Lee Mattinson – Steel Interview
Workington is an ex-steel making town in West Cumbria where playwright Mattinson was born and raised. ‘Steel’ is inspired by his experiences growing up, revisiting his hometown to set up a new choir and working with local groups. It is a new play commissioned and produced by Theatre by the Lake (TBTL) and directed by TBTL Artistic Director Liz Stevenson. Steel is the headline production for Theatre by the Lake’s inaugural new writing festival, CumbriaFest. After its premiere at TBTL in Keswick, Steel takes its story into the community spaces of West Cumbria.
Ahead of performances Beyond the Curtain caught up with playwright Lee Mattinson to learn more about the show.
What can you tell me about Steel and the characters in the story?
Steel joins two seventeen-year-old lads – James and Kamran – on a wet and windy night in Workington. A night when James discovers he is heir to one mile of the British railway system – a mile worth a cool million and one he can only lay claim to by finding the contract his Great-great-great-grandad George signed with London & North Western in 1903. James and Kamran are catapulted on an adventure that would put The Famous Five to shame, during which they crash into a series of wild and wonderful characters that both help and hinder their town-wide treasure hunt.
Where did the inspiration for the piece come from?
I was born and raised in Workington and it’s a town still stinging from the de-industrialisation in the 80’s. Growing up, I was hyper-aware I was living in the hangover of those days – the dispossession of its workers and a sense of community that evaporated with the steelworks. As a young person, I felt I had few choices and the starting point of the play came from the following wonder: what would a daft seventeen-year-old lad from Workington do if he had agency? If he had a sense of power he’d always craved? If he had a sudden million? It felt like a provocative place to start…
How did you approach the writing process for the show?
My starting point was so broad that I went through a variety of ideas before settling on the form of the show. There were several perspectives from which to tell the story, not only in terms of character but also time scale – where and when was the storyteller? Was it James, Kamran, the town or a combination of all three? How did hindsight change the narrative? Workington is an inherently theatrical landscape – its characters are larger-than-life, its dialogue as sharp as paper cuts, its setting trapped between the roaring sea and domineering fells – and capturing that environment became the biggest challenge. I wanted to put the town on stage in all its complex and hilarious glory.
What research did you do when developing the ideas for the piece?
I did a lot of research into the Steelworks for those first few drafts. We were offered a development week at the National Theatre Studio which gave us the opportunity to get the play on its feet with some actors and begin to interrogate the movement language. Following that we did a week of workshops in secondary schools across West Cumbria to identify how relevant the themes and ideas were for young people right now – I was aware that I was writing from the point of view of my own seventeen-year-old self which accidentally anchored things in 1997. I also ran a series of workshops with Anti-Racist Cumbria to further develop the character of Kamran and interviewed my Dad who was a steelworker in the 80’s and gifted me a terrifying anecdote about exploding seagulls.
When do you step back as a writer and hand a completed piece to the director or is the process always on going?
The process is ongoing but at the end of the first week of rehearsals is when it’s common to disappear and let the Director and the cast do their thing. I was around for the first few days to answer any questions they had about the script as there’s always something that made perfect sense in the writing process but, in the cold light of the rehearsal room, is just gibberish. This often results in a raft of swift cuts before leaving the creative team to their own brilliant devices and the task of translating the script into 3D.
Why do you think this story is relevant now?
In many ways the play is forensically specific – its singular sense of place, the mechanics of small communities and the escapades of two working-class scamps. These could all be seen as obstacles to most audiences. But it’s ultimately a very universal story – it asks questions about love, identity and class. It asks us what we value and it does it in the most Workington way possible – by telling hard truths honestly. The young people at the school workshops told us it’s difficult to be ‘different’ in West Cumbria. The play asks, why? It puts unheard voices centre stage and allows the audience to view a scarred forgotten landscape with a technicoloured new gaze.
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I studied Fine Art at University and left the degree having little clue as to what I wanted to do. I went on to work at Live Theatre in Newcastle which allowed me to see a lot of amazing new writing from some incredible working-class writers. I’d never been to the theatre before, instantly fell in love with it and decided to try and write my own play – the story of a woman trying to disguise her cancer diagnosis from her family by pretending to be Cilla Black. It won a BBC prize and was consequently staged at Live, adapted for Radio 3 and I’ve not really looked back since. I’m a very lucky lad.
What keeps you inspired?
People keep me inspired. I’m eternally fascinated by how kind and cruel we are to one another and love nothing more than magpie-ing icebergs of sentences from people I overhear on the bus. Some of my favourite ideas have come from the most fleeting of meetings or moments – I’m also blessed with one of those faces that makes people want to tell me their deepest, darkest secrets.
What do you hope an audience member takes away from seeing Steel?
I would hope that the audience answer the questions posed in the play in their own way. That they think about where their own values lie and how love – not money – can make us every day millionaires.
Where can audiences see Steel?
Steel runs at Theatre by the Lake from 3 – 19 October at 7.30pm with 2pm matinees on selected dates. It will then tour to The Centre in Maryport, Florence Arts Centre in Egremont, The Beggars Theatre in Millom, Carlisle Youth Zone and Carnegie Theatre and Arts Centre in Workington.
You can find tickets at https://www.theatrebythelake.com/steel-on-tour/
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