In a lazy sunny afternoon, I met Billy Cowan, writer of Heart is a Lonely Hunter. He is from Truant Company. And he is the Co-artistic Director of Truant Company and Heart is a Lonely Hunter is their first Manchester production. He spoke in a very gentle manner during our conversation. He is funny and talented. He will tell you a simple but spiritual story between a young and an old men.

Do you have any theatre background?
I trained as an actor many years ago at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama and then as part of the Birmingham Rep. Youth Theatre. After a few years of working on the London Fringe and being a drama tutor to youth leaders and young people, I decided acting wasn't for me. I became more interested in writing, so studied for a degree in Imaginative Writing and Theatre Studies at Liverpool John Moores University.
It is not my first play, but it will be my first play in Manchester.

What is the play about?
It is about intergenerational love and some of the issues surrounding that i.e. is there always an abuse of power when an older person is involved with a younger person? Is the younger person always manipulated, seduced or can the older person be the one who is manipulated? It centres around a relationship between Michael, an older gentleman with Parkinson's disease, and a young art student called Adam. Essentially it is about Love found in an unusual place and how society (attitudes and pressures to conform) can affect and disrupt something that it doesn't understand.

What inspired you to write this play?
A few years ago I met an older gentleman with Parkinson's disease who was charismatic and funny and charming, and still very sexual, even though he was in his seventies. I started to wonder how I would have felt had I been a lot younger. Would I have been able to say 'no'? Would I have found him attractive even though there would have been a big age gap? My play tends to be a comedy. It is a change of direction for me. In this play, I am trying to see if the audience accept a pure, simple story. Not dramatic. It is gentler, more like a poem, even if it is about an abusive thing. We demand things that are really fast and furious. A lot of theatres try to compete by showing outrageous things, like somebody kills himself in the play, or somebody is murdered or some big, crazy melodrama is involved. It is nice sometimes to see something small, something more magical.

Are there anything in the play related to your own experience?
I've always been interested in the relationships between young and old. When I was younger I was attracted to an old man. His charms didn't work though ha!

Do you find writing plays empowering?
I'm not sure I find the process empowering, but I find it empowering when my play is produced and the audience reacts to it. It's also nice when someone likes my play enough to want to commission it. It validates my writing. For example, last year a play of mine won the 2003 Writing Out award for new gay and lesbian plays. This play, Smiling Through, has now been commissioned by the Contact Theatre and should be on next year. This was quite empowering because, for the first time, I felt that maybe I had some talent - well, at least enough for someone else to like what I wrote.

What do you do at present?
Writing plays is my job at the moment. Myself and Natalie Wilson, who is a successful theatre director, have set up a company called Truant. We hope to start producing new queer performance / theatre. We have already had one piece, written by myself, which was commissioned by the Birmingham Rep. for their Beyond the Boundaries festival this May. 'Heart is a Lonely Hunter' will be our first play produced in the North West. We have already received some funding from Operation Fundraiser - Community Futures.

Has anyone influenced you to work in theatre?
I can't think of anyone in my own life who influenced me to work in theatre, but seeing the work of Mike Leigh (Abigail's Party and Nuts in May) as a teenager played a big part in me wanting to be involved in theatre/TV/film. I didn't really come to live theatre until my early twenties and then it was the work of Jim Cartwright and Steven Berkoff that really influenced me. I also love the written work of Tennessee Williams and Joe Orton.

What do you think about the 24:7 idea?
I really like the idea of performing in non-theatre spaces. I think it is a challenge for practitioners to work with, and effectively use, non-traditional spaces. I also like the idea of people taking control of their own lives. If you want to be a writer or a director or an actor, it is very important that you stage your own work. Don't hang around waiting for some theatre to knock on your door coz it won't happen. You have to take control yourself. 24:7 helps artists to do this. It is a wonderful platform and showcase!

Do your family members support your writing?
I come from a traditional working class family in Ireland who are very suspicious of anyone who makes a living through the arts. They haven't really been supportive. They would prefer me to have a normal job. I think my career choice is a reaction to their attitude, and this I suppose has given me a drive to succeed. But my Mom loves film. So in a sense it is because of her, I've got to love the arts, film and theatre things. I loved films with a dark humour such as Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? And The Killing of Sister George. I also loved horror movies such as The Omen trilogy and The Exorcist. Also, being a gay boy, I loved everything with Marilyn Monroe in it, especially Bus Stop.

Have you ever been on radio or TV?
I did a few ads as an actor and some extra work for Neighbours when I was in Australia for a year. I was also interviewed on GMR's Gaytalk for winning last year's Writing Out award. I also directed a fashion show at LIPA and was interviewed by Channel One which I'm sure no-one ever saw! Oh yes, and I had a close-up in an Erasure video for their Fingers and Thumbs single.

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