Laura Ford is co-founder and Artistic Director of Fifth Word and the director of James Fritz’s LAVA which is playing at London’s Soho Theatre ahead of a UK Tour.
LAVA is set in the aftermath of a natural disaster which has struck London, the production is a co-production from bold new writing company Fifth Word and Nottingham Playhouse.
Lava stars Kacey Ainsworth, Bethany Antonia, Dan Parr and Oli Higginson. It runs at Soho Theatre 5th to 30th April and tours 5th May to 14th May 2022. More information can be found here.
LAVA is playing at Soho Theatre, what can you tell us about the play
LAVA tells the story of Vin, a young man living in a small town in the UK, who suddenly stops talking around the same time as an asteroid hits North London. Vin’s friend Rach and his Mum Vicky try to figure out what’s going on to help him find his voice again.
But when Rach’s family take in Jamie, the articulate and charismatic survivor of the asteroid incident, it makes Vin’s troubles feel completely insignificant.
The play explores what happens to those who can’t express themselves and if another person’s sadness can seem more legitimate that our own.
It’s intense, tender and very funny story – all the ingredients you want to find in a play!
Tell us a little about Fifth Word and why LAVA seemed the perfect fit for your company?
Fifth Word is a leading regional new writing company dedicated to discovering, developing, nurturing and producing the most exciting playwrights of today. We commission work that tells the stories of people who find themselves on the margins or struggle to be heard; and with LAVA this is literally the case.
The story of Vin, explores the struggles he has to make sense of his feelings in a world that feels out of control. The play directly speaks to themes people may have experienced in recent years including grief, loss, loneliness, isolation and how we deal with coming to terms with something that we think would never happen to us.
It asks important questions about how we approach mental health problems and at a time when we talk about masculinity being in crisis. At Fifth Word we aim to foster a love of theatre by harnessing its power for storytelling and human connection. And LAVA does exactly that.
What was it about James Fritz’s writing that impressed you the most?
I first came across James’ writing when I saw his brilliant debut play Four Minutes Twelve seconds at Hampstead Theatre and I knew immediately I wanted to work with him.
What struck me about his work was how powerfully he expressed the story not just through the words, but through the form it was presented in. James is so effective in using a structure and form that perfectly marries the core ideas in the play.
The play also had a brilliant dichotomy which explored how far you would go to protect your child and how your morally compass of right and wrong can go off kilter when it comes to the ones you love. His work felt so relevant and new and had obvious appeal in attracting younger audiences to the theatre.
We were delighted to collaborate with James on LAVA. The piece has been developed through numerous round table reads, workshops and research and development days, with James working tirelessly on many drafts. I’ve learnt a lot and being there from the beginning has been one of the most joyful and rewarding experiences.
Tell us more about the cast and what you’ve enjoyed most about working with them?
I am so excited about our brilliant new cast. We have four powerhouse performances from Kacey Ainsworth who is playing Vin’s mum Vicky, Bethany Antonia playing Rach, Oli Higginson as Jamie and Dan Parr as the central character Vin.
After such an odd couple of years I feel so lucky to be back in the rehearsal room with a lovely bunch of people. Kacey actually read the play whilst the piece was still in development at Nottingham Playhouse in 2018– and has since confessed her love of the role ever since.
Kacey brings so much heart and humour to Vicky and connects completely to the mother son relationship that we see tested in the play. Dan Parr is doing a fantastic job of playing Vin – a challenging role due to him being a largely silent character. A character who doesn’t have the tools to push the scene forward with words has uncovered so much about the ways we communicate and just how powerful and effective non-verbal communication is.
Oli is hilarious as Jamie and brings such honestly to some of the more tender moments too. The role of Rach is literally the opposite to Vin, as Rach doesn’t seem to be able to stop talking and has very little filter between what she thinks and what she says. Bethany navigates this beautifully and I’m enjoying watching all the cast find the humour in their character’s flaws.
The production has been delayed due to the pandemic, how does it feel to finally be bringing it to the stage?
We are so delighted to finally tour LAVA to audiences across the UK after an inevitable hiatus due to the pandemic. This tour has been booked, cancelled, rebooked, cancelled and rebooked again! Being back in the rehearsal room with LAVA feels such a privilege after originally premiering the production in the Neville with Nottingham Playhouse in 2018. Returning now with a brilliant new cast and being reunited with our creative team is a joy and something we’re not taking for granted.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see LAVA?
Way back- in the time before- we often joked that the idea of an asteroid hitting North London and changing the way everyday people live their lives – may seem a stretch too far! But we have now collectively experienced something that felt implausible through the global pandemic and more recently the ongoing developments in Ukraine.
LAVA will connect differently with people depending on their own personal experiences but ultimately, we want audiences to go away believing that there is the possibility of hope even in the face of the inexplicable and that we can find humour in even our darkest moments. This play feels so right for 2022 at a time when the world often makes little sense, feels unpredictable and sometimes terrifying, there is also hope, resolve and a sense that anything is possible.
We look forward to welcoming audiences back to the theatre with this beautiful story of healing and reconnection.
