Jack Condon is the writer of If. Destroyed. Still. True. at Hope Theatre, the inaugural production from JAWBONES Theatre: a new writing company whose aim is to tell epic tales from everyday lives.
Taking the role of Charlotte will be Whitney Kehinde, Theo Ancient will play James and the play’s writer Jack Condon takes the role of John.
To help them reach further, the play will be the first Hope Theatre show to be filmed with a three-camera set up and made available for online streaming.
If. Destroyed. Still. True. is at Hope Theatre 26th April -14th May.
Your play, If. Destroyed. Still. True. is coming to Hope Theatre, what can you tell us about the show?
We first meet John, Charlotte and James in their late teens, and return to them on three seminal days over the next ten years… we watch as life takes its toll and their identities fracture and re-form, we’ll laugh and cry with them all along the way. By the end we won’t know who to love or hate.
What first inspired you to write it?
Leaving the working-class town I grew up in to undertake actor training at RADA had a profound effect on me and my identity. For a long time I felt I existed in suspense, caught between two worlds – the world I grew up in, and the one I was now growing in – not entirely belonging in either. I wanted to explore this internal struggle on stage- that was the seed.
This is the inaugural production of JAWBONES Theatre, tell us more about the company and its aims?
At JAWBONES Theatre we tell the epic stories in everyday lives. We shed stark light on tales untold from communities underrepresented in the arts, with the ultimate aim of further diversifying the pool of theatre goers across the UK.
We want to speak with honesty about the experiences all of us will live though at some point – and give the lives of the people on stage (people like us) the weight they deserve. After our run at The Hope we plan on launching a tour of If. Destroyed. Still. True., taking the play to the very communities this story is inspired by. We are at the start of our journey, but have big ambitions for a bright future.
You’ll also be taking on the role of John, what made you want to take on this role?
I’m tired of seeing watered-down or patronising (or both) representations of working-class characters on stage. John is a working-class character who’s quick-witted, streetwise and has tremendous emotional complexity too, all the while being deeply, deeply flawed.
This melting pot of clashing character traits was just too tempting- it’s a challenge I’m excited to embrace.
This will be the first show at The Hope to be filmed with a three camera set-up for online streaming, what challenges and opportunities has that presented you with?
If. Destroyed. Still. True. is proof that theatre is for all- it’s a play that people across the UK will readily identify with. The driving force behind our online streaming is to make sure our story is reaching as many people as it can. It is a play for everyone, and we don’t want geographical location to be a barrier to people experiencing it.
The brilliant team at Nifty50 films are handling the technical aspects of filming, but I’m confident The Hope’s intimate space and the world our brilliant design team have created will suit filming very well.
What would you say to anyone thinking of coming to see If. Destroyed. Still. True.?
The show’s a real rollercoaster; very funny and truly heartbreaking… it will fuel big conversations in the bar afterwards.
