the weight of expectation to live happy lives; how a lot of our decisions are subconsciously based on trying to find security and safety; how I think we exist with so much fear. I wanted to really look at that through the relationships that we get into, especially marriages. It’s about the real struggle it is to be this age to find emotional and financial stability. I wanted to look at London and be honest about what it's really like, and what a struggle it is for so many people. Also I wanted to reflect a very contemporary black middle class experience which I feel is ignored in theatre in the U.K. I became dissatisfied with how British Theatre stereotypes black culture. I wanted to try and represent a world that I lived in.
Was Tuesday an easy play to write?
I hadn’t written a play in eight years. It was easy in that I didn’t have any expectations and I wanted to just write from the inner chaos that I was feeling. I didn’t care how messy it was going to be. But it was really tough because it’s harder to be honest. I look at the characters and see myself in every single one of them. I had to face my ghosts, so that was hard.
Earlier in your career you were part of The Royal Court Young Writers Programme under the mentorship of Simon Stephens. You then worked on attachment with Paines Plough and now are working in the US. How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
When I started at The Royal Court I was always curious to learn and ask questions about the world. Am I paying attention to what’s happening? And, am I listening? However, it was difficult to express how I was feeling with just theatre. I felt I wasn’t being honest. I felt I didn’t have the life experience. I was commenting on things that I felt I needed to live. I had to take a break from writing completely. It’s only recently, in the last couple of years coming back to writing that I have wanted to be much bolder.
I felt really dissatisfied with how behind the times theatre felt. US TV was much further ahead. New stories that I wanted to see, hear and experience, I wasn’t getting that from theatre at all. But, it's hard because I genuinely really love theatre more than any other medium. In writing this play, I rediscovered my voice and took myself out of the box I felt put in because of my race and gender.
It’s because humans are so complex that no one ever feels like they fit into one compartment.
Yes, exactly. So sometimes I am writing something and I don’t want to write about race, but I always feel like that becomes the conversation. Like my work will be perceived through that lens. And sometimes I am talking about race, sometimes I don’t even know if I am, or not. I just want that freedom as a writer. I was always interested in writing about protagonists that we genuinely don’t see. I feel like as writers we need empathy with the people and that was really lacking in theatre. There was always an ‘us and them’ and I wanted to break that boundary down.
I’m not trying to educate an audience. I’m just literally trying to articulate how I feel so that if there's someone in the audience who feels the same, then there’s a conversation happening.
It’s interesting that you say that because there is a sense of a downward spiral in the play, is that purely a character driven narrative or does that have a greater metaphorical meaning as commentary on society at present?
Yes, definitely. I felt subconsciously as well that I was trying to reflect just how lost we’re becoming. The level of ignorance and the lack of awareness of our own actions – what we’re saying, what we’re doing – yet we seem to be on this runaway train where things are getting worse and worse. Look at our political situation right now. That’s what I wanted to capture with the central character and the personal situation he was going through.
What is your relationship with Artistic Director and director of the play, Michael Kingsbury?
It's really good. He is a very organic director. I didn’t know what it would be like working with him. I told him about the play and I enjoyed watching him get to work on it and bring his own stamp to it. It was definitely a really enjoyable experience.
Have you been in rehearsals? How has the play translated from page to stage so far?
Yes, I was in rehearsals in the first week. Obviously the actors were getting to grips with the numerous re-writes that were being done. [We both spontaneously erupt into laughter]. That wasn’t easy. I found from working in this way, what was good was taking responsibility for things, usually you get really pampered; too much importance sometimes can be given to the position of a writer. What I really like was being in a position where you’re always learning rather than being referred to as the expert. What was great about working with Michael is that he was always asking me questions.
…it can help enormously to be in conversation with someone that interrogates your work.
Absolutely. It did.
Were you involved with the casting of Tuesday?
I was. That’s what I really like about Michael he was very inclusive and open. There are so many different ways the play could have gone. Every actor brings their own interpretation to the role.
What was your main consideration when casting it – that you thought – whatever we do we need to have that?
I would say versatility. We wanted someone who had life experience so could bring that to the piece. I felt like that was the key thing. We were looking for people that really used their life experience to do their work.
Tuesday is the first production in the White Bear Theatre following a full scale redevelopment. How does the venue lend itself to the piece?
It allows you to take an audience into an interesting place and on a journey. That’s what I really like, that you’re in a caldron in a way. The White Bear feels like a theatre that’s trying to do something that’s really different; find and move away from issue based plays. The most effective theatrical experiences are ones where the writer places themselves in the heart of the play and asks questions, rather than telling the audience, we are going to discuss an issue and why it's happening. In that scenario, the writer takes on the role of journalist. Rather, I believe in writing about things in our hearts and our lives that we can’t solve. Also what I like about the space is that it allows for intimacy. The emphasis isn’t on how we decorate the play. The emphasis is on how we communicate the words of the play.
What are you hoping those words might evoke in audience members?
When I wrote the play I was really angry, I admit. I was frustrated with myself. I needed someone else to communicate with. To ask what the fuck is going on? What is happening with our government? Even now with Brexit and how our political system feels right now. There is a real level of uncertainty that people just seem to ignore. I am desperately trying to communicate with anyone that is feeling the same thing that I am feeling.
There is this whole thing about foreigners being listed in companies, for example. My mum has been a nurse for over thirty years. Would she be on that list? It made me question, what purpose does that serve? There is a sense of entitlement that some people class themselves as more British than others. That really bothers me. I really wanted to get at that and how London was becoming a place with cultural ghettos, based on money; based on a certain set of ideals. Some parts of London, people don’t mix. I thought, God, it is diverse, but there is no diversity. Who is dictating the stories that we hear right now? Is it the producers, the artistic directors, the directors? There is not enough freedom for writers to write about what they want to write about.
What would you say to encourage audience members to come and see the show?
I don't know. I just wanted to talk honestly about struggling thirty-something people and the crisis they are facing. It's about personal failure, fear and just how hard loving someone can be.
Thanks so much Michael, it has been brilliant talking with you and I wish you all the best with the production and ongoing work in America.
You can buy tickets for the production via the website.
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Twitter – @WhiteBearTheatr
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