#OnceAMonkey - Mary & Mietek, Revisted
A testament to the power of love to overcome and break down borders which first found life as an Experimental Performance Project in 2019, Mary & Mietek is the debut full-length production from Fourth Monkey alumni artists and theatre makers, Katla Theatre.
Ahead of their run at The Space in East London (13 to 17 September), we caught up with members of the Mary & Mietek cast and creative team, Maria Laumark, Louis Cruzat and Charlie Sloboda Bolton to learn how the piece has evolved since the show’s work-in-progress Summer 2021 run as part of the Camden Fringe festival and what they have learned throughout the creative process along the way…
Firstly, for anyone not familiar with Mary & Mietek, please share a brief overview of the play and its central themes.
Charlie: Mary & Mietek is a combination of a verbatim period piece, using the love letters of my grandparents Mietek and Mary Sloboda (dated from 1945) and a contemporary drama about a young couple dealing with the uncertainty that Brexit brings to their relationship. Ben brings his grandparent’s letters to Alma, who is waiting to leave at the airport, and through the letters they reflect on their own relationship. Using live music and subtle movement, we link the past and the present to tell a story of immigration, conflict, and love.
(Image credit: Rich Rusk, Mary & Mietek trailer, 2022)
We last spoke to Maria and Charlie, the writer and co-creator behind Mary & Mietek, as they prepared for the 2021 Camden Fringe festival – how has the piece evolved and developed since this first performance run and what can audiences expect when they see you at The Space?
Louis: We know the story we are telling now. We have the freedom to explore more deeply the themes we explored last year and find more difficult questions to ask, with added text from the letters and the modern story. More time together in the room also means that we can explore in greater detail the use of space and time in the play.
(Image credit – Max Curtis)
Similarly, how has the creative team and cast grown and evolved since Mary & Mietek started its journey? How, if at all, do you feel these changes have helped the piece itself evolve as a result?
Charlie: The first draft was for the Experimental Performance Project whilst we were training at Fourth Monkey – writing and directing was a unique experience for me and it was a very different show to the version now; it was Maria who helped me to realise that the real ‘meat’ of the play was in the letters themselves. She has written the script in collaboration with our new director, Abi Smith. Abi has been an amazing presence in the room – visionary and precise in her notes and direction, but always careful to make everyone feel held and comfortable while working on tough material.
We previously worked with the wonderful Amy Rushent (a fellow Fourth Monkey alumnus) as our director for the run at Camden Fringe, as this was a co-production with their company, Burning Pages. We had a great catch up with Amy, who popped their head into the room this week. They’re getting ready to start an MA in Movement: Directing & Teaching at Central, so an exciting new challenge for them awaits as well!
The casting for Mietek has changed through the play’s development, from myself to the brilliant Louis Cruzat. He absolutely excelled in the role last year and he’s back with us this time around alongside Maria as Mary.
Joel Marten, our musician and composer, has been integral to creating the world of the play with his intuitive composing and live experimentation in the rehearsal room. He has brought a whole new dimension to the live performance.
Finally, returning to the piece is Will Townsend, who survived the 50+ cues for the original scratch in 2019. We’re so excited to have him and his vision with us.
Truly, the pool of talent is lifting all aspects of this piece!
Katla Theatre, the company behind Mary & Mietek, is a collaboration comprising several Fourth Monkey alumni – what appealed to you about working together on this production?
Maria: It has been great to work with fellow alumni, from across four different graduating years! We almost have a short-hand between us, thanks to having some shared work practices and experiences. It gives us a kind of common ground to work from and has made communication in the rehearsal room easy.
Speaking for myself, graduating into a pandemic in 2020 and starting a new company hasn’t been without challenges, so it feels like a good starting point to reach out to your nearest community. It has been really inspiring to see all the ways people have evolved since training at Fourth Monkey.
As you prepare to share Mary & Mietek as a full-length production for the first time, is there anything you have found surprising or even challenging about the creative process behind this and indeed about working together in general?
Maria: I really like how familiar the characters are, but how the new text and staging bring the challenge of getting out of shapes and thoughts we set last year. It’s a fun contrast to work with.
Louis: The challenge when revisiting familiar material is often how do you find the new and tap into the unexplored. The changes and deepening in story have helped us in this process but it has still been important to approach the work and the text with the same curiosity we had approaching it for the first time last year.
You recently received Arts Council England funding for Mary & Mietek – how do you hope this support will help the piece and your work as a theatre company develop and evolve?
Maria: It has made all the difference to receive funding for the production. It’s such a simple but vital thing. Firstly, we are all being paid ITC/Equity rate for our work. It makes a big difference not having to worry about finances whilst working, not having to work day jobs after rehearsals or compromise on the rehearsal time because of other work commitments.
It also means that we have been able to finalise the full-length production with time and space, meaning we’re really enthusiastic to show it to and share it with audiences, instead of rushing to get something that’s sort of “show ready”. Hopefully we will be able to organise a tour, perhaps next year, knowing we have a great piece that lots of attention to detail has gone into.
It also means that we have been able to make this production more accessible. We have a BSL/English interpreter for our Wednesday performance, captioning will be available on the on-demand version, as well as a full trigger report written prior to our relaxed performance. Often, as an emerging theatre company, you don’t have the means to do this, but the National Lottery Funding through Arts Council England has made this possible, and it’s something we definitely would love to continue and evolve.
(Image credit: Rich Rusk, Mary & Mietek trailer, 2022)
Similarly, you have also been supported by the Polish Cultural Institution and Polonia Aid Foundation Trust – why was it important that you worked with these organisations as part of this creative process?
Charlie: Since 2016, the position of many immigrants from Europe in the UK has become precarious. Prejudice towards migrants in this country has always been there, but decisions made around the Brexit referendum have made it worse.
I wanted to make a show which showed that Polish people have been making their home in this country for over eighty years – we are part of this nation’s history, just as much as anyone else. Support from the PCI and PAFTA is being instrumental in helping this story reach the people who really need to see it – the Polish diaspora in the UK.
What do you hope audiences at The Space will take away from seeing the first full-length of performance Mary & Mietek?
Louis: The past has much to teach us. If we do not learn from it, both the individual and collective, then we are bound to repeat it. We cannot control the world around us but we can control our response to it and how we approach the people closest to us.
(Image credit: Max Curtis)
Finally, what advice would you share with other theatre makers who are thinking about creating and developing their first piece of creative work?
Charlie: Collaboration is everything! Whilst studying, you’re going to be surrounded by hundreds of talented people who have the most extraordinary skills – get to know them and get them involved with what you’re working on. Listen to them when they tell you what works and what doesn’t, and don’t be afraid to let go of the reins and let someone else take control.
Maria: Choose something you are really passionate about, because you will spend a lot of time on it. From a producing perspective, be specific. Why now? Who’s your audience? Which venue is therefore relevant and which partners could you link with? And, as Charlie says, find some good people to work with who share the same passion and vision as you. It makes a huge difference.
Mary & Mietek runs from Tuesday 13 to Saturday 17 September at The Space in Isle of Dogs, East London – book tickets for live shows
Livestream and on-demand tickets are also available for anyone unable to attend in-person – book tickets for digital shows
Learn more about Katla Theatre and their work – follow them on Twitter and Instagram:
Twitter – @KatlaTheatre
Instagram – @katlatheatre
