Finding the Beat

The Tab talks to Emily Warren, writer and director of Beats, about the new play

11 years ago

Mental illness is one of the big ‘issues’ your play deals with. How difficult was that to write about and represent?

Depression isn’t a very sexy subject, and certainly one that I hadn’t dealt with prior to my first year at university. What strikes me most about the mental illness that our production explores is that it’s mostly about expressing yourself, which is what our characters have trouble doing, because they very often don’t know what they want.

The marketing for plays in 6th week plays has been unusually fierce, with Beats taking the lead. What’s your opinion on the rather aggressive tactics of all the plays?

It’s always difficult to compete with other productions ,especially when there are so many in one week! Our marketing strategy was a collaborative one, and we were very keen to show our potential audiences all the work we’d put into the production.

It’s so great to see that the idea of sharing the journey of the creative process seems to have inspired other productions too: it’s exciting to think of this week as marking a new way in which Oxford productions are promoted.

Why should we come to see Beats?

We’ve assembled quite a unique team, from a musician to two film-makers, a photographer, several artists, a wonderful cast and a heroic production team.

This has been a very collaborative and creative process, and our final product is quite original for an Oxford drama production in that it features film, art and our very own soundtrack.

Beats seems like a serious play – should we look elsewhere if we’re looking for some light entertainment?

Actually one of the nicest surprises for me when we started rehearsals was realizing how much comic relief there is in Beats.

There are quite a few flamboyant characters that provide some entertaining side notes that distract from the more emotional moments in the play – which is adding to the fact that we’ve taken quite a matter-of-fact approach to the story in general and not tried to glamorize the dark material too much.

Images by Henry Course

You’ve managed to assemble a group of talented artists to make Beats happen – whose input has been most important?

Everyone has been key to making this production so great – I think what’s most interesting is seeing different points of view from, say, the marketing team, to the actors themselves. When marketing the play, it’s important to think about aesthetic and what the world of Beats is like – everything from the colour scheme to the background music.

It’s absolutely astounding to see the growth of fictional characters that once existed in your head and are now being embodied by some of the coolest and greatest talents working here. That’s one of the most exciting things about a piece of new writing: when something has never been performed before, you have the chance to really make it your own.