Camden People’s Theatre’s SPRINT Festival returns with a packed programme throughout March. London’s “best-established carnival of new and unusual theatre” features artists with bold ideas, artists who don’t play by the rules, and artists, in many instances, making their first professional work.
This is the fifteenth of a series of interviews highlighting artists and work within the Festival, as I chat with writer/performers Jim Spencer Broadbent and Johnjoe Irwin about their show, Poppies.
Johnjoe and Jim clash over the wearing of a poppy. The best friends address what the symbol represents to their respective heritage and attempt to navigate their way through this historic subject matter in relation to their friendship and the British Empire’s devastating, lasting impact in Ireland and how this affects their relationship.
This naturalistic conversation develops into surreal hypotheticals that explore autonomy, societal expectations and childhood memories. Amidst this, their relationship falters as they both realise they are fundamentally different people .
Poppies depicts a modern day tragedy of stubbornness, repressed anger and identity in a time where this lack of footing soft launches so many young men into dangerous ideals.
Where: Camden People’s Theatre
When: 27 Mar, 7pm
Tickets link: https://cptheatre.co.uk/whatson/Poppies
Your show Poppies is in this year’s SPRINT Festival – can you tell me how you got the idea for it?
Jim: Each year I go through the same thought process of ‘I’ll wear the Poppy this year’. I studied in Belfast and plenty of my social circle are Irish, so we discuss it every year; what it means to me, and to them and annually I decide against it.
Johnjoe and I lived together in London for a while in 2025 and when I got a bit of rehearsal space in kind from Theatre Peckham I met Johnjoe in the theatre and we improvised really interesting stuff. It felt like we had a play in concept within 30 minutes of talking.
Johnjoe: Yeah, the initial idea for the play really came from a chat me and Jim had one night when we lived together about the core issue of the Poppy and what it represented to us both.
This was long before we even considered making a play about it, however. But it led to more discussions about our national identities and the experiences we’ve both had living and studying abroad.
I moved to London to do a masters degree, but had met Jim during his time in Belfast. The question of having pride in where you come from was a big one for us.
I’ve always been so proud to be Irish and can’t imagine not having that deep sense of it, which is something Jim has had a more complicated relationship with coming from England. All this informed those two rehearsal days and as Jim said it felt like we had something really interesting to say immediately.
Your story focuses on the British and their impact in Ireland. What might audiences expect when they come along?
Johnjoe: We definitely discuss the impact British colonialism has had on Ireland but I don’t think that the focus is through the lens of ‘The British’. The focus is our relationship as friends and the long and complex relationship between our two nations and how that continues to shape us.
Expect jokes at each other’s expense, absurd scenarios and emotional beats possibly informed by more deeply held resentments bubbling under the surface.
Jim: Energy. Serious energy.
How did you get started in the business?
Jim: I’m a freelance production manager & stage manager. So for most of my adult life I’ve been aware of how to put a show on and the logistics around it. But I’ve never lost sight of the art that births a production.
I’ll work in theatre and attempt to try to understand every asset of it for the rest of my life, I’m sure. The writing and performing is far less tangible than a get-in, there’s so much space between.
Johnjoe: I started acting during my time at University in Dublin and loved it. I was studying History and Politics, which is handy for this play, but once I graduated I knew I wanted to train professionally as an actor.
I did a part time course in the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and then moved to London to do a Masters degree in Actor and Performer training at Rose Bruford College. It was an incredible experience where I really got to create a process as an actor, writer and more broadly as a theatre maker.
Did you draw on real-life stories as you developed Poppies?
Johnjoe: Yes, absolutely! We brought in so many stories and snippets from throughout our lives because we wanted this piece to be grounded in our friendship and the often absurd nature of everyday life.
There are things we take for granted as normal in the moment and as children when we’re in a certain environment, but once you take a step back you can see how odd and funny some of these things are, especially when you’re talking to someone who has had the complete opposite experience to you.
It isn’t entirely autobiographical though, we’ve definitely dialed things up and stepped into alternate versions of ourselves for this piece but you’ll have to come see the show and chat to us after to find out which parts are 100% true and which parts have been exaggerated a bit. You may be surprised by the answers you get too.
And what’s next after SPRINT?
Jim: We’re actually adding a second date in London due to demand for tickets. We’re going to be part of Greenwich Theatre’s new initiative ‘See New Next Tuesday’ and we’re excited to take the play to Brighton Fringe this year. We’re at the Rotunda on Bank Holiday weekend.
Johnjoe was there a couple of years ago with another production so I’m excited to get involved for the first time as a professional playwright.
We also believe that this show has rural touring potential and excited to engage with that at the end of the year – if we’re lucky with funding.
Johnjoe: Yeah as Jim said; We really believe in this project and what it has to say, so we are very excited to continue developing it and bringing it to wider audiences.