Spotlights’ Winter Showcase: An interview with the writer and director of Filthy Animals

The Spotlights’ Winter Showcase took place last week. It was an evening of five short plays at the Bristol Fringe.

Talented UOB playwrights created all of the plays for an evening of Christmassy fun. I met with Alice Febles, the writer and director of Filthy Animals, to talk about the process of bringing her writing to stage.

The play is set in the 1920s, following three couples in failing marriages who meet for Christmas drinks. The characters embody the spirit of the roaring 20s, drunk and bawdy, surprising us with each line. Alice wrote it as a “stereotype of luxury 1920s”. The characters “are so out of touch with the world” that they are “out of touch with themselves”.

The premise itself seems a little depressing: Failing marriages, lousy husbands, and accusations of cheating don’t exactly scream Christmas (unless you’re looking at Love Actually), but the constant racy jokes and the heart-warming moment of female friendship that it ends on, all helps to create a light-hearted atmosphere.

Alice pitched the play as “funny, feel-good, and christmassy”. Though, she adds that she was also looking into “what it means to be a woman”. She wrote “a comedy with truth underpinning it”, where “certain moments and lines are hinting towards something more serious”.

Cecilia, Kathleen and Elsie are “pitted up against each other”. The heightened 1920s setting gives scope to explore this competitiveness between women. “You can’t win,” Alice adds. The witty characters and lively performances ensured we never waited too long for a joke, though. And, by the end of the play, they sweep aside their competitiveness in favour of Christmassy reconciliation.

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For the showcase, the actors don’t audition for a particular part, or even a particular play. It’s up to the director to notice characteristics they think would work when selecting their cast. Alice initially wrote Alexander, Cecilia’s husband, to be “austere and repressed”, but actor Leo Hincks, plays him as a more “pathetic, ridiculous guy”. The process of actors, directors, and writers all bringing their own takes on the characters helped shape the play. Each actor had their unique take on their characters and all successfully brought a festive atmosphere to the stage.

With many of the actors involved in other plays, and Alice also assistant directing Cymbeline, it is thanks to their incredible talent and dedication that this play came to life on stage.

Filthy Animals was the last play of the night. The animated performances from each of the actors kept the laughs coming. They closed out the showcase with a bang and the audience left wanting more.