Just over a year ago I went to rehearsals for what was then a radio drama and I wrote an article similar to this which ended with the words ‘and who knows, with the way rehearsals are going, there are chances it might go to stage as well as radio…” and that was right.

 One Sided Love has been adapted for the stage and not only has it got bigger, but also better! I went to rehearsals to see how the adaption was coming along. 

 The play, which is set in the 1970’s, shows the stages of a workplace relationship between co-workers Jasper and Iris, despite Jasper already having a girlfriend. 

 What I found, as with all of Likeminded’s productions, is that the script uses everyday language and that allows the audience to feel a connection to the play for the actors in the cast to feel natural in their acting. There have been a few new scenes added and a few removed such as flashbacks, which would not have worked on the stage.

 Director Caitlin Bradley, Lew Freeburn who plays protagonist Jasper King, Sophie Tyrer who plays love interest Iris Langley, Daryl Holden, who plays Carl, and Steve Dean who plays the sort-of sidekick role of Jeremy all took part in the rehearsal I went to.

 For the members of the cast I met, this play includes a lot of first, be it Caitlin’s first time directing a full-length play, Lew’s first lead role or Sophie’s first role out of college, however, you wouldn’t be able to tell based on their level of professionalism!

 I spoke to the cast to see how rehearsals were going!

 Sophie: ’They’ve been good because they’ve been really relaxed and its created a safe space where you feel like you can really explore your character and explore different paths of what they might be thinking and you know you won’t get judged!’

Lew: ‘Yeah, like Sophie said its really relaxed and you can try different things and take risks and with that you come out with something natural because you’ve tried all of the different options and different things, and you’re not doing the same thing over and over again’

 What do you think of the script?

 Caitlin: ‘Because it was a radio drama first, it has had to be edited quite a bit to the point where it was more suited to the stage, just things that wouldn’t come across as well on stage as they would have on radio, with Chris’ permission obviously!’

‘He’s added a few different scenes which is good because people who had read the download of the script will be getting a new experience with it because they won’t have heard or seen them before.’

 Sophie: ‘I think it’s really naturalistic the way that each character speaks its how real people would talk, because as an actor you want to talk like an actual human being when you’re acting.’

 One Sided Love is based around relationships and cheating so how does an actor approach a topic like this?

Sophie: ‘it’s an everyday thing isn’t it, it does happen, and theatre and acting approaches things that aren’t nice and as an actor is our job to portray those topics the best that we can. Even though its touchy and obviously hits people hard sometimes, that’s why it’s good being an actor because you can put yourself into other people’s shoes and you can kind of connect to the audience, and who knows it might make people never cheat again which would be good...’

 Lew: ‘Obviously my character is the one that does the cheating, so inversely, there might be people in the audience who have cheated, and maybe not in a good or a bad way necessarily but they might go, yeah, I can see why he did that and personally relate in a different way.’

 And with this being Caitlin’s first time directing a full-length play, how is she finding it? 

 ‘I didn’t realise how much work goes on behind the scenes for directors like risk assessments and press releases and I’ve learnt so much with that. Coming from an actors’ point of view especially in the auditions when there were so many people, who were so good but they just weren’t right for the role, and now I understand that part so much better, being an actor when someone says, oh you’re just not right. But I really enjoyed that process.’

 Make sure to get your tickets for the play which is taking place in less than a month in the Hope Street Theatre, Friday 16th and Saturday 17th August!

Words by Meg Kay
Images by Andrew Smith