Putting grey love firmly in focus

Oct 29 2009 by David Whetstone, The Journal

The young man behind an RSC world premiere in Newcastle talks to David Whetstone

BEN Power is 28. In a radical reworking of Romeo and Juliet he has turned the youthful star-crossed lovers of Shakespeare’s play into septuagenarians.

What, you may ask, does he know about life and love in the autumnal years?

At least ancient writers giving voice to youthful heroes were themselves once young – even if the memory does play tricks.

Well, all I can say, having met the precocious playwright in Stratford, is that he is a confident, personable young man with some commendable achievements under his belt – and actors nearly twice his age speak very highly of him.

“This is a piece I’ve been working on for three or four years now and it is an experiment in some ways,” he said.

“It’s not something that has ever been done before and I am incredibly lucky that it is being done by the RSC. Starting out in Newcastle with the rest of the plays is really exciting.”

It is pretty exciting for all concerned. This is an RSC play being given its world premiere in Newcastle before moving elsewhere. It could be an enormous hit and a major talking point – or not. We shall see.

The play, A Tender Thing, is not Shakespeare’s although it takes Romeo and Juliet’s theme of love, its protagonists’ names and the original text, though rearranged to suit different scenes and a much shorter running time.

“The initial idea came from discussions about the universality of Romeo and Juliet, the fact that the timeless dramatic poetry of that play speaks directly about themes, love, loss, mortality, which transcend the original narrative of teenage love,” said Ben.

In Shakespeare’s tragic romance, love and death are entwined. The same is true here with the controversial matter of assisted suicide vital to the plot.

This, insisted the playwright, was not so high up the national agenda when he first started working on the play.

He said he had been listening to Joan Bakewell, spokeswoman for the elderly, on Desert Island Discs and had become aware that a lot of things to do with old age were not talked about. “I don’t see why this should be the case.”

Originally from Stockport, Ben Power left Cambridge University eight years ago with a degree in English literature.

He has worked closely in the past with Rupert Goold, another Cambridge graduate and high flier in British theatre. Goold is artistic director of Headlong Theatre (formerly Oxford Stage Company) while Power is its literary associate.

Ben said he had been lucky to have actors of the standing of Forbes Masson and Kathryn Hunter playing his characters in the new two-hander – although it presented them with a challenge, too, playing a couple of decades older than their true age.

“I’ve worked with both of them before on different projects and they’re two of my favourite performers. They have brought an awful lot to it. It is a really emotional piece,” said Ben.

He laughed at the suggestion he must have spent a lot of the past few months watching elderly couples.

But he said: “I was at my grandfather’s 80th birthday a month ago and he was up dancing with my grandmother. I put quite a lot of movement into the play.”

Shakespearean love, he mused, was not necessarily the preserve of beautiful teenagers in 16th Century Italy. It could manifest itself in all sorts of different ways but was available to all.

A Tender Thing, directed by Polish director Helena Kaut-Howson, is at Northern Stage from today to Saturday, November 7. Tickets: (0191) 230-5151 or www.northernstage.co.uk