Theatre, Dance and Comedy

Divas the hit of 24:7

Best of the fest (photo by Tom Wright)

The story of a gay man struggling to deal with coming out even though no-one around him seems to have a problem has proved a huge hit with Manchester's gay community.

The comedy has attracted the biggest audiences of any play at this year's festival and organisers have even laid on an extra performance (10.15pm, Friday 28 July at the Midland Hotel) to cope with demand for tickets.

Colin Carr wrote the story and plays Reuben the central character. Tanya Smith asked him...

..why is Divas proving to be so popular?

“I think it’s because although it is a comedy, it’s a comedy with a heart. It’s about family relationships which I think everyone can relate to. The main character Reuben is someone who wants to achieve something but feels that his family are getting in the way. They don’t do it in a malicious way; they obviously have his best interests at heart, but the family is dysfunctional.”

It's your first play with your theatre group Guise as Dolls. How did the company begin? 

“When I graduated from Drama School two years ago, it seemed that there were a lot of actors but not a lot of work. You know really for every small TV part you’ll have around 30 people auditioning. So I decided that I would make my own work. I set up  Guise as Dolls with a number of others. We’ve already written and put on comedy sketches, monologues and cabarets.”

You’re from Edinburgh. What brought you to Manchester?

"I came to Manchester in 2000 to go to Drama School. I have always enjoyed being here. I liked what was going on so I decided to stay after graduation. Edinburgh obviously has the festival but once that’s over, there’s really not much going on. In Manchester,you can go and see fringe theatre every evening of the week if you want to. There are always plays going on in small venues, like above pubs and also places like Taurus on Canal Street and the Kings Arms in Salford."  

The play seems to be a hit with the gay community...

Colin Carr, Divas and Double Glazing

“Reuben has recently come out and he doesn’t really know how to go about it. He is almost hoping that his family will have issues with it, but they don’t, they are actually really supportive. His problem is more to do with his own issues about having confidence in himself to go out and have fun. I think that’s why it’s attracted attention because it’s not a story of the usual hardship of coming out. He isn’t overly confident and he doesn’t go out on dates.

He is also obsessed with double glazing men! This becomes an outlet for him. A cold caller phones him and Reuben latches on to him. He uses double-glazing as a substitute for a relationship. He talks about double-glazing using relationship terms such as not wanting to ‘commit to double glazing’ and needing to ‘try it out first to see if he likes it’. Double glazing becomes his euphemism for a relationship.”

You must be pleased it's been such a hit...

“I am very pleased with the play's popularity, it’s happened quite quickly. I’m not really sure how it’s happened, I’m not sure if it's word of mouth or the poster. I’m just pleased that people are enjoying it, because that’s the main thing. When you work on something, at first you don’t know if the play is going to be put on or if anyone will even get to see it, so for people to see it and enjoy it, is just great!”

What are you going to do with the play now?

"Hopefully, we will be taking the play to other venues. The extra show [on Friday night] at the Midland Hotel is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, after this week, the company and the director are going to have a chat and see where we want to take it. We may possibly re-write some parts, now that we have tested it on an audience; we know what works and what doesn’t. It’s been great being part of the festival and it’s been valuable to find out where the strengths of the piece are."