After the success of Tortoise at the Arcola Theatre, playwright Naomi Westerman brings her new play Puppy to the King's Head Theatre this April. We took the opportunity to speak with Ed Larkin (The Little Big Things) whose starring in the show to tell us more.
Q) Hello. Before we begin, can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit more about Puppy and the character that you play?
Hey, my name is Ed Larkin, I'm an actor and I'm currently playing Dave in ‘Puppy’ at The Kings Head Theatre in London.
Puppy centres around two young women who meet in a car park and begin to fall in love, the unique thing about this plot, however, is that they meet while dogging! It explores their relationship, the relationships they develop with their fellow doggers in the community, and it explores sex, politics, and a battle for their rights, as the two central characters decide to set up their own feminist Porn company. Set against the backdrop of new proposed legislation by the government that outlaw’s female pleasure. I multi role a couple of characters in the show but my main character is Dave, who is a wheelchair user, and probably describes himself as working class and is part of the dogging group alongside his wife Sandra.
Q) What piqued your interest about this play and made you want to get involved?
I think what piqued my interest about this play, and what led me to want to be involved, is I really felt it would push me. The character I play, Dave, is written as a wheelchair user in the script but I wouldn't really say that this is mentioned particularly within the play, at least, not in a way that the main point of his character is the fact that he's disabled. This can be quite rare when writing disabled characters, so this was a big factor for me and was a real point of interest. Also, I think just going back to plays was a draw, I've been lucky enough recently to have been cast in a few musicals, I absolutely love the genre and would love to do more, but it feels really nice to keep diversifying the work that I do.
Q) Naomi Westerman (the writer of this play) is an advocate for writing female-led queer stories which is under-represented in this industry. Why do you think it’s so important for these stories to be told?
I think it's vitally important that these stories get to be told. For many years across all diversity, in all its forms, the industry has really underrepresented, and at times, misrepresented important stories that maybe are not considered mainstream. This has slowly started to change but there is still a sense that there is a long way to go. So having a play such as ‘Puppy’ in London can only be positive and I really hope this will increase conversations about stories that are underrepresented in our industry. With plays like this, it really feels that Naomi is at the forefront of change with the work she is creating.
Q) Whilst the socio-political themes explored are serious, Westerman takes a comedy driven approach in her writing. How do you think this will resonate with audiences?
I think this approach to writing and the way the themes of the show are explored will resonate with audiences due to it comedic nature. It allows audiences to become relaxed and it gives us, as performers, a chance to have really serious conversations around the framework of comedy. I think audiences will resonate with the themes of empowerment, and freedom of speech, and alongside all of that, they will be allowed to have a right good laugh!
Q) What are you hoping audiences take away from this piece of theatre?
What I'm hoping audiences will take away from this piece of theatre is the feeling of empowerment, that anything is possible and as humans we really have the power to make change. Alongside this, I believe audiences will come away with a better understanding of community and what that looks like. And I'd like to think audiences would have gained a deeper knowledge of the play’s themes and the importance of communication, honesty, respect, and love.
Q) Why do you think audiences should come along to see Puppy?
I think people should come and see Puppy because it's funny, sexy and brutally honest, oh and Nick Clegg!
Puppy plays at the King's Head Theatre from 1st April until 27th April.
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