Playwright Antony J. Stowers reading to his audience, also acting in a play, looking punk.
RAD TIMES: How does language connect to reality? For a playwright. You live out of major cities. In the countryside. Does the countryside allow you a purer connection with reality?
Antony J. Stowers :
I live in a major French city called Nantes and have lived in London, Paris, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Angers (also in France). I was born and raised in a small town and though I use what cities can offer me as a writer and teacher; I feel more rooted and at peace in the countryside. Cities are for work and business and actors especially need them if they want success, but I think if one is creative one can unearth interesting art projects anywhere. Technology has liberated us from dependence on cities. It depends on what you want from life. I'm not a snob, so you will never hear me saying city people are cool and country people are bumpkins. I'm proud to be a countryman. Where I live often influences my writing. My play 'Jean's Choice' made in French last year in Nantes could not have happened if I lived in a city. It is based on true events that happened to me in rural France. I think a talented writer or playwright adapts their work to their environment.
RAD TIMES: What writers from French literature have influenced you? Jean-Paul Sartre, Simon De-Beauvoir, Jean-Jacques Rousseau ?
Antony J. Stowers:
I read about 50 books a year mostly in English, but I try to expand my knowledge of French literature. Then I can read their work in English as I have difficulty reading (and writing) in French. This year I have read 'The Immoralist' by André Gide and will soon be tackling 'Old Goriot' by Honoré de Balzac and 'Candide' by Voltaire. When I write for theatre, I do so in English, and then with French actors, we translate the text to French to make it fit for performance. But, without losing the power I feel it should have in English and it's very hard because the French have different idioms and similes and slang.
RAD TIMES: Is any of your work absurd ? What is absurdism to you?
Antony J. Stowers:
I don't think any of my work is 'absurd'! My former mentor was the late Edward Bond, and he scolded me for wasting time on Absurdism and Surrealism. He said the world had too many problems that need to be addressed. Why become self-indulgent and boast cleverness? And I agree with him. Where I think the absurd works and finds its power is when it becomes parody or satire and holds up precious and pompous beliefs to ridicule. Most of my work is rooted in a kind of loosely sympathetic Socialism as a panacea to the world's problems. There are a lot of writers out there with no social conscience at all.
RAD TIMES: Have you trained actors for your play? Or do you look for trained actors when you do a play?
Antony J. Stowers:
I look for talent, presence, charisma,, and self-confidence. Training means little to me. As a Director I'm looking for commitment to rehearsals. I don't like being messed about by people who don't really know what they want. That happened last year in Nantes with a bunch of people who seemed clueless to just how difficult it is to steer a theatre ship from port to port without hitting rocks and sinking, so I took control and put everyone into lifeboats and sailed away from them and wished them luck - they would surely find another boat to pick them up but I didn't want to be their captain!
Playwright Antony J. Stowers at a book fair in Darlington
RAD TIMES: Which of Shakespeare's tragedy is dear to you that you have directed?
Antony J. Stowers:
I don't think I have ever directed a complete Shakespearean play. It is very daunting. I have only ever conducted workshops for young people or directed short scenes of speeches for my 'Shopping with Shakespeare' projects that I have been doing since 2006 in the UK and France. My least favourite plays are 'Romeo and Juliet ' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. The only part of the latter that I like is The Mechanicals 'Pyramus and Thisbe'.
RAD TIMES: We were reading this playwright: Alan Ayckbourn, a British playwright. Some of his plays portray a lot of unrest and drugs in youth. What are the issues that you talk about and discuss in your plays?
Antony J. Stowers:
In the UK we have TIE (theatre in education) which allows us to use theatre to explore social or current issues or problems in society. From 1997 to 2005, I wrote half a dozen works for primary-age and high school-age students. Violence in schools which we call bullying was addressed in my play 'Harry's Dream'. This played 165 times in three years to about 25,000 young children. 'My Brother Jake' looked at the temptations of drugs. This played about 35 times for teenagers. 'Scars' was about vandalism and was played 15 times to teenagers and 'The Key' played for young children 12 times. I also played two solo shows. One called Colors' against racism (35 times) and 'Mr Gaston' (99 times) encouraged children to learn another language. So yes, in the UK and the USA at least we can use theatre to explore issues concerning young people, but in France, this idea and concept is unheard of!
RAD TIMES: What is writing to you?
Antony J. Stowers:
If I could play a musical instrument, I would and if I could paint I would, but I can do neither of these things, so I write. Writing is my interpretation of the world around me.
RAD TIMES: Can you tell readers of RAD TIMES names of five of your books that we should read?
Antony J. Stowers:
'Sons and Lovers' by DH Lawrence, ''Far from the madding crowd' by Thomas Hardy, 'Under Milk Wood' by Dylan Thomas, 'Trainspotting' by Irvine Welsh and 'No. 1' - by myself.
Thank you for the lovely chat! We hope to read more and more of your play here. And perform!
You can read more details about the work of the playwright here: ANTONY J STOWERS - Antony J Stowers (weebly.com)
E-books and paperback by the author can be purchased here: Shop the Independent Bookstore | Lulu.