Interview: Pushing through to hope in Gavin Werner’s comedy drama, Spanish Steps

Interview: Pushing through to hope in Gavin Werner’s comedy drama, Spanish Steps, premiering at 2022 National Arts Festival [NAF]

Cape Town based creative, Gavin Werner is thrilled that his comedy drama, Spanish Steps has been selected for the Curated Programme at the 2022 edition of the National Arts Festival [NAF]. The festival is on June 23 to July 3, 2022, Spanish Steps is on for three performances at The Hangar- June 26 (6pm) and June 27 (noon and 4pm). There will be pre-NAF preview season of Spanish Steps in Cape Town, at Theatre Arts, Observatory, June 14 – 18 at 7pm. Werner provides insights into the two-hander:

The story- confinement in a basement

You describe Spanish Steps, about “two unlikely companions” who get stuck in a basement and face the unhappy prospect of spending the foreseeable future in close quarters.” Maureen (Dianne Simpson) is an “earnest corporate exec”. You play Barry – her “underachieving employee.” Confined together in a basement, “they get to know one another more than they ever wanted. They enter into a fraught dance, triggering each other’s deepest issues and in the process, they become mirrors of each other’s blind spots. As the tensions rise we wonder if they will push each other over the edge or if they’ll help each other become unstuck.” That sounds like a lockdown situation? Was it inspired by Covid? Gavin Werner: “Interestingly enough this play was not inspired by the lockdown situation. It explores the issue of confinement, but more in how we limit ourselves in life through our choices. As for it being set in a basement, I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of what would happen if you were got stuck indefinitely in confined quarters with someone who pushes your buttons. What would you learn about the other person and what would you have to confront in yourself? For the first few years of its development, Spanish Steps was set in a lift but it that turned out to be too restrictive on the writing. A basement setting gave it much more scope for movement and action.”

Transcending bad life choices and what does it take to break free from toxicity

What spurred you to write Spanish Steps? Was it inspired by people you know? Gavin Werner: “There are many themes, notably why do we get stuck with our bad life choices and what does it take to break free of them. But at the heart of it is my relationship with my late father. It was a tough relationship and I spent much of my life completely befuddled by his seemingly difficult behaviour. At the same time as I grew older and started some exhibiting some of the same traits as my dad, I was able to develop some understanding of what he struggled with and above all an appreciation of what a fundamentally good human being he was. He was utterly loyal and dependable. He worked incredibly hard and he sacrificed an enormous amount for the wellbeing of his family. And when the storm clouds of anger and depression weren’t brewing, he had a wonderful sense of humour. It left me wondering why so many good people; men in particular, exhibit the ugly behaviour that we now call toxic masculinity. A lot has been made of this phenomenon in the last few years but we seldom ask why it exists and if we do, we rarely ask the question in a spirit of compassion.”

Universal setting

Where Spanish Steps set? Now? Gavin Werner: “It is not tied to any specific time or place and it doesn’t have any reference to Covid. Some of the language would place it in South Africa and the fact that the characters have smart phones would date it to sometime in the last ten years. But I think the subject matter is fairly universal, so it could be localized to many different places.”

The genesis of the play – confinement in a lift to a basement

When did you start working on Spanish Steps? Gavin Werner: “I started writing Spanish Steps in 2009. Initially it was set in a lift with a cast of five. I picked it up from time to time over the years but couldn’t get any traction until 2020 when I had the idea to set it in a basement and to make it a two hander. I wrote the latest incarnation of this play during lockdown. As far as writing is concerned, lockdown was a blessing for me as it afforded me the time and the head space to get going with several writing projects that I had been deferring for years.”

Teamwork

A great deal of team work has gone into taking this play from page to stage, particularly in the ongoing pandemic. Have you previously worked with Dianne Simpson and Caroline Midgley? Gavin Werner: “No, this is a first time the whole team has worked together. I’ve been very lucky to work with great people all the way through. Dianne Simpson is a phenomenal actress and writer and is she absolutely perfect for the role of Maureen. Caroline Midgley has a wonderful quirky eye for drawing out the humour in human imperfection. Our lighting design has been superbly handled by Frans Zunguze and Rethea Boer, our highly creative photographer/videographer, has provided us with fantastic media for our publicity.”

Premiering Spanish Steps at NAF 2022

Is this your first play on the curated programme at NAF? “I am very grateful to the National Arts Festival for selecting Spanish Steps and for all the support and funding that they have provided. It has gone a long way to bringing Spanish Steps to life. And for that I must also thank Sue Diepeveen of the Drama Factory in Somerset West. Sue was involved in the early stages of the play, both as a producer and as a script reviewer helping me move the play on as I got stuck at various points. It was Sue who had the foresight to enter the play into the curated programme for which I am extremely grateful. And I am indebted to Berenice Barbier who spent many hours reading the early drafts of the scripts with me. I am also thankful for the support of Marlisa Doubell and Lizanne Peters of 2Sugars Productions (formerly Sugar-daddy). They have been supporting independent theatre for many years and I’m happy to say that our relationship has continued as one of our sponsors for the National Arts Festival.”

Great to be back on stage

Is this your first performance on stage, since lockdown? Gavin Werner: “I was lucky enough to be in Extraordinary Unusual (produced and directed by Faeron Wheeler) which won a Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award in the National Arts Festival in 2021 [virtual festival]. We performed on stage in at the Drama Factory, but solely for the camera to be broadcast at the virtual festival. So, yes this is the first time I’ve performed to a live audience since lockdown. We recently presented three live performances of Spanish Steps, at Theatre Arts, as part of our rehearsal process and it was absolutely fantastic to feel the audience again.”

✳Images supplied.