Tackling moral quandaries, the turning of innocence and problems of parenthood, Four Minutes Twelve Seconds has opened at the Trafalgar Studios to glowing reviews after transferring from Hampstead Downstairs. By young and up and coming male playwright, James Fritz, it's also got an award-winning director: Anna Ledwich. We caught up with her to find out more.
What's it like to be in Trafalgar Studios?
I always give a lot of thought to the audience’s relationship to the performance space and the actors — so there has been quite a big adjustment to the Trafalgar Studios. In Hampstead Downstairs the audience were on two sides so watching the play was like a tennis match. At Trafalgar Studios the audience is on three sides so it is much more like a boxing match. Sporting metaphors seem appropriate for this play.
Beyond dangers of new technology for teenagers what is the play really about?
It’s not really about that. It grapples with the idea that technology is now an inescapable part of a teenager's sexual coming of age, but it avoids being moralising or simplistic. It presents lots of angles and ambiguities.
Can you describe it in three adjectives?
Sharp, gripping, funny.
How involved has writer James Fritz been in the process?
James has always been very involved — he adores being in the rehearsal room and really enters into a dialogue with the actors so it’s always very collaborative.
Four Minutes Twelve Seconds is at Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall SW1A 2DY, until 5 December. Tickets: £15, £25, £30.
