Veronica AloessBlanche McIntyre is the director behind Ciphers, a play by rising talent Dawn King, and a co-production with the esteemed companies Out of Joint, Bush Theatre and Exeter Northcott Theatre. Ciphers is in the middle of a tour before going to the Bush for an extended run next year. McIntyre gives us the run down on the show, and working with King and the producers on bringing new writing to life.
Tell me a bit about the show in your own words.
Ciphers is a spy thriller, a whodunnit and a play about identity – how well you can ever get to know someone. A whodunnit takes chaos and rearranges it into order – you decipher clues to solve a problem. Human interaction likewise depends on deciphering clues: you read my clothes, speech and behaviour and form an idea of what I’m like. But human nature is more complex than those express, and the signals we give out change according to who we’re talking to. So a person is harder to decipher than a plot, and once you start doing that you get a deeper and more profound mystery – a whoareyou, if you like.
What has it meant to be working with Out of Joint, the Bush and Exeter Northcott? What do each of these companies offer?
It has meant loads in different ways. The Northcott is the perfect place to open a show – the theatre is a beautiful home for it and everyone here has worked miracles on it. The Bush and Out of Joint are two of the leading venues and companies for new writing, so it’s a big deal for me to get it right. And I’ve worked in the Bush’s attic space and with Out of Joint as an associate, so both of them feel in a way like coming home.
What’s the difference between working on a new play and a classic like The Birthday Party which you recently produced at the Manchester Royal Exchange?
I don’t think there is one! In both cases you have to serve the play to the utmost of your ability and give it what it needs. Sometimes a classic play isn’t what everyone thinks it is, so you have to look past all the assumptions people have made about it.
You’ve worked with Dawn King before on her debut play Foxfinder, how has that affected your working relationship this second time round?
It means that we have a shorthand and a friendly basis to work from. I love Dawn’s writing and I think that she trusts me to respect the play.
A spy thriller sounds really difficult to stage, it’s a genre more likely to be seen on film or TV, has this posed any challenges?
The designer and I sat down at the very beginning and agreed that, whatever happened, it had not to look like Spooks! Although there are elements of the genre that you have to honour – the momentum of the plot for example, and the balance between informing the audience and leaving them hanging – because theatre is a much less naturalistic medium than TV and film, you can honour them in different, more interesting ways.
What’s your opinion on the climate of new writing in theatre at the moment?
Amazingly, new writing seems to be thriving at the moment. I’d have expected audiences to play safe in this economic climate but it absolutely isn’t the case. What’s lovely is to see that happening with massively risky pieces of writing – plays like Gorge Mastromas and Cannibals.
And finally, why should people come see Ciphers?
Because it’s gripping, moving, clever and humane. And funny. What more could you want from a night out?
Ciphers is touring the UK, and will have an extended run at the Bush Theatre 14 Jan – 8 Feb 2014. For tickets and more information see Out of Joint’s website.