Cafe 81 on Renshaw Street at opening time is an oasis of calm and the perfect place it seems to meet writer and theatre maker Laura-Kate Barrow. The venue had recently played a part in Laura’s quiet determination to bring more theatre to Liverpool and especially to showcase more parts for women, a situation that still sees acting roles still predominantly written for men but something that Laura is keen to address. Over the sounds of fresh tea being made and the clamour for attention from the great staff inside Cafe 81 I get to ask this young woman about the 24 hour project in which Assemble was the end result and her up-coming play Bump.

Congratulations on the previous show, Assemble, how difficult was it to do?

Laura: “Up until the day, I thought it was going to be difficult. I’d heard about these improvised day events in Manchester and in fact, Megan who was directing had done ‘One play one day’ in Manchester so I thought – I wonder if we can do it here? So, having never attended one, I thought let’s try and see what we can do. The day before I was really scared we had taken on far too much but on the day it was really good fun.”

There were some astonishing performances across the board.

Laura: “We’ve got some really talented actors and I put some of the group together rather than just  auditioning, I selected people like Jackie, Nuala and Becky who were in our last show because I knew they could do it as they are brilliant. Pete who’s directing brought in some actors he was working with so Josie and Marie plus Joel. We kind of assembled a team we were really confident in which I think made it more fun to watch.”

What was the idea behind the concept and the fact that the cast was predominantly female because it gave a completely different dynamic to what you see in other theatre productions?

Laura: “Yeah, that’s why I set up the company Ladyparts theatre because the idea was to get more roles for women because obviously working for other theatres there tend to be a lot more roles for men and a lot of the time there will be a group of men and one woman and she’ll be a mother, or someone’s girlfriend or on a few occasions she’s been dead! I don’t think that’s all women can do on stage. I have no problem with men being on stage as well as long as there are strong women. The first night we did Legend, it was so lovely having all girls together and the interaction worked really nicely, which is why an all-female cast for this was great. It was much easier to cast women as there are many female actors working in Liverpool it seems.”

One of the parts that spring to mind was played by Maggie, who had never acted before, the person paying the assassin; she was very cool and very good as what she was doing.

Laura: “Maggie is best friends with Annexe writer called Katie and she’s such a brilliant writer, that group of friends is ridiculously talented. Nuala as well she worked on the last show as well and she really lends herself to the characters Ruth writes, Nuala is also very talented and she can do anything!”

Another area was the subject matter of the first play, without giving too much away; you would not expect to see this female domination?

Megan who’s the director thought a lot about it and brought a lot more subtly into it and awkwardness which was technically necessary, especially at 5 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon – it limits how far you can go with that piece. The scenes were funny and she brought a lot of layers to it, with the three of them assembled, I thought they were all great!”

I think all the glue that binds it all together is Jackie watching from the corner, keeping it all going on.

Laura: “I did Hope Street Emerging Artists programme with her and she’s so great at what she does with the character. I love watching Jackie she is so natural, you never feel that you are watching an actor. She can be quite unassuming, when you see her in the corner, her presence didn’t detract from the other pieces.”

What are your next plans?

Laura: “I’m very busy but I need a break but I want to look into funding. I’m starting to believe we can really do this. Now I’ve decided that there is the audience for it and we’re really enjoying it and so I’d like to carry on and do some regular nights like Legend. 81 Renshaw Street is brilliant, I want to use it more. I think it’s so very cosy and intimate, seeing something one off and special and that’s something I really like in theatre. If thousands of people see it then it’s not really a unique experience for me. A smaller show makes me feel as if I’ve connected with what’s going on. We want to try and develop longer pieces and I’m interested in things like installation and endurance pieces because I know nothing about them and that’s a challenge. I just like trying new things at the moment! Nothing’s set in stone at the moment but we’ll definitely be coming back.”

You say that you’re taking a step back for the summer and yet you’ve brought out this wonderful piece for 24/7, the great sounding Bump, that’s going to go on at The Lantern, you’re not exactly easing off are you?

Laura: “If I’ve got a free hour, I’ll be applying for stuff, I can’t help myself. I just love what I do but 24/7 is really a special thing. I applied for 24/7 back in February; I was just hoping for some feedback on my script, which I wrote on the young writers programme at the Everyman and Playhouse. It had just been in a drawer for a year and I thought it was such a shame – so I applied hoping for feedback and it got selected for the festival.  You have to take on the actors and the director and I probably really didn’t have enough time but you don’t say no when you have such an opportunity. It’s all coming together now and I’m so glad to be involved.”

The Lantern is such a good space as well for that type of theatre.

Laura: “I love working in The Lantern, I’ve worked in quite a lot of Liverpool theatres and I find The Lantern very straightforward. They do go out of their way to help you and they are great for fringe theatre. It’s a lovely space in there as well, it’s quite intimate but big enough to work commercially.”

What can you tell us about the play then without giving too much away?

Laura: “It’s heart-warming so I’m told! It’s about a man and a woman who’ve not seen each other since high school. She was one of the popular girls and he wasn’t. It’s about them meeting again as a shop assistant and a soldier and seeing how life has changed them. From this chance reunion the direction their lives take is completely altered. It does go to some dark places but it’s optimistic in the end and a lot of fun.

The festival’s going to be great and I’m really looking forward to it all. I’m just planning at the moment and writing the programme. I really trust the team we’ve got together. I think it’s going to be very special and I think it will all hinge on the dynamic between the two protagonists and it’s that sort of comedy bouncing off each other as well and I think that it’s really difficult to cast but once you’ve found those actors its great – job done! They work really well together.”

Ian D. Hall