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Lending a hand to inspiration
A play in the hand: Rob Joiner's play with be one of three forming the centrepeice of the Capital Theatre Festival. Pictures: Graeme Braidwood WHEN writer Rob
Joiner was creating his play Without a
Hand to Hold he turned for inspiration
to his job – working in Birmingham's Central Library. A casual worker as a library assistant for ten
years, the 41-year-old from Tile Cross has spent hours behind the first
floor reception desk, meeting a huge variety of visitors. And over the years they have struck such a chord
that he decided to take these passing strangers as inspiration for his
first staged play Without a Hand to Hold which is performed at
mac this weekend as part of the Capital Theatre Festival. “The play is about two guys who share a
one-bedroom flat. They have a shared history and the play is about their
friendship,” says Rob. “Some people are lucky enough to find someone to
go through life with, someone to hold their hand, who is always there
for them. But then this play looks at what happens if that friendship is
put at risk. “Because the library is a free service, which is
fantastic, you do get a lot of people who come in who exist on the
margins of society. “It is very easy to stay in a bubble in life. If
you are lucky enough to have enough money for food, to pay the bills and
to live a life that you are happy with. But there are people out there
who really struggle to pay the rent, have to shop in certain places,
have to buy second hand clothes. “You do see these people coming in the library
and I thought these are interesting characters to put on stage because
you don't tend to see them in plays, they don't tend to have a voice. “One of my characters, Cank, is a night worker
who works 12 hour nights as a security guard. I have done those kind of
12 hour shifts so I know what they are like. The other character, Boz,
is a porter who works in a hospital.
“When you couple these characters with the
situation they are in –facing the fact that a relationship you thought
would always be there for you may no longer be sustainable – it shows us
how some people have to struggle with life.” Seeing his play on stage is the culmination of a
lifetime's dream for Rob, who graduated from the University of
Birmingham's highly respected MPhil in Playwriting Studies two years
ago. “I had written plays before but I learnt a lot on
that course. I always thought it was just about character but you learn
how important the structure is. And then you go into rehearsal and you
look at every line and you ask ‘is that line doing anything'? “I have always been interested in writing. I
remember when I was about nine or ten at Shirestone Primary School and
we would try and put together a sketch show called The Funny Half Hour.
Our teachers were really encouraging us to come up with ideas and do
sketches. “Then I went to senior school, at Sir Wilfrid
Martineau, and put together some sketches and we would burst into
assembly guerrilla style and hijack assembly and hold debates and then
we would do school plays. “Then at university I did Shakespeare, Leigh,
people like that and was then cast in plays. But through all that time
it was always about wanting to do something of my own. I wanted to write
something of my own.” Rob not only wrote Without a Hand to Hold, he also takes the role of Boz alongside actor Matthew Brockington who plays Cank. “It is not easy doing both but it is good to be
able to do my own work and I feel that the director Kerry Murdock is
bringing out the best in me,” says Rob.” We are exploring a lot in
rehearsals. It is interesting going through this process, making a few
cuts, looking at how certain aspects work on stage. “The process is different if you are a writer or
an actor. If you are a writer it is just you but as an actor you are
sharing ideas – ‘do they do it for this reason?', ‘are they changing for
this reason?' It is interesting to be able to discuss this with other
people.” Without a Hand to Hold is one of three plays
chosen by a panel of judges to form the centrepiece of Capital Theatre
Festival alongside Calyx by Sean Burn and Cuddles by Joseph Wilde. Rob was delighted to be one of the winners. “It is great to have been chosen in a national
competition for a festival here in Birmingham. To be a Birmingham writer
with a play here in Birmingham – what could be better?”
Rob is keen to see more of his work produced but
has no plans to leave the library just yet. “Most playwrights are not rich people, they don't
go into this for the money, and I would be quite happy to carry on
working at Central Library,” he says. “I might get more material for
another play!” Capital Festival director Catherine Edwards says
Without a Hand to Hold was chosen from more than 50 competition entries
which came from across the UK. “This play stood out as being incredibly
well-crafted and it was a lovely story that people could really buy
into,” she says. “It is very believable, with great characters who have
a very poignant, but also very funny relationship.” The four day festival features performances,
workshops, rehearsed readings and networking events and includes input
from a range of performing arts organisations including Birmingham
Repertory Theatre, Birmingham-based Stan's Cafe, Talking Birds, Writing
West Midlands, Birmingham-based poet Polarbear, Soho Theatre and The
Writers' Guild. “It is important that we find ways to keep
writing talent in Birmingham,” says Catherine, who is from Stirchley.
“Part of the reason for this festival is to try to think of ways in
which we can provide spaces and opportunities for people to work. “The festival is set up as a launch pad for new
playwrights but is also for people already working in the industry. It
aims to provide a hub for the region's theatre-makers.” And Capital Theatre Festival is gradually
expanding. “We ran a smaller festival, a week of rehearsed
readings, at The Old Joint Stock in Birmingham two years ago and it was
very popular but it was unfunded,” says Catherine. “This time we're
hosted and supported by the mac and have funding from the Arts Council
and the Sir Barry Jackson Trust which has allowed us to make it much
bigger. “I am hoping to continue to evolve it and make it
an annual event.”
Capital Theatre Festival ran from May 24 to May 27. www.macarts.co.uk www.capitalplays.co.uk |
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