Zinnie Harris: ‘I’ve never written anything for a really massive space. That would be fun’
From falling in love with theatre when seeing David Essex in Godspell to working on her – as yet unannounced – dream project, playwright Zinnie Harris tells Fergus Morgan about moments that have made up her theatre career
There are writers who thrive in isolation and there are writers who thrive working with others. Prolific Edinburgh-based playwright and director Zinnie Harris is one of the latter, which is why the lengthy lockdowns of the past two years presented her with a bit of a problem.
“The really exciting part of the whole process for me is the rehearsal room,” Harris says. “I love working with actors and designers on something I have written. That is definitely where I get my energy from. During the pandemic, that hasn’t been possible. I had the writer’s dream of weeks and weeks with nothing to do except write, but it didn’t quite work out like that.”
In fact, Harris has been busy while theatres have been closed. She is an associate director of Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre, and, alongside artistic director David Greig, spent a lot of time steering the theatre through the straitened situation in which it found itself. Now, her new dark comedy The Scent of Roses is about to become the third show to open there since Scotland’s lockdown lifted last year.
‘I love working with actors and designers on something I have written. That is definitely where I get my energy from’
“I love working in Scotland because it is where I live and it is the audience and community I am part of,” she says. “Different plays suit different stages and different audiences, though – some work better in little intimate spaces and some work better on a big, broad canvas. I’ve never written anything for a really massive space. That would be fun.”
Harris was born in Oxford in 1972 but brought up in Scotland. She returned to study zoology at the University of Oxford, before doing a master’s in theatre direction at Hull University. Her second play Further Than the Furthest Thing won multiple awards and her subsequent career as a playwright, adaptor and director has taken her to almost every major theatre in the country.
“It’s easy, as a freelancer, to just respond to whatever comes in and live on a treadmill of project after project, without steering yourself down a path towards the work you really want to make,” she says.
“I think I was doing that a bit before lockdown. I think I was possibly careering towards some sort of burnout. If there is any silver lining of the pandemic for me, it’s that it allowed me some time and space to think about the next big pieces of work I want to make.”
Related to this article
What production made you fall in love with theatre?
I was taken to see David Essex in Godspell when I was six and I remember being blown away. That’s a bit of a naff choice, though. When I was a teenager, I saw Peter Stein’s Oresteia at the Edinburgh International Festival. I saw a production of King Lear at the Lyceum with Richard Briers and Emma Thompson, too. They had a big impact on me.
What are you finding inspiring?
I’ve been watching Couples Therapy on BBC Two. It’s a show where couples go to see a therapist and let it all hang out, and it’s incredibly addictive. You see the same issues and dysfunctions playing out. It’s fascinating.
What do you wish you could change about the performing arts?
The chronic underfunding. I’m worried about how long it will take theatre to recover to where it was before the pandemic, and I’m worried it is the risky things, like new writing, that will suffer the most.
What story do you really want to tell?
I don’t think I can answer this one properly, because I do have a dream project, but it is actually happening and hasn’t been announced yet.
What is the worst thing that has happened to you in theatre?
My career nearly didn’t happen because my first play, By Many Wounds, closed after only two previews. It was due to open at the Chelsea Centre, but the actors had a disagreement with the director and walked out. It was a complete disaster. Luckily, the Hampstead Theatre took it instead.
What projects are you currently involved in?
Unfortunately, the company of The Scent of Roses has been affected by Covid, so we had to push the opening date back a week, but it will open in Edinburgh on March 8.
I was actually writing The Scent of Roses at the beginning of the first lockdown, and it is interesting how resonant it has become. The premise is that a woman locks herself and her husband in a room and says they are not leaving until they start telling each other the truth. I think we can all relate to that kind of pressure-cooker environment now.
I’m directing it as well and it has been really special to get back in the rehearsal room with the cast – Neve McIntosh, Peter Forbes, Leah Byrne, Maureen Beattie and Saskia Ashdown. They are terrific actors and there is a lovely alchemy. It’s been such a long time since I’ve staged a show, I’d almost forgotten what a joy it was to see something I’ve written come to life in three dimensions.
The Scent of Roses runs until March 19. For more: lyceum.org.uk/whats-on
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