Is this the first play you have written? "I wrote a 10 minute play a couple of years ago about a guy who meets the ghost of Elvis at a crossroads, but this is the first time I’ve attempted a full length play." Have been involved with the production of the play as well? "I was in the first week of rehearsals so that I could do any re-writing that was required but there comes a point when the writer has to let go and let the rest of the cast and crew do their job in bringing it to life. Ian Hastings the Dukes Artistic Director commissioned this play and has worked with me to create it, so he has a clear sense of what it is trying to say and I know his production will stay faithful to that." The play is set in two very different eras, tell us a little about that? "The play is set in both 2003 and 1943 during the Second World War. The 2003 storyline is set on the eve of the American lead invasion of Iraq, with one character an ex-Greenham Common supporter, so the play is just as much about women’s experiences of war and conflict as it is about one specific war. I wouldn’t say this is the main theme, but for me it’s an important one." Can you tell us a little bit about the characters? "There are six characters all together. Four of them are four generations of women from one family and represent the changing roles of women and the constant tension between the generations as one wants to move on from the one that went before. The two other characters fit into the 1943 storyline and are a young cinema usherette who is enjoying the influx of GIs and Canadian Servicemen at the time. The other is a Canadian servicemen – a fisherman from Nova Scotia - who has been affected by fighting at Dieppe." The play explores four generations of Lancaster women, how does this work and what effect does it have on the main storyline? "The backbone of the story is the four generations of woman. In the 1943 storyline Lily is a cinema usherette and her mother Nella lays out the dead. In the 2003 storyline Lily has just died and her daughter Sally and granddaughter Lucy are clearing out her house – in the process they find her old wartime diary. While learning about the secrets it holds they also reveal secrets of their own lives to each other.
I’m interested in the way that they past influences us even though we are often unaware of it – and how powerful the past can be when it interrupts the present." Who's idea was it to use original footage from WWII and has this been effective? "It was my idea. Originally I wanted to use footage from the film Casablanca but the copyright costs were too expensive to make this feasible. I wanted a way of combining the Dukes as both a theatre and a cinema so decided to go down the road of archive film instead which I think works better. Especially as the play is about resurrecting the past and there is nothing like old film footage of ordinary people to do this. The film footage also explores government propaganda during WWII and how powerful it was then – just as it is today with the Iraq war." How did you go about getting your play shown in The Dukes? "I was simply in the right place at the right time with the right script!" Sarah Athey ------ Home Fires by Lesley Anne Rose is at the Dukes Theatre, Lancaster from 1 – 24 February 2007. Call 0845 344 0642 for more details. ------ Guided Cinema Walks of LancasterSaturday 10 and Sunday 11 February To accompany its production of Home Fires, the Dukes has arranged two guided outdoor cinema walks around Lancaster with Blue Badge Guide Janet Nelson. Join Janet on a tour of the city’s old cinema buildings from the days of the magic lantern to the present day and learn their individual histories and the development of cinema in Lancaster. Walks start at the Dukes, Moor Lane 2pm and take approximately one hour fifteen minutes, finishing back at the Dukes. Tickets cost £3/£2 and must be booked in advance from the Dukes box office, 01524 598500. | 
