Gay Soper appears in Tim Firth’s award-winning musical This Is My Family, making its London premiere at Southwark Playhouse Elephant. Directed by Olivier Award winner Vicky Featherstone, this uplifting production explores the chaos and heart of a family holiday gone hilariously wrong.
Soper takes on the role of May in this much-anticipated revival. The show features a stellar creative team and promises a blend of comedy, music, and moving family moments.
This Is My Family runs at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until 12 July 2025. Book your tickets now.
You’re starring in This Is My Family at Southwark Playhouse Elephant. What can you tell us about the show?
A family in NW England have a frenetically fast, chaotic lifestyle. The daughter who is thirteen, is the most level-headed girl who really wants her much loved Parents and awkward teenage Brother to calm down and listen to each other and actually enjoy themselves.
She wins a writing competition, the prize for which is a family holiday.
As a result she takes them all on a holiday none of them expected, where they can re-trace their footsteps back to happier times, and discover how many parallels there are in each generation, and how to love and accept each other with more generosity.
What drew you to the role of May, and how did you approach preparing for this character?
The role of May is multi-dimensional, as she is a retired Nurse, who worked hard all her life, bringing up her only child in the wake of her husband’s premature demise. She is now old, so we see moments of her highly efficient younger self, mixed with the arrival of dementia. We see how hard life has become for her in this new stage of her life. She is frustrated and angry, but sometimes rejoices in her memories of happier moments, and all the laughter she shared with her husband Ralph. She has moments of magic which transform her from the mundane.
This Is My Family is described as both hilarious and uplifting—how do you and the cast balance the comedy with the more poignant moments?
No real answer to this except to say we tell the story truthfully and Tim Firth has written a great story!
The musical has a strong focus on family dynamics and relationships. How do you relate to these themes personally or professionally?
I can relate to May because, like her, I brought up my only son with an absent husband.
And being in an acting company is like being in a family!
Working with director Vicky Featherstone and a multi-award-winning creative team must be exciting—can you share any standout moments from rehearsals or collaboration?
Vicky is an enthusiastic and very involved Director who cares for her company. A standout moment was hearing the superb orchestration by Caroline Humphris, played by a glorious instrumental Ensemble, including a harp!
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see This Is My Family?
It’s a family show! Bring your parents, your siblings, your aunties and uncles, and your children too, perhaps!
