Caro Meets Theatre Interview

Martin Jameson: Away From Home

By TW Editorial | Published on Friday 14 March 2014

‘Away From Home’, currently completing a run at London’s Jermyn Street Theatre, depicts the relationship between a male escort and a premiership footballer. It’s subject matter that seems increasingly in need of discussion, because while in this day and age, gay people are much less likely to conceal their sexuality than they were in the past, this is by no means reflected in the world of sport, and in particular, the world of football.

The play has been co-written by award winning actor Rob Ward (who also performs the monologue), and veteran TV and radio writer Martin Jameson (who also directs). To find out more about the play and how it came together, I put some questions to the latter.
CM: Can you tell us what ‘Away From Home’ is about?
MJ ‘Away From Home’ tells the story of a gay male escort called Kyle who, one Saturday, is hired by the (unnamed) premiership footballer who just scored the equalising goal against the team he supports with a passion. Kyle believes himself to be happy with his life as a male prostitute, and the footballer likes to keep his sex life at a distance by paying for it. Both of them think that they can keep their emotions under control by making sex a transaction. ‘Away From Home’ explores the consequences for both of them when they actually fall in love.

CM: What inspired you to write it?
MJ: Rob Ward came to me wanting to write a play about homophobia in football, and asking if I had any advice. I’d been sitting on a story I’d heard about a well known player’s relationship with a male escort for over twenty years. I don’t know much about football, but Rob’s passion was infectious, and at last it seemed as if this story had a home. Plus, by telling the story from the escort’s point of view, it would allow us to represent the footballer without that cringey feeling I always get watching plays and films about sport, where I know that the actor isn’t really a proper athlete.

CM: How did you come together as writing partners? Have you collaborated before?
MJ: I’ve been writing full time for nearly twenty years – I do things like ‘Holby’, ‘Casualty’ and ‘Emmerdale’ for my day job – and in the theatre, radio and TV as a director and producer for over three decades in total. I met Rob, directing him as a young actor, in a play called ‘Loaded’, about gun crime in east Manchester.

CM: How easy is it to write together? Was it written before you started rehearsing it, or was this the kind of process where the devising and rehearsing happen together…?
MJ: I never in a million years thought I’d be co-writing with someone less than half my age (ouch!), but bringing together Rob’s raw authenticity, and my grizzled old gunslinger’s technical expertise has worked really well.

We started by taking the best part of two months researching, talking about ideas and storylining. I never go to script unless I have the narrative mapped out in detail because everything begins and ends with story. Then Rob went off to write the first draft – mainly because we were writing it for him to perform solo, so it needed to be his natural voice that dominated. At least that’s what I told Rob. I was in Hawaii with my feet up sipping cocktails (I wish!).

The script that came back was fab – but quite long – so I did the second draft, stripping it right back, cutting about a third of what he’d written, tidying up the language, and doing a bit more restructuring. We then bounced it back and forth a few more times, trimming and refining, with each new draft. Once we got to the point where we were arguing about ‘a’ and ‘the’ we reckoned it was probably ready to submit to the 24:7 Theatre Festival in Manchester. It got selected, and once we were in rehearsals we hacked away at it even more, cutting another five or six pages, and re-writing the whole time.

It’s been an incredibly enjoyable process because we’re both very self critical and not afraid to tear our own work to bits. But we trust each other too – even when we’re having a blazing row about an apostrophe.

We’re already discussing our next project together.

CM: Homophobia can rear its ugly head anywhere, obviously, but it seems especially prevalent when it comes to sports environments. Why do you think that is?
MJ: It’s really odd. The UK is a fantastically liberal and progressive place with regard to sexuality these days, but it is as if sport, and football especially, is lagging behind by about thirty years. You can be an openly gay MP, a gay teacher, a gay vicar – just about – but not a gay footballer. Many players claim it would be okay in the dressing room, but I’m dubious about that as I’ve heard anecdotally about the casual homophobia that is thrown around in that environment. Most people want to blame the more bone headed element of the supporter faction who will use anything to taunt or humiliate an opposition player. But surely sponsorship and branding must play a part too. Do players and club owners see a declaration of alternative sexuality as something that would threaten their bankability, especially when we’re talking about finance that comes from owners or brands that have major interests in emerging markets or cultures where being gay is a big no-no?

CM: Do you think shows like this one can raise awareness of problems like this? Is that an aim of this piece?
MJ: No one play is ever going to change an entrenched opinion. But it does help to get the conversation going. And this play is first and foremost an entertainment. It’s funny, it’s a love story, it has twists, turns and surprises. It’s a good night at the theatre. And by doing all that, it helps to create an atmosphere where being openly gay in the world of football is seen as normal and barely worth mentioning.

So our ultimate aim…. Is to put ourselves out of business!

CM: What’s happening to the play after its London run? Will there be further tours in the future?
MJ: We’ve got a big tour coming up including Brighton, Wigan, Bolton, Preston, Hull, Leeds, York, Dublin and hopefully Edinburgh in the summer. None of this would be possible without the great guys at Hartshorn Hook who came on board to give the play a life after the Manchester festival. We’re also hoping to take the show into football clubs and play it to staff, supporters, players; a whole audience who might really get something from the play but perhaps wouldn’t go to the theatre otherwise. Watch this space to see how we get on with that.

CM: What’s next for Working Progress Theatre?
MJ: I’m just a hired hand, but I’d say that Working Progress are one of the most exciting emerging theatre companies in the North West. Rob recently wrote a fantastic piece about gay boxers for a theatre event protesting against homophobia in Russia in the run up to the Winter Olympics. They’ve done interactive Halloween performances scaring the you-know-whats out of people in a Salford pub. Coming up, they’re mounting an evening of short plays all about cancer, called The C Project, in support of The Christie cancer hospital in South Manchester. Everything they do is relevant and innovative. Keep your eye out for them in the future.

‘Away From Home’ is on at Jermyn Street Theatre until 28 Mar – see the venue website for more details. For upcoming tour dates throughout the UK, see hartshornhook.com.

LINKS: hartshornhook.com | facebook.com/WorkingProgressTheatreCompany | twitter.com/WPTheatre