As Invisible Me opens at Southwark Playhouse this week, I spoke with cast member Kevin N Golding to find out more about the play, which is written by Bren Gosling, and directed by Scott Le Crass.
Lynn’s sex life more or less expired in 1987 – no memorial service, not even a sympathy card. Now she rattles around the house she inherited from her mum.
Jack, a newly widowed and HIV-positive gay man, is hurled back onto the singles scene after 35 years. Armed with grief, cautious optimism, and a baffling array of dating apps, he’s trying to figure out if there’s still room for romance.
And then there’s Alec, divorced, estranged from his grown-up kids, and still convinced he’s the same irresistible punk who could pull anyone with a grin back in ’82. Time, however, has other ideas.
Where: Southwark Playhouse Borough
When: 8 Apr – 2 May
Ticket link: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/invisible-me/
Invisible Me is a three-hander about 60-something Londoners finding their way through later life. What can you tell us about it?
Invisible Me is a comedy drama I’d say about 3 working class Londoners, being 60 years old and trying to reconnect with themselves after encountering personal issues that they face in their lives.
It’s done in a way that uses humour but doesn’t shy away from the things that they have to deal with.
Your character, Alec, is divorced and trying to capture the irresistibility of his youth. What is he like to play?
It’s great to play Alec, as he’s a character with layers of humour, complexities and charm as well as vulnerability. It’s a challenge, an exciting one that keeps me on my toes.
The content of the show looks at sex, drugs, abuse and more. How would you sell it to potential audiences seeking the warmth beneath the message?
I would say it’s the humanity of the characters that you’ll see. All of them seek connection, warmth and a desire to be seen as human beings with plenty to offer.
How does the play work to stop the characters being stereotypes of race, sexuality, or gender?
It gives the characters a life that encompasses the ups and downs that we all go through, regardless of race sexuality or gender.
Do you think people in their 60s still run the risk of becoming invisible?
I think that’s true, yes. In ways of not being acknowledged for their life experience. Overlooked in work opportunities. Certainly, that plays a part in this business.
The risk of becoming invisible definitely exists but it is absolutely not inevitable. We are here, we have hopes, dreams, desires, wants, needs and a life lead.
Look out for my review later this month.