London Pub Theatres: Hello David, Really pleased to have an opportunity to ask you about this important show. We’re really curious about the name of the company, it seems quite provocative. Is Skitzoid a company that wants to break boundaries?
My background is writing comedy; I used to perform as a double act with my wife on the stand-up circuit. We also did a couple of plays at the Cockpit Theatre, but they were pretty loose pieces thematically. At the time, all we cared about was trying to make people laugh – which sometimes did happen! When I setup Skitzoid Productions, I wanted to do something with a bit more depth, and explore mental health issues. However, I wanted to keep the comedy element, so the word 'Skitzoid' seemed like a fun play on words.
Originally, I was going to call us Schizoid Productions. The word schizoid does have associations with the word 'schizophrenic'. This can bring to mind people with serious mental health disorders. But this association is not really correct. The word 'schizoid' comes from the term 'paranoid-schizoid', which describes a young stage of child development: it’s when a child realises its carer cannot be there for them twenty-four seven, and they start to notice they are alone in the world. Although it's a frightening thing to go through, it's something we have to face repeatedly, throughout out lives.
Our company’s first play was GAME OVER, which took about four years to get onto stage, as I was learning the production side of things on the job. It’s a black comedy about suicide that begins as a surreal comedy, but then becomes darker. It's quite challenging to balance the psychological with humour. When I'm writing, I try to respect the world view that the characters operate in, and remain sensitive to how they are feeling, and this helps a lot.
Although I was concerned about how the play might be received, the reaction from audiences has been fantastic. People have laughed and cried at different points in the show, and left feeling better informed about suicide and depression.
London Pub Theatres: Could you tell us a little bit more about the story and themes of DISSOCIATED?
Dissociated explores the recovery process of an adult, female survivor of child sexual abuse (csa). It is estimated that, sadly, one in four children experience some form of abuse.
Our protagonist, Alex, is a twenty-seven year old surgical student in her last year of training, whose life seems to be on an upward trajectory. Her career is about to take off and she is getting married. However, as her shift work increases, her sleep becomes disrupted. To cope, she takes Zopiclone (a sleeping pill), but her situation worsens and she starts to have panic attacks. When her grandmother dies, her crisis reaches a tipping point.
In the play, the audience join Alex in her dreams, accompanying her at different stages of her life through her unconscious. During this journey, Alex meets six different versions of herself (called Annies), drawn from her past, present and future. However, each version’s memories are incomplete, so Alex and her Annies have to work out how to piece them back together. By using this immersive dream mechanic, we are able to bring a playfulness and lightness to this material which stops it feeling too overwhelming for audiences.
The play partly draws on my experience of working with survivors of child sexual abuse (csa) as a psychotherapist. Although it addresses the issue of abuse directly, it's also about the adult recovery process (from trauma), and how long and difficult that process can be—even with the appropriate support.
Dissociated features two female co-leads. Although there are male victims of csa, the current statistics tell us that female victims vastly outnumber male ones. I’m not saying this to downplay the impact of abuse towards men, but I felt that the play needed to come from a female perspective. And the only reason I felt confident enough to try to write from this perspective was because I have worked with a lot of female survivors. I was also conscious of the "male gaze", and not falling into that particular trap. It helped that I tend to prefer the company of men to women: there was a period of my life when I watched Loose Women religiously for about four years (I’m a huge Carol McGiffin fan).
Finally, I’m proud to say that the play passes the Bechdel test in the first five minutes (whereas GAME OVER didn’t for its entire duration).
London Pub Theatres: As it’s an immersive musical adventure, is it working across genres?
Definitely. By placing the play in Alex's dreams, it means that a character breaking into song is a completely reasonable thing to do, especially as Alex was obsessed with musicals when she was growing up. The immersive element also allows us to address the audience, and there are a few occasions where they are directly involved in the action.
London Pub Theatres: Could you tell us more about the music and its purpose?
As we come in and out of Alex’s life during the show, we see her at different stages of her life. The songs reflect her emotional state at that time. For example, “The Western Lights”, which is about insomnia, is quite languorous and dreamlike. “In Every Way” is about loss, so it has a poignancy and sadness.
When I'm working as a therapist, I'm constantly noticing what's going on in my own body. To be honest, this tells me more about what my clients are feeling than what they are saying; it's very much an unconscious process that then becomes conscious.
Music is quite similar; we have a strong bodily reaction to a song, which manifests a certain kind of feeling. They say that in writing you should always try to "Show, not tell", and I think that when it's done right, music can connect us to our emotions very quickly.
London Pub Theatres: Is anything off limits in the show?
It's a good question, and it comes back to trying to be respectful to the characters, actors, survivors and the audience, while still telling the story. There are some moments where you need to have a bit of courage to push things, and other moments where you need to pull back. Sometimes, the right balance only emerges during rehearsal. The advantage in being a writer/director, is that I can keep changing things during the rehearsal process (although much to the chagrin of the actors I work with!).
London Pub Theatres: Where does the humour in the show come from?
I think something happens when people talk frankly and openly about their feelings: showing openness and vulnerability allows us to see each other more readily—and perhaps see those vulnerabilities in context—and that's sometimes funny, silly or poignant (or perhaps all three at the same time). That said, the humour is Dissociated is less overt than in GAME OVER. It’s more character driven, although I think there are still some good laughs in the script.
London Pub Theatres: Because the show contains adult themes its designated 18+ so the very victims themselves won’t get a chance to see the play. In your opinion is this something that theatre companies should be addressing?
It's definitely an area where theatre can make a difference and help raise awareness. If there's anyone out there that wants a conversation about this then please get in touch.
It's also worth noting that the charity we are partnering with, 1in4, work with schools and have some really good literature for supporting younger people. There is a book called Whisper, that is particularly powerful. Please check out www.oneinfour.org.uk
London Pub Theatres: How far do you think theatre can be a vehicle for change?
Art can create an awareness where previously there wasn’t any. Sometimes this can inspire and galvanise people into making changes.
London Pub Theatres: Finally, what are really looking forward to sharing with the audience?
I’m very happy with our last song ‘The Movement’. I hope audiences will find its message emotional, empowering and hopeful.
Dissociated comes to the Etcetera Theatre, Camden, from Tuesday 15th October, 7:30pm for two weeks (performances Tue-Sat).
Tickets are £12 (plus booking fee, concessions available)
Skitzoid Productions will be taking donations for One In Four at the end of each performance.
For more information about support for survivor's of child sexual abuse, please goto the One in Four website by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on the London Pub Theatres website.