Can you tell us a little bit about Water Colour?
Sally: “It’s a new piece by Milly Sweeney. It’s a beautiful poetic piece with two young characters in it called Esme and Harris. They’re complete strangers for most of the play, they have a chance encounter on a bridge in Glasgow, and so we’re watching Esme and Harris navigate their new lives, what that brings up in them, the excitement of being a young person in a bold city like Glasgow, and it deals with what happens when maybe that shifts and turns and the darker side of life can come in, and we follow them on that journey as well.”
What are some of the themes of the show?
Sally: “The play deals with mental health struggles in young people and I think it’s important in this beautiful, poetic way that Milly has brought these characters and this tricky subject to life. It brings real hope, and that connection is key in life, and maybe you want to check in with people if you think someone’s struggling. The two characters have this chance encounter where everything changes and there’s real kind of beauty in that and it makes you think: what if you could change someone’s outlook or change someone’s life in a moment.”
What is it like to be back at the theatre, this time as Director?
Sally: “ I was absolutely thrilled to be asked to direct Water Colour having been on the stage here as an actress in Shirley Valentine and Group Portrait, so I sort of know the team but in a different way. The two actors who we’re working with, Ryan J Mackay and Molly Geddes, are just superb, and they’re really bringing that feeling of it being like a piece of art.”
What has the rehearsal process looked like?
Sally: “So we’re rehearsing in the Studio actually on the set, which is extremely rare and a great joy because we can find what we need to do, little snagging things that we’re working on the set, which never gets to happen. You’re usually in a rehearsal room somewhere else, and then you come to the theatre, and you go: “that step’s slightly higher. Oh, I didn’t think it would look like this.” But we’ve got the beauty of being in the set, in the space, so the actors are getting a sense of where the audience are going to be and that is a real gift to be able to do.”
What do you think people will take away from the show?
Sally: “I hope that audiences will take away that they’ve been on a journey with these characters and that the characters are going to be okay and maybe take that into their lives, that connecting with another human being is vital as human beings in this sometimes dark, crazy world. So a sense of hope, really, that things can be brighter and okay.”
Water Colour is on in the Studio from 9 – 17 May.