When a fashionable movie star is kidnapped by a mysterious stalker, he must learn how to negotiate his way out of imprisonment using all his skills and cunning.
Opening later this month, we spoke with Lesley Ann Albiston the writer and director of Chop Me Up Or Let Me Go about her dark comedy with a twist.
What inspired you to create this show? Why this story?
During the first lockdown people used it as an opportunity to be fully creative, some built robots out of household appliances, some searched the night sky for aliens who might offer a way off this pandemic-soaked planet, and I wrote a play about being trapped. Because I was trapped. A bit obvious really in retrospect. Luckily, it’s getting to be performed and appreciated.
Who are the collaborators on this production?
Firstly, I cast Alastair Coughlan, a brand-new shiny actor musician, fresh from training in New York Drama school in the main role of kidnapped famous actor Tom Reynolds, when I only had an early draft, then I sort-of built the rest of play around the Alastair’s incredible skill set. It took us a while to find a female actor who could match his dramatic/comedic performance whilst portraying Astrid Barton, a slightly unhinged stalker turned kidnapper, but much to our delight we found the striking actor dancer Ciara Murphy not long after graduating from ALRA. She inspired me to develop the character of Astrid away from being just another crazy stalker into someone a little more real. Astrid is still bonkers though. Adorable but bonkers. You must be to do what she does in the play…
Opening later this month, we spoke with Lesley Ann Albiston the writer and director of Chop Me Up Or Let Me Go about her dark comedy with a twist.
What inspired you to create this show? Why this story?
During the first lockdown people used it as an opportunity to be fully creative, some built robots out of household appliances, some searched the night sky for aliens who might offer a way off this pandemic-soaked planet, and I wrote a play about being trapped. Because I was trapped. A bit obvious really in retrospect. Luckily, it’s getting to be performed and appreciated.
Who are the collaborators on this production?
Firstly, I cast Alastair Coughlan, a brand-new shiny actor musician, fresh from training in New York Drama school in the main role of kidnapped famous actor Tom Reynolds, when I only had an early draft, then I sort-of built the rest of play around the Alastair’s incredible skill set. It took us a while to find a female actor who could match his dramatic/comedic performance whilst portraying Astrid Barton, a slightly unhinged stalker turned kidnapper, but much to our delight we found the striking actor dancer Ciara Murphy not long after graduating from ALRA. She inspired me to develop the character of Astrid away from being just another crazy stalker into someone a little more real. Astrid is still bonkers though. Adorable but bonkers. You must be to do what she does in the play…