Bicycles, Boundry Stones and Bouncing Bombs
An interview with Natalie McGrath
By Charlie, Florrie and May
As part of our voluntary work, we interviewed Natalie McGrath about the project she undertook with the students from West Exe Technology College, creating four short plays called 'West Side'. The plays took only six weeks to complete and were written in conjunction with the students. Natalie told us that the project was, "very intensive but invaluable - as a writer you don't get that sort of opportunity of writing and seeing work performed so quickly very often."
The Creative Process
First, as we are all interested in the theatre, we were intrigued about how Natalie had gone about writing the play and where her inspiration came from. Natalie explained how she, the students, Polly Agg-Manning and Rachel Vowles from the Northcott Theatre, interviewed the members of the local Age Concern centre. From these interviews the students gained an insight into the living history of Exeter.
After this the students and Natalie got together to compare stories and to discuss what would form the basis of their play. They were particularly inspired by the stories of life during the Second World War; "It was the little things that the young people were fascinated by, such as the bouncing bombs in St. Thomas. The students were keen to include details like this in the play."
From there, Natalie began to develop these stories. She decided to "cycle around the four areas west of the Exe and have a really good look!" Another source of inspiration was the 'Living Here' website, which provided Natalie with many anecdotes. The play encouraged her to "see Exeter from a different point of view". She learnt a lot in terms of the history of Exeter, such as the use of Anderson Shelters, boundary stones, the cottages beside the Alphington Sainsbury's where beer and bread were made and in particular the angels in the cemeteries.
Inspiration and Style
Furthermore, Natalie told us that the play was written in an almost poetic form, using a free structure and no punctuation. This allowed the speech to flow and the actors to find their own rhythm within the speech.
We also asked which playwrights have inspired Natalie. She told us that she was a huge fan Caryl Churchill, Sarah Kane and also Debbie Tucker-Green, "she's fantastic, especially her play 'Random'."
Final Thoughts
Natalie said that the overall process was very thought provoking. "I really enjoyed working with young people, as they tell you what's good and what they like. You don't know how important that is as a writer. I wanted the students to realise that you can come from anywhere and still have a voice. Maybe they might be inspired knowing a playwright lives down the road." The interview was enlightening and taught us a lot about the city in which we live; we were all surprised by how much there is to learn about our city.
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