Writer-performer Theo Hristov stops by to tell us more about his play, Working Class Hero, which opens at the Voila! Festival next month.
“In Working Class Hero, a white privately-educated Posh Actor frustrated by being pigeonholed decides he wants to do a “gritty” independent film “up North” with “an outrageous accent” and “red hair”.
Problem is that script was written by his best friend – a migrant Working Class Actor who wrote it as a vehicle for himself. When Posh Actor gets the job, the conflict ultimately strains their friendship to a breaking point.”
Where: Barons Court Theatre
When: 19, 21-22 Nov
Ticket link: https://www.voilafestival.co.uk/events/working-class-hero-3/
Tell me a bit about your show. Where did the idea come from?
The play is a class satire that addresses migrant and working class representation in the arts and why the current situation is so dire.
There’s still a huge class problem in the UK not just in the arts and my fear is that a lot of kids from less privileged backgrounds will just decide to stay away from the arts whatsoever because the support and the resources are just not what they should be. And that’s a huge loss.
I’ve spent years living the reality of what the play satirises. But I’ve thinking of a specific moment, that’s maybe 2018, when I was still fresh-faced and naïve, and I read one of those articles that comes out every couple of years about the lack of working class actors.
And one of the top casting directors mentions Michael Fassbender as an example “But he’s Irish and German so goes right by the whole class distinction.”
I believe that was the first time I realised there was this separation in industry terms of my class identity and my migrant background. I couldn’t be both. It felt like I had to pick one.
It’s one of those ideas that just stayed with me. I didn’t write it down. I didn’t do anything with it. It wasn’t really even an idea. It was just a feeling that there’s a story there worth telling but I wasn’t sure exactly what that story was.
So I just let it fester in the back of my mind. And like all good ideas, it took hold. And it grew.
Why should audiences choose your show? How would you sell it in one sentence?
It’s a satire about Britain’s fixation on social class based on someone’s accent.
It’s a funny play, we’re having fun doing it and it’s a genuinely good night in the theatre. And we won’t make you get on stage. I promise.
What does being part of the Voila! Festival mean to you?
The closure of the VAULTS has really limited the opportunities for young theatre companies like ours to showcase our work in London without having to take the increasingly expensive journey to the Edinburgh Fringe.
VOILA! is one of the few remaining places that is vital to the current fringe ecosystem. As a festival championing work by migrant theatre makers it’s also essential in programming work that might not be given the chance somewhere else.
Our play had its first scratch night at last year’s Voila! and we’re very excited to bring the full show to this year’s edition of the festival.
Especially considering the play closely addresses migrant representation in the arts. It couldn’t have found a better home than here.
How did you make a start in the industry?
So I came to the UK to go to uni. Or at least that was the reason I gave people back home. Coming from a working class background, working in the arts wasn’t something one did.
So it took me awhile to allow myself to pursue it. I needed to physically distance myself to make that happen. I went to my local youth theatre at the Southwark Playhouse for a couple of years – big shoutout to YoCo.
That’s when I started writing and putting on my first shows. I’m also really interested in film and started making short films around the same time. And then decided to go to drama school.
What’s next for the show?
We have two dates coming up at the Pleasance as part of Pleasance Futures Festival, 5-6 December.
No immediate plans after but we believe in the show and we’d love it to have a longer life.