The making of LOVE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE
With rehearsals well underway, Donmar Head of New Work Clare Slater sat down with Love and Other Acts of Violence playwright Cordelia Lynn and designer Basia Bińkowska to find out more about the process so far.
Clare Slater: I’m going to start by asking the classic question, which is, Cordelia: can you tell us a little bit about the play?
Cordelia Lynn: Fundamentally, it is about a young couple roughly now, roughly here, who have a relationship that we see developing over about 10 years. The nature of their relationship is impacted by two things. Firstly, that they have, unknown to them, inherited an act of violence from their ancestors that’s playing out in their relationship today. The other thing that’s happening is that, outside their walls, the political situation is becoming more and more fractured.
CS: And Basia, can you tell us more about how you’ve created the physical world of the play and your design process?
Basia Bińkowska: As Cordelia has said, we have this couple at the centre of the story and we see them and how their relationship unfolds. For much of the play, there are just two people on stage so we’ve been thinking about how we can use the space to focus on the dynamic between them; the push and pull of their relationship. The main question for myself and Lighting Designer Joshua Pharo has been how we can create one space that is beautifully intimate but also allows for those moments when they are far apart from each other.
I don’t want to spoil anything… There is also a big set change but we want to keep that a secret for now!
CS: You’re in week four of a five week rehearsal process before you move over to the theatre for technical rehearsals and previews. I wonder if you could both reflect on the process so far.
CL: As this is a new play, I have spent most days in the rehearsal room working with the cast and the rest of the creative team. I work with text and it’s such an ambiguous thing, so being in the room with Director Elayce, Basia, our Sound Designer Richard, Joshua and our Movement, Fight & Intimacy Director Yarit, really opens up the text and helps bring out the underlying meaning by layering it with lighting, sound and movement within the physical world.
I’ve never worked with a movement director before so that has been especially interesting. When I watch the actors working with Yarit I go: “That’s it! That’s what’s underneath the words”.
CS: And Basia, what does the design process look like for you? I’m conscious that so much of the design work is done before rehearsals start. What do you do once you’ve conceived what the physical world will look like? What are you then doing once the actors join you for rehearsals?
BB: It’s very important for me to see the things that Cordelia has just described. Although I produced my final design two months ago, it’s very important for me to be in the room to draw out the finer details. For instance, with costume design, I like to use rehearsals to discover more from the cast about how they’ve developed their characters and how the costume choices I make can help them realise that.
CS: This is your first time designing at the Donmar. Are there any particular considerations you’ve had to make in designing for the space? What are the challenges? What are the secrets and surprises of the Donmar’s auditorium?
BB: I love the space but because it’s a thrust stage, with the audience on three sides, there are particular challenges. It’s a really intimate space and there is that big wall at the back which really works with the design but you can’t move the stage or the audience. It’s gorgeous and I love it but it does come with difficulties!
CS: What’s really exciting for us at the Donmar is that this is our first full length production since our closure last year and subsequent redevelopment. How does it feel to be the artistic team behind the reopening production?
CL: For better or worse, new writing is in a particularly precarious position following the difficulties of the pandemic, as audiences don’t know what it is. It’s amazing that the Donmar have made the decision to reopen with a piece of new writing and I think it’s a real gesture of hope for the future. It feels really special and really important to have venues that are saying: “We’re going to challenge the status quo by putting new work on our stage”. It’s so gratifying and has left me feeling very hopeful.
Love and Other Acts of Violence runs from 7 October to 27 November. Tickets from £10 are available now at donmarwarehouse.com
