November Spawned A Monsteris a fractured love story inspired by the music of Manchester icons Morrissey and The Smiths. We chatted to playwright Alex Broun about his script.
Morrissey and The Smiths spoke to a generation of lonely indie kids – how autobiographical is November Spawned A Monster?
Like Morrissey’s songs, it’s very autobiographical, and hopefully that is one of its strengths. It charts a time in my life when I was very raw and stupid, like a character in a Morrissey song, and caused a lot of carnage to myself and others. Looking back on that time, it was Morrissey’s music and lyrics that got me through my darkest moments, when others didn’t make it. I think a number of survivors of those years are like that. Morrissey spoke to us survivors.
Morrissey’s lyrics can be equal parts poetic, mysterious and obtuse. How difficult were they to translate to a specific narrative?
Exceptionally difficult – and this is important to point out; the show is inspired by Morrissey’s songs and lyrics, and the amazing Felice Vaiani, but the narrative is drawn more from the title song. In a nutshell – that is the show. We feature about ten Morrissey/The Smiths songs in the show, sung live, including some of my personal favourites – ‘Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before’, ‘Suedehead’ and ‘Sing Your Life’ (absolute fave) – but the songs are used more by William to explore/explain how he’s feeling and to comment on the action or characters.
It’s also a story of love – what should audiences expect from the play?
To have your heart ripped out of your chest, kicked about like a football, trampled in the dirt (literally – wait till you see the set) and then re-inserted, in roughly the same place but feeling quite different. Oh, and with a few laughs along the way. Like any Smiths/Morrissey song, really.
How closely does this one follow on from your earlier play, Half A Person: My Life As Told By The Smiths?
It works both ways – if you saw the original you know the backstory but if you didn’t or don’t, you’ll discover it along the way. It’s the same character but in a completely different set of circumstances. The director, Rob Chuter, sees it more as a companion piece rather than a continuation piece, and that’s pretty accurate.
Have you received much feedback from Morrissey or The Smiths fanatics about your work?
Some love it – some (who have never seen either of the plays!) abuse me regularly online. I think all Morrissey/The Smiths fans respond to the songs on a very individual basis. The songs are deeply personal and very emotional and they mean something different for everyone.
November Spawned A Monsteris playing atOld Fitzroy Theatre fromTuesday October 28 until Saturday November 15, tickets online.
