Matilda McCarthy & Iona Champain from Orlan Theatre Company bring their debut show, BROS, to the stage for one night only this month.
“Mouser and Will have been friends for a long time. Well, more than friends. They’re… bros. Within the confines of a room, they attempt to navigate their relationship – whilst talking about anything other than their relationship. But when the beanies are off and the pints are gone, what’s growing under the surface?”
Where: King’s Head Theatre
When: 14 Apr, 9pm
Ticket link: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/25/by-matilda-mccarthy-iona-champain/bros
BROS “tackles the pitfalls and shortcomings of modern masculinity through the lens of the female body” with the two of you playing male characters. Where did the idea come from?
The idea for us to play men actually came from a location – Iona grew up in Suffolk and used to go and visit The Sailors’ Reading Room in Southwold.
It was built in the 1860s by a sailor’s wife to provide a place for sailors and fishermen to meet, read, and chat rather than spend time in one of the many local pubs.
We were instantly drawn to this idea of a place for men to spend time together without the distractions or activities of drinking or sports.
The original iteration of the show, which we performed in Cardiff, was actually set in The Reading Room, which helped spark ideas about mens’ struggle to communicate which are still very much in the show today.
0We’ve also both always been drawn to playing cross-gender – Iona is a Drag King and Matilda has really enjoyed her previous work where she’s played men and gender-bent characters.
There’s also something about us being women portraying men that allows us to explore masculinity in quite an uncensored and affronting way, as well as adding to the comedy of the show.
You only have one showing on 14 April – do you envisage a further life for the show and what might that look like?
We would love for BROS to have a future life, and we’re planning on developing it for a longer London run.
BROS feels very immediate and relevant, and we think the show is really well suited to a contemporary London venue that champions new writing. We’ve loved working with The King’s Head and hope that the future brings more collaboration.
We’ve also had so many wonderful creatives (composers, graphic designers, directors, the list goes on) who have helped make the show and it’s been such a joy to work with such talented people, so we’d love to expand the creative team for the show in the future.
You are co-creators and performers of BROS. Was this a decision you made early on not to involve other actors, and what’s been your background in working together?
We met doing our Acting Masters at Royal Welsh College and connected pretty much instantly. We were always being cast in the same roles and really bonded over being try-hards who wanted to stay on top of deadlines and have early nights!
BROS began as part of the final assessment of our Masters, and we loved working together so much that we decided to create Orlan Theatre Company, with BROS as our debut show.
Initially, not involving other actors was more of a logistical choice, but as the show has developed, it’s been really interesting to play with the limitations of two actors – it adds to the sense of claustrophobia of these two men stuck in a room with just each other.
BROS also deals with the absence of other characters, so it’s been fun to play with who isn’t on stage as much as who is.
The new King’s Head is proving to be an interesting venue for new work – how do you see BROS working with the space there? What do you like most about the venue?
The King’s Head felt like the perfect fit for BROS because it’s such a vibrant and supportive venue. It’s become such a hub for exciting new artists and really champions queer and female-led work – and they’ve really embraced the bonkers-ness of the show!
Our favourite thing about the venue has to be how personal and close the space feels despite seating over 200 people, which really adds to the intimacy and, at times, uncomfortability of the show.
Do you think modern masculinity is really as toxic as social media would have us believe?
We think, unfortunately, yes. With the continued popularity of people like Andrew Tate and the success of TV shows like Adolescence, toxic masculinity is clearly still a pervading and institutional issue.
Something that the play really hones in on is the insidious nature of toxic masculinity – not just the big issues, but the more day-to-day toxicities that live under the surface. We also really wanted to make a show about how toxic masculinity affects men, as well as women, and to explore how and why toxic masculinity is still so rife.
Ultimately, BROS is a story about two men trying to navigate their relationship within all the rules and expectations our society has about how men should or shouldn’t behave. At its heart it’s about a friendship, and we’ve always wanted that to be at the forefront of the show.