Bullying, by its very nature is a hideous and repugnant. Whether it is in the form of government control, the online world of social media, in the work place, in the home with either gender being the downtrodden and abused or from people you once considered friends, bullying is perhaps the most negative, most destructive practice one person can place upon another’s life.

From Page To Stage brings the debut play from Sarah Lowes, My Afternoon With Bruce Lee, to four different venues across five different nights in Liverpool. The play revolves around Fifteen year old Cheryl from Tuebrook who feels invisible to her karate-obsessed Dad, bingo-loving Mum and WAG-identified classmates. With her dreaded birthday party looming, it’s only when Bruce Lee appears in her room and helps her to find her warrior heart that Cheryl is able to move into the limelight. The troubled teenager takes on school bullies and injustices at home in a story of ups and downs, loyalty and misperceptions.

Written by Sarah Lowe and Directed by Samuel Erskine, My Afternoon With Bruce Lee, takes on the bullying that is all around us and gives it a fresh look from debut writer Sarah Lowes. Ahead of the plays first night I was able to catch up with cast member Rebecca Riley, the writer and the Director and talk to them about this important subject matter and the play.

Interview with actor Rebecca Riley.

What drove you choose to do this play?

Rebecca: “I’ve not done Page to Stage before but I did see it advertised before and I applied for a few roles in different plays but this one rang true to me playing a mum with the issue of bullying and a girl growing strong, it really did grab my imagination.  So when I was offered the part I took it up straight away.”

It’s obviously a different type of role than what you’re used to, in the way that it comes across, it’s a different type of proposition for you; is that a difficulty?

Rebecca: “It’s not a difficulty because I’m still doing something that I love, it’s interesting, it’s only a small part that I play – the main character leads the play but no, I’ve not found any difficulty at all, it’s what I do.”

You obviously enjoy what you do, you’re up the Unity Theatre during the week as well, how did that all transpire? Working at the theatre and performing there as well?

Rebecca: “The thing with working around the theatre you get to see the audience and to interact with them as well in a completely different way to that when you’re onstage. When I’m onstage, I’m obviously playing a part but I’m not really me but when I’m around the theatre, I’m still around all that creativity. When I’m in the Unity or the Everyman, I get to see these people who I’m usually performing for and I get to meet them on a personal level but I’m still around something that I love.”

Bullying is quite a difficult subject to grasp as some people don’t really see it. How do you think it works, trying to explain it through theatre?

Rebecca: “Well, in this play, you see it physically a tiny little bit, it’s mainly the mental bullying in this production. I think the theatre is a good way of bringing issues like this to people who may not have experienced it, it’s a good way of getting messages across I think.”

Bullying is quite abhorrent whether physically or mentally, how do you think this message will come across to the audiences in Liverpool?

Rebecca: “Hopefully the message is that even if you’re going through a hard time, like the girl in the play, you’ve still got an inner strength. If you’re getting bullied you have to have an inner strength anyway to go into school every day, to keep going. It’s finding the strength in you to carry on and usually the bullies are sad within themselves. If they bring someone down then they bring themselves down too. So I think if you come and see the play, you’ll be able to see me being a part of that.”

Interview with the writer Sarah Lowes.

Congratulations on this being your debut play!

Sarah: “Yes, thank you! It was a great shock to me – my first play and I put in to the competition and to my amazement, it was one of the winners. “

Was it a hard subject to capture on paper?

Sarah: “No, not at all, as soon as I go the character of Cheryl I knew exactly how she should speak, how she should think, how she should be in everything. So once I got her it was easy.  I love Bruce Lee so I researched him and whilst it is Bruce Lee, it’s not the Bruce Lee of the Kung Fu films, it’s more the Bruce Lee of his philosophical writings, which I’ve also read about and his spiritual ideas – Chi running through the body and becoming water and all those things – that’s the Bruce Lee that I show in the play.”

A lot of people won’t be aware of that element of Bruce Lee’s life or recognise that side of him from his films.

Sarah: “If you look at his films carefully, you will see that there are bits of Buddhist or Taoist philosophy in what he says. He had to spend some time in the middle of his fame recovering from a severe injury and that’s when he began to write down his ideas and his thoughts so I’ve used that Bruce who’s very relaxed and sees the best in Cheryl – it’s all that insecurity and teenage angst she has got great courage and a warrior heart – he mentors her and helps her to bring that out.”

How do you think it will come across in relation to bullying to audiences?

Sarah: “In the play we have physical bullying, mental bullying and cyber bullying, we have the lot. I think audiences will recognise it straightaway as we’ve all been a victim of one form of it or another at some time and I think people will have great sympathy for the characters which are on the receiving end of the bullying and they all deal with it in different ways and that’s very interesting in how they do that and how those different ways all work out.”

Cyber bullying is particularly in the psyche of the nation now with news reports coming through about young people disturbingly being cyber bullied on social media.

Sarah: “There’s nothing like seeing something on written down in black and white about you that is really horrible, it just seems to have a massive effect on us. When you read something about us sitting there, something somebody says to you is very hurtful but it evaporates maybe not in your mind so much but it does evaporate but something in black and white – text, computer or tablet screen sinks in. “

It resonates, it sinks in, it’s an amazing choice for a first play, a lot different from what you used to do as a progressive rock D.J.

Sarah: “I’m a psychotherapist, that’s my job so I’m used to human relationships and bullying relationships. “

How did you go about writing such a challenging play, was it was a difficult process for you?

Sarah: “It wasn’t nerve-wracking at all, I wrote the first 15 minutes and I thought that’s great and then I realised it was only 15 minutes long and I thought oh gosh what do I do now? I hadn’t really shown enough of the characters’ lives and their problems and their motivations so once I started to think how they would feel, how Cheryl was, then the whole story expanded.”

The bullying – the bullies in the play are being bullied themselves, aren’t they?

Sarah: “That’s interesting, one of our actresses has said that’s what’s helped her get inside the head of her character of Janine the arch bully of the school she said she couldn’t understand initially why Janine would be so horrible so she had to think hold on, somebody must have been horrible to you to be horrible to her. Where is this all coming from home, is she having a rough time at home, she had to think her way into the character that way. “

That’s an incredibly brave thing to do and again I must congratulate you on your first play!

Sarah: “I still think it’s astonishing! I can’t really believe it! Simply because to have your very first play mean something and to be staged, it’s like a miracle.”

Miracles happen!

Sarah: “They certainly do!”

Interview with Director Samuel Erskine.

You’re the Director of the Sarah Lowes’ debut play which is being performed. Is that a thrilling proposition for you?

Samuel: “I’ve always supported new writing; it’s like opening your Christmas presents and wanting to share them with everyone, not knowing what they are.  It’s great play that’s set in my home town with a great concept and a story that everyone would enjoy, that the whole family would enjoy”

Bullying is obviously a hideous subject matter, a dangerous subject matter in some ways, how does that equate to you as a Director, the difficulty in bringing across the very nature of bullying?

Samuel: “The play shows an inner light, love is extraordinary, yes we have an imaginary friend who’s Bruce Lee but other than that, everything else is true to life and true to the nature of that character and the focus on what you would do in those situations. It’s all done in the best possible way to show the power of the mind, it’s not about martial arts and fighting to solve problems or actually hurting people. It’s about martial arts and self-expression, the play focusses on people finding their self-expression and using that to solve problems in their lives.”

You’re playing in four venues which are very interesting – The Bluecoat, 81 Renshaw Street, and The Unity but at the World Museum as well – that’s quite a coup for a debut play!

Samuel: “The World Museum has the Treasure House Theatre – which is a lovely hidden treasure in the city. The fantastic thing about is that it’s a huge space that I wasn’t aware of, it’s so accessible and so from that then you can come and see the play which is 45 minutes to an hour, you can discover the museum so it’s a family day out and play is for ages 12 and up, it’s for everyone to enjoy and then have a visit.”

How difficult is it to transfer the play across five different nights across four different venues –

Samuel: “We have a minimal set; everything is easily transportable around the different venues so we’ve got everything that’s needed for the play. We’ve got these big boxes which transform into a bed and the fact that all the set is packed in its own boxes, it’s like a pop-up theatre!”

You see other theatres managing it week in and week out but obviously with younger talent they would not be used to all this, so it’s an excellent way of preparing them for what might lie ahead for them, especially here a LIPA and being the Director as well.

Samuel: “It’s all about the sustainability of the show and it uses the artist and the professional. How can you make a show that’s sustainable for the future if it does not have a result? We can get our usual theatregoers to come and see it and enjoy the play but my main aim is for people to really connect with the show. The fifteen year old boys, the teenage girls from Liverpool, if we have those types of people coming to the shows and relating to the characters and the choices they make in school and their lives, then that will be my hope that they take away from the play either a piece of theatre – a lovely experience but also an outlook on their lives and how they make choices.”

The subject matter will resonate across all ages, not just for schoolchildren because bullying happens across all age groups. This play will strike a note with older people and not just younger people.

Samuel: “The play focuses on family life but also shows a hardworking mum and dad who suffer. The dad is struggling to find a job, he’s on Job Seeker’s Allowance and is struggling with that part of his life, the mum is trying to find her own time outside the family home but she does everything for all the family. All the characters are there, even Bruce Lee is someone that anyone should be able to connect too personally.”

Dates and performances are Sunday 14th September at 9pm at House on Bold Street, Wednesday 17th
September at 6pm at The Bluecoat, Friday 19th September at 7.30pm at 81 Renshaw Street, Sunday 21st September at 1pm at The World Museum and Friday 26^th September at 2.30pm at The World Museum.

Tickets are priced at £8 with concessions available at £7. Tickets are available from Skiddle.com and
pagetostage.org.uk.

Ian D. Hall.