The Scarlet Lights Theatre Company (3/4) By Michelle Dee

(1/4), (2/4), (3/4), (4/4).

A lot of the inspiration for the SLTC work is very organic - arising from everyday conversations and interaction between them as mentioned earlier. Through using real life experiences, genuine believable characters can be created. These character ideas can then be discussed in workshops. During improvisations certain ideas may surface, issues surrounding the characters that will inform the development of the drama.

There is the idea that female comedy has a kind of innocence about it. Within the writing there's an acceptance of strengths and weaknesses and human fallibility.

The girls also draw inspiration from contemporary comediennes French and Saunders (some of the cultish imagery during the F.A. sketch reminded me of scenes from Abfab),Victoria Wood, Julie Walters as well as U.S. comic luminaries Bill Hicks, Chris Rock and the writers of South Park inform their work. They are particularly drawn to the way the characters are allowed to develop, then are able to relate and respond to current affairs in the real world.

I can imagine the company going back to certain characters and placing them in new situations to see how they develop. The singular work of The Comic Strip and also perhaps surprisingly, or maybe not so the pioneering works of Oscar Wilde, as well as silent theatre and black and white films, all have a place in their hearts.

The celebrated local playwright Gill Adams has been influential in the formation of SLTC and in Kerry's case, critical as to whether she would follow a career in Drama. Kerry openly says that seeing Gill Adam's play Paper Girls proved pivotal when making her own career choice.

Louisa explains she put on another one of Gill's works at Hull College; the play Off Out was chosen for its darkness, comic timing and the emotional roller coaster the work provides. Louisa goes onto comment on the realness of Gill's characters and adds that the playwright Jim Cartwright has a similar knack of observation that is both accurate and believable. I'm still interested in finding out about how their creative process works. I discover that whilst Caz was at Hull College her tutor, Bridget recognised her ability to motivate others and also felt that she was possessed with great vision.

She told her outright that she would indeed be a director. Caz has taken this instruction from her tutor to heart and appears to have a lot of say in who is going to do what within the company.

Experiments will be tried with different people playing different roles; roles that may challenge or inspire. In this way, a better understanding and interpretation of the character can be gained and the process, although structured, has fluidity and room for change and evolution. I asked what I thought was the difficult question. How do you know if something is funny? The girls respond thus, If it makes us laugh then we say it's funny, you can't control where or when an audience will laugh. And because Hull is made up of such a mixture of people then different audiences will find different things funny. That is not to say that both for the cast and director they don't care if people laugh or not in fact they want to see the audience enjoying it.

They needn't worry, both times I have seen Scarlet Lights perform the current work, Sheality there has been laughter of all shades; explosive laughter, knowing laughter, laughter when you see yourself in the character, laughter of relief - perhaps denial, group laughter, laughter that you just can't control. After their last performance I repeatedly said, "We have found an absolute gem." The girls agree that the best thing about Sheality was the orgasm intro both in the classroom and on stage. On stage the exercise brings about a sense of freedom not just for the players but for the audience too if they allow it.

As the womenfolk at first curious, begin to laugh unashamedly, the men wonder whether it is a joke aimed at them - quickly deciding otherwise, they laugh all the more to cover up any insecurities - this open honest expression acts as the perfect overture.

Continued .... Next Page (4/4)

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