Nic Harvey and Ben Welch. Photo: Ashley Bird
What is Mrs Green about?
Ben: Mrs Green tells the story of an old lady living in Basford, who was part of a backing singer trio during the Motown era in the sixties and seventies. She wrote some wicked hits, but gave it all up and moved back to Basford. She developed arthritis, so began growing her own marijuana to ease the pain. She’s the pillar of her community. The play is set in her living room the day before she is to be evicted from her flat. It’s her last hurrah.
This will be the fourth time you’ve performed Mrs Green, what can existing fans of the show expect from the re-imagining?
Siobhán: We’ve kept the same characters and scenario that existing fans will recognise, but tightened the writing, and re-worked the songs. We’ve looked at character journeys throughout the play and some of them have changed slightly - the characters have evolved.
Ben: We’re saying our fans like we’ve got millions of people going: Mrs Greeeen! We’ve got Rob Green as musical director and he’s transformed the way we do the songs, they’re vamped up. We’ve still got the same vibe, it’s a night out, it’s an event and it’s fun.
The play is all about woman power, but what made you decide to cast a male as the lead?
Ben: I think the play has a lot of feminist elements, which is wicked. Nic Harvey, the writer, came up with the idea, and there were a couple of years talking about it before anything happened. I was helping to develop it. I was the right person for the role as I have a big, soulful voice. We were clear from the beginning that we didn’t want this to be a drag act - Mrs Brown does that and is very good at it, but we didn’t want to. Audience feedback we’ve had from previous shows - that’s been fucking brilliant - is that a lot of people said they get lost in Mrs Green’s world and forget I’m a man.
Siobhán: The re-write has very much been written with a feminist perspective in mind. The character of Mrs Green already existed and was already being played by a man, but the idea that all the characters were equal was firmly there. This re-write has seen some of the female characters developed in ways beyond their romantic interests – all of the characters now have interests beyond finding or maintaining a relationship. That was something I was keen to develop in terms of my involvement directing the production at Nottingham Playhouse last year.
You said you’re keen to make sure that Mrs Green isn’t a drag act. How?
Ben: Sheep Soup have just received funding from the Arts Council to professionalise the whole process. It enables us to pay actors who have given up their time for three years for the belief of a project, and we now have a budget for costume, make up and props. It won’t just be me in a wig and makeup, we’ve got a make-up artist coming in to make me look realistically old aesthetically. We don’t reference the fact that I’m a man. A lot of what Sheep Soup does is character driven, so it was about the character of Mrs Green and her story.
Siobhán: It’s not sending anything up. We don’t ridicule and we don’t reference what we’re doing. The vast majority of the people involved in this project trained at the TV Workshop, and that natural, improvisational style has been used throughout the project and it’s always been about the truth. The truth of Mrs Green is that the character is a woman.
Mrs Green: The Musical
Mrs Green is obviously very different to yourself, how do you get into character?
Ben: It’s about not hamming it up. You have to find the natural motivation for your character and connecting with it. I’ve had the privilege of three years’ worth of character development to get my head around her. I know her inside out.
Have you had any averse reactions to the use of marijuana?
Ben: Surprisingly not. Something that was very important from day one was to not make it gimmicky, like, “Look, I’ve got loads of weed and there’s a guy in tights smoking a spliff” We didn’t add much on about the weed until the last minute - we wanted to get the story and the characters to be believable, and then add a marijuana sheen on the top. It’s truthful. There is an old lady in pain, and this helps her to feel better.
Siobhán: To quote from If The Lord Let It Grow [a number in the show], “You’ve got so much justification for rolling joints when your joints are tight”. I think people have responded to this message. A few people who we thought were very anti-marijuana because they saw it as a drug and therefore a bad thing, really responded to that. The show doesn’t force an agenda and it isn’t too on-the-nose with its political point, it’s just saying this is a very helpful thing, in terms of pain or sickness reduction, for someone with a chronic illness. It’s common sense.
Siobhán, has it been difficult to come on board to the project after it has been established and changing so much?
I’ve been aware and involved with the Mrs Green process from the very beginning, and all of the changes that have been made, have been made by everyone. When Nic re-wrote the script, it was done in development with the cast and was based around improvisations that I ran. Everyone was still allowed to feel complete ownership over their characters. It’s been a collaborative process.
Can you describe Sheep Soup and Mrs Green in 10 words?
Siobhán: Nottingham artists collaborate to create accessible, engaging, bloody great theatre.
Ben: A fun night out with tunes, booze, bud, friends and freedom. That’s eleven but shoot me down.
Siobhán: The single word I would use to describe Sheep Soup is collaboration.
Who should come and watch Mrs Green?
Ben: Probably not kids under fourteen. There is occasional use of bad language, and the drug references might put it into a certain category. The whole point of Sheep Soup is breaking down the exclusivity of theatre. We’re trying to say it’s for everyone - it’s a night out. You’re coming to have a fun night out with a bunch of people you can relate to and stories being told that are parallel to some of yours.
How can people get involved with Sheep Soup?
Siobhán: Come and see our shows and get involved. We’re running a workshop at the Curve alongside the Leicester performances that will give people a taster of the collaborative, improvisational techniques Sheep Soup work with. If you wanna get involved, come down.
Anything else you wanna say?
Siobhán: I wanna say a bloody massive thank you to absolutely everyone who has made Mrs Green possible and has been on board without any financial gain. It was a passion project. And now it’s a passion project with pennies and that, is awesome.
Sheep Soup will be performing Mrs Green at the Leicester Curve as part of the Inside Out Festival on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 April.
They will be running a workshop at the Leicester Curve on Friday 24 April at 6pm.
Sheep Soup website
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