From Arctic Convoys through Shakespeare to a comedy musical about cancer, young mum Jessica Johnson and her production company are braving the choppy waters of Government cutbacks by carving a unique niche in the arts world. MIKE KELLY reports
ONE way to avoid the debilitating affects of arts funding cuts is not to have any funding in the first place.
That is the situation faced up to by Jessica Johnson and her partner Robbie Lee Hurst who run Pink Lane Productions in Newcastle.
It started two and half years ago as a ‘big project’ Jessica had to do as part of her course at the Newcastle Performance College and has carried on since then.
In between jobs like managing a vintage clothes shop, the mum-of-two and a disparate band of like-minded actors, writers and poets have come together to stage productions that have quietly begun generating a interest in the arts scene. Last month Arctic Convoy – A Saga Of The Sea, a one-man show based on a book written by Durham man Kenneth Greenwell, about his experiences on such hazardous voyages during the Second World War, was performed at the Jazz Cafe Theatre in Newcastle.
To add poignancy to the event the book was published after Greenwell died in 1942 when his ship was sunk and its first performance was on Remembrance Sunday. What happened to get it on stage is in microcosm what Pink Lane Productions is all about.
The little-known book was bought by the manager of the Jazz Cafe Keith Crombie who showed it to Jessica as something she might be interested in.
She was and gathered together a group of friends to stage it while her partner Robbie Lee Hurst took the lead – and only – role. For the performance, Jessica had to work out how to do the lighting. “It took me four days. I just sat down and pulled my hair out,” she recalls. The promotional work was done by Collie Poole for which Jessica will next year ‘pay’ her by helping Collie with her production of ‘Tumour Humour’, a comedy musical about cancer, which sounds a challenge.
“Arctic Convoy cost £75 or £80 to make,” said Jessica. “I didn’t make any money out of, nor did I lose any.”
However in a way it’s not strictly true she didn’t lose any money. “I had to give up my job as manager of the vintage shop to do it, there wasn’t enough time to do both” she explained.
Jessica, 29, sounds a determined woman and if she fails it wont be for the want of trying.
Born in Sunderland, she went to St Anthony’s Girls’ School and was bitten by the arts bug early. “It started off with drama theatre and summer schools at Sunderland Empire. I was just interested in it from very young.”
It helped that her parents ran the guest house Maison Elaine’s near the theatre. Named in honour of her mum – “My dad was called Gordon and Maison Gordon’s didn’t quite have the same ring,” she laughed – stars who performed at the theatre including Timmy Mallett, Alvin Stardust and Tommy Steele used to stay there.
“My dad’s mate also used to own a little restaurant called Maison Delegon (spelt phonetically in case former patrons complain as Jessica couldn’t remember its exact spelling) and we used to go in there for quiche and there’d be actors there too. I just remember it always being happy.”
In 1998 she studied acting at the National Youth Theatre, as well as doing a BTEC in acting at Newcastle Performance College in the same year. Her first break came in 2003 when she landed a part in a film, Girls Club, and the following year played the role of check-out girl Donna in the film School for Seduction.
The film starred Kelly Brook in her most impressive role to date (not saying much, granted) as an Italian beauty who sets up an ‘Academy of Seductive Arts’ in Newcastle.
It also featured seasoned acting talents like Dervla Kirwan and Margi Clarke, however Jessica gained the most plaudits for the film, the BBC review at the time saying “… newcomer Jessica Johnson… steals the show as a ballsy check-out girl with more mouth than the Tyne.”
Looking back now, she said: “There was an open audition at the old Tyne Tees TV studios and I went along. In the end I had four or five auditions before I got the part.