We chatted to Molly about starring in the European premiere of Paula Vogel’s play Indecent at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
Hi Molly, how does it feel to be part of this production of Indecent? It is an incredible honour. I feel so lucky to have had this particular play and company shining a light at the end of the tunnel throughout the last year. I am learning so much working with this company, it’s an absolute joy.
For those who don’t know the background to the story – could you tell me a bit more about it? Indecent shows us how art can change a person’s life. The story follows Yiddish playwright Sholem Asch, from his bedroom in Warsaw in 1907, who’s first play The God of Vengeance transcends the time he wrote it in. As we follow the true story of what happened to the play, Indecent paints a painfully honest picture of immigration and assimilation, identity trauma and shame, and most of all how even among hatred, living for what we love can set us free.
What was it about the play that grabbed your attention when you first read it? The multi-rolling. Not only are the characters so detailed and well written, but the irony of some of the choices Paula has made with who plays who and when is genius.
How does it feel to be bringing it to the Menier Chocolate Factory? The essence of the Menier, being such an old building and so intimate, creates the rustic atmosphere perfect for our attic playground. The character, Lemmel, The God of Vengeance’s beloved stage manager, explains how art belongs to the people who take the time to come and see it. We watch audiences bravely come in every night and it does feel like magic. They certainly become a part of the piece, and being able to see and feel them with the theatre’s size makes it a mutual shared experience between the players and the audience; unique each night.
What do you think that audiences will take away from the story? I think the play sheds so much light on, and explains so well, what it feels like to be different, and in turn what it means to have to comply to the idea of ‘normal’. I hope audiences might see the play and discover new respect for their other-ness, which is
so universal.
Why should people come along and see it? For me, Indecent is intensely inspiring. If nothing else you will leave thirsty for the life you have, and after all that’s happened I think our audiences deserve as such.
By Emma Clarendon
Indecent continues to play at the Menier Chocolate Factory until the 27th November.