The Bush Theatre brings the house down (and the cracks up) through this hilarious stand-up comedy coming straight (just an expression) from the Edinburgh Fringe. Guillermo Nazara chats with both its lead actor and author, to learn all the fun facts about this show guaranteed to be hysterical in every sense!
After its original run at the Edinburgh Fringe, how does it feel to be finally bringing the show to the London scene?
MS: It’s really exciting. We’ve done lots of rehearsals and work on this version, which has allowed us to find new things and add a little bit more material. So it’s very interesting to see how it fits with other audiences. I think they are relating in a different way – finding other depths too. That’s the good thing about the rehearsal process we’ve been able to have for the London version – it’s allowed us to go into it and in detail. I believe audiences are responding to it very well. And it’s definitely stimulating to see how it engages with other viewers, because the energy in Edinburgh was definitely different.
SB: Indeed! As a matter of fact, we only had 12 days to rehearse it when were in Edinburgh. It’s been three weeks this time. A great deal of the work we weren’t able to do there (just due to the lack of time) has been possible now. It’s allowed us to deconstruct the play. For me, as an actor, it’s let me work in fine detail on each moment and each line. I think that’s brought more comedy, more darkness and, all in all, more levels. Because it’s all in the writing. When it’s good writing, it doesn’t matter how long the run is, there’s something new that you find every night – even if it’s only one thing. And that’s still happening! Quick story: there’s a moment where I talk about the app and somebody being closeted. Last night, there was a gentleman (whom I’m going to assume he was straight… just because he was with his wife) in the front row. He gave such a quizzical, but embarrassed look. And the audience burst into laughter! That moment was held in a completely different way as it is on other nights. There’s always moments like that to find! As Marcelo said, Edinburgh is very different – their audience are super excited to be there. The London audience gives you that but going to the theatre is something normal for them. So you may have to work a bit harder to draw them in. But I think we’re doing that and they are enjoying it!
As you just commented, the London transfer has given you the opportunity to add more depth to the material. What’s been included into the play that’s new?
MS: It’s funny because it actually hasn’t changed that much. We’ve just added a little bit more of this pseudo stand-up style. But also, the piece takes a dark riff on what the future is going to be like. I think that has slightly shifted the centre of the play, because it helps people access the characters better – not only through their mental health perspective, but also more generally, linking it more to the title. The character is, in fact, feeling afraid as if something bad was going to happen, but we as a generation feel that way too. I think it puts the audience, on a subconscious level, in a place that makes them realize that this is about slightly bigger things that its first themes. But there’s not been much change other than some topical ones and adding around 10 minutes – but a lot of it comes just in the way that Sam is doing it.
During the process of creating this show, which has been the process between author and actor to build up the whole narrative?
MS: There’s been some back and forth, but not too many changes from the first draft. But it hasn’t changed a huge amount from that – we’ve just added and then cut back a bit from. It was more about how it was made and, ultimately, how it would be perform – that was the big question mark. We did a bit of dramaturgy and script work in our first workshop. That helped to add and cut some. But there weren’t too many changes partly because we didn’t have much time at the beginning. We’ve also explored with a few tiny little twists on some lines – what in TV would be called punching up lines. We’re still trying to do that occasionally, in order to get a bigger laugh.
SB: From my point of view as an actor, when I got the first script, it was just so good! It was already in its current from (apart from the cuts we had to do to keep it under an hour for the Edinburgh Fringe). There has been some back and forth between Marcelo and the director, but not that much with me. I remember Marcelo texting me during the pandemic and saying: “I think I’m writing a monologue”. And then presenting me with this extraordinary piece of writing. I think we’ve come up with a very slick piece, very direct to the point and which doesn’t have any fat in it. I think that’s part of what really makes it work and drive forward. That’s what’s actually being a very collaborative process, rather than the conception of the show itself.
MS: Also, Sam and I are friends and we hang out together. So I have a very strong sense of his voice and how that would combine with my own voice. It was very helpful, actually, to have that vibe of how Sam would do it while writing it – because I was channeling his own voice into it. So, in a funny way, we could say that Sam was involved in the writing process.
SB: I was spiritually and mentally there!
One of the best traits of this play is that, despite the character being so extreme, it still manages to connect and relate so easily with its audience. How much from your own personal truth has been taken and put into it?
SB: Marcelo and I get on so well because we have so much in common. And though our life experiences may be slightly different, as soon as I read the piece I felt I absolutely understood many of its themes: the character’s neurosis, low self esteem, insecurity, self sabotage and that really deep seated need for validation – apart from the shame and the inability to accept it and recognize it for what it is and thus screwing things up. All of that stuff was incredibly relatable to me, so it felt very easy to perform.
MS: I think it was grounded in many of my different emotional states. The ins and outs, the sex and hookups – those were things I read through. Some of them were exaggerated or may be other people’s. We pieced things together. In my case, for example, I don’t have a massive fear of commitment, which the character does – and I have friends who are like that. So I was able to channel through them. However, I do have that negative instinct that makes feel as if everything will go wrong – that fear of failure that, in some way, hovers around. It was important to put it in a way that it wasn’t totally me, to bring out what the character needs. Some people I’ve dated have a little bit of him too, for instance. It’s useful not to be so directly connected to the character to draw their emotional truth, which you do by finding different paths that aren’t exactly yours.
Would you say the piece serves as a comment on our generation’s current attitude in life?
MS: I do think there’s something strange about dating in your 30s. The question of commitment seems to be quite a present one, with the apps providing that constant change and stimulus that short relationships and hookups can give you. It feels quite scattering to a person. I was quite interested in that and I think that’s made it into the piece.
SB: I think Marcelo has written place that’s specific, because it deals with his own journey. But at the same time, it’s incredibly universal. I see audience members of all generations. We’ve even had from teenagers to people in their 80s. And they’re all laughing and nodding away, because they relate to the piece so much. And also with the apps – many straight people are there too. I’ve seen so many straight couples cringing to one another. That’s what makes it great writing.
If you had to give me one single reason to come see this show, which one would it be?
MS: I think it’s really funny. Of course, it has a darker side, but in essence it’s very funny and exciting because you don’t know what’s going to happen in every minute.
SB: It’s honestly a really hilarious night out, which several dark edges to it – with a very fantastic twist at the end. You will laugh and potentially cry. But you will come out feeling both connected to the human race and also slightly questioning your own existence.
Read our review of the show here!
Feeling Afraid As If Something Bad Is Going To Happen plays at London’s Bush Theatre until 23 December. Tickets are available on the following link.