Preview: Four Play, Wardrobe Theatre

For Bristol Old Vic Theatre School’s annual Directors’ Cuts season (May 1-26, Wardrobe Theatre), the school’s four graduating directors each choose a contemporary script in which to direct their acting colleagues.

The second director in the spotlight is Liam Blain, who has chosen to direct Jake Brunger’s all-male four-hander Four Play. Here’s Liam to tell us more about the play – and his time at BOVTS.

Originally premiered at Theatre503 in London, Four Play is a hilarious tale of two gay couples: Rafe and Pete, whose lack of sexual experience is driving them apart; and Michael and Andrew, who have an open relationship. When Rafe and Pete proposition mutual friend Michael to help them out, what seems like a quick fix suddenly spirals out of control.

Playwright Jake Brunger is best known for writing musicals such as The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. Four Play was his first full play.

It’s a funny, fast-paced play, and it discuss modern-day relationships in an open and truthful way. It raises many questions as well as eyebrows and will leave people of all genders and sexual persuasions questioning their own ideas on commitment and what it means to be in a relationship in 2018.

I saw the original production in 2016 and fell in love with the piece. The comic, fast-paced writing alongside the truthful and realistic storyline had me gripped – and got me thinking really hard about what being in a relationship meant to me. From then on I was desperate to get my hands on the text and to have a go at bringing these characters to life, all the while unravelling its many different subplots.

Four Play felt really relatable to me too, as it doesn’t try to say that being gay is different, or go out of its way to show how gay men live their lives. Instead, it tells a story that is universal, in that the troubles and obstacles met by both couples could happen to people of any sexual preference.

It’s also hilariously funny. Historically, many of the plays in the Directors’ Cuts seasons have been hard-hitting emotional pieces – but I knew from the outset that I wanted to buck this trend and make people laugh. The awkward interactions between characters are what makes this piece hilarious, Making audiences cringe in their seats is one of my biggest aims.

Gay comedies are few and far between these days, with discrimination or AIDS usually making an appearance part way through the storyline (Angels in America or Bent for example). Therefore, it felt like a breath of fresh air to find a text that wasn’t shoehorning a political message but was just saying, ‘here’s a story about two couples – they’re gay they but have the same problems as everybody else!’.

Four Play is a piece of theatre for anyone who has ever been in a relationship, who loves to laugh, and enjoys watching other people mess up in truly spectacular fashion.

While on the directors’ course at BOV Theatre School I have worked with a great number of different directors, learning not only their directing styles but also how they managed to break into professional directing. These include Sally Cookson (Peter Pan and Jane Eyre, National Theatre), Donnacadh O’Briain (Rotterdam, Trafalgar Studios) and Andrew Hilton (Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory).

‘Four Play‘ director Liam Blain

I’ve also assisted on two productions myself: the Theatre School’s Christmas show, The Wizard of Oz at the Redgrave Theatre, and the UK tour of Quartet. The latter began at the Everyman, Cheltenham and went on to eight different theatres up and down the country. I followed it to every venue, rehearsing the understudies and making notes.

The course is Drama Directing, so we also gain an insight into both TV and radio directing. I’m useless behind a camera, but I’ve found a new love in radio plays and look forward to working on more of them once I graduate.

My time at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School has been the most exciting, varied and useful 18 months I’ve ever put myself through. It’s given me a better understanding of the industry I am about to step out into – plus the knowledge that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

What’s next for me? I’d love to know too! I have a couple of projects bubbling away in Edinburgh after the summer, and I’m trying to figure out which city to live in come July, so hopefully I’ll be able to answer that question in about month or so.

Four Play is at the Wardrobe Theatre from Tuesday, May 8 to Saturday, May 12. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.oldvic.ac.uk/whats-on/four-play.html

Read more: Preview: Directors’ Cuts season