Optional Supplemental/Background Information

The following information gives some contextual information about the play including details about the playwright and the history of the story and the original production. It is intended for you to use as much or as little as interests you and is in no way required for you to be familiar with it in regards to our discussions.

SCOTT’S TAKE

I first learned of Sam Holcroft when one of her plays was presented as one of two double-bills in a project called DOUBLE FEATURES which was presented in a temporary pop-up space at the National. A production of London Road in the Cottesloe (Dorfman) space had been extended and the National decided to turn their paintframe (the very tall open space used to pain backdrops for shows) into an experimental studio space. Her play EDGAR AND ANNABEL was roundly considered the highlight of the four plays. It was a sort of distopian satire that presented a political rebellion from within a domestic framework. They highlight of the play was a couples’ night where the participants build a bomb under the cover of a night of karaoke. It was extremely smart, thoughtful, funny, and political. This opened the door for the National to present her next original play, RULES FOR LIVING.

RULES FOR LIVING has a conceit that wouldn’t feel out of place in an Alan Ayckbourn play. Ayckbourn is known for playing with the conventions of theatre and comedy and his work has subsequently been given the label, the Comedy of Embarrassment. The term derives from “the unease of audiences as their laughter is deflected by the intrusion of realities underlying that hilarity.” While there are moments of great humor in RULES FOR LIVING, the comedy is built on a foundation of pain and repression. In some ways, the play reveals the subtext of the characters’ actions right up front, providing us with information about their own behavior that they are not aware of. It’s a terrific conceit and draws the audience into the humor of the play through contradiction and irony. It’s a play that would have been perfect for Third Rail in its early years. Unfortunately it was written after Third Rail’s early years

MEDIA (Print): - Evening Standard Interview with Sam Holcroft.

Sam Holcroft's intelligent, funny and controlled writing has taken her down some intriguing corners - from adapting a Roald Dahl book, to working with women's theatre company Clean Break, to writing a libretto. She's set to adapt 1957 novel THE BLACK CLOUD for the new Bridge Theatre, and RULES FOR LIVING, a tragicomic farce about the pettiness of family politics, is currently on tour with the English Touring Theatre.

What was the first play to make you want to write plays?

Nick Hytner’s National Theatre production of The Wind in the Willows in 1990. I was six years old and it blew my tiny mind.

What was your background to becoming a playwright?

I studied biology at uni, so playwright wasn’t the obvious choice. By day I was pipetting growth hormones into petri dishes, and by night I was painting faces and writing plays for our student theatre, The Bedlam. When I graduated, I had to choose between doing a PhD, or taking a year out to write plays. I took the year out and got my first commission.

What’s the hardest play you’ve ever written?

Always the one I’m currently writing.

Which brought you the most joy?

Rules For Living, the first comedy I ever attempted. It was a wonderful change to be in a rehearsal room full of laughter!

Which playwrights have influenced you the most?

Sarah Kane, Michael Frayn, Caryl Churchill, David Harrower and Tom Stoppard.

What’s been the biggest surprise to you since you’ve had your writing performed by actors?

It’s no surprise, but the biggest reward is that they can make everything funnier.

What’s been your biggest setback as a writer?

You live in fear of the dreaded one star review. Then you get one, and realise it’s not the end of the world. The Earth keeps spinning, your family still love you, and your laptop keyboard still works.

And the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn?

Whether it’s playwriting or open heart surgery, when you’re in the middle of the process, it’s a hot mess. Keep faith that in the end, you’ll put it back together – and it’ll be better. Try to ignore the blood on the walls.

What do you think is the best thing about theatre? And the worst?

The best thing: we all get together and pretend this thing is real – the writer, the director the actors. Sometimes, just for a moment, we make the audience believe it too. The worst thing: even when you get it right, it’s just for a moment. Then it’s gone.

What’s your best piece of advice for writers who are starting out?

Write lots. Read lots. Put on plays with people you love and respect. Repeat.

Are there any themes and stories you find yourself re-visiting with your plays?

Family. Mental health. Science.

Why did you write Rules for Living?

I was feeling the weight of rules and expectations. I wanted to write about that. So I conceived a play in which the characters also have to conform to rules and expectations – more and more of them – until the weight threatens to crush them completely.

How do you spend opening night?

Hiding.

What’s the best play you’ve seen this year?

Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children. It’s stunning.

What other art forms do you love when you’re not in a theatre?

TV and film. I love great stories, wherever they’re told.

If the Prime Minister said they were abolishing the theatre tomorrow, what would you do?

Put on a play.

MEDIA (Print): Brief Guardian Feature on Sam Holcroft

MEDIA (Audio): Talkback with Sam Holcroft and director Marianne Elliott.

MEDIA (Video): What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

MEDIA (Image): Set from original production of RULES FOR LIVING at the National Theatre (Dorfman)

GLOSSARY

• Hamley’s - International toy store with home office in Great Britain. They market themselves as “the finest toy shop in the world.”

• Microbiome - The collection of all microbes, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and their genes, that naturally live on our bodies and inside us.

• Fauna - All of the animal life present in a particular region.

• Flora - All of the plant life present in a particular region

• Mince pie - Bite-sized pie with mincemeat filling.

• Stasi Germany - The official state security service of the German Democratic Republic from 1950-1990. It has been described as one of the most effective and repressive intelligence and secret police agencies to have ever existed.

• Buck’s Fizz - An alcoholic cocktail made of two parts sparkling wine, typically champagne, to one part orange juice. It is very similar to the Mimosa, which also contains champagne and orange juice, but in equal measures.

• Line and length - “Line” in cricket refers to the direction that the ball travels towards the batter from the hand of the bowler. “Length” is how far away the ball lands in front of the batter on the bounce.

• Glen McGrath - If you understand any of the video below, please share. :)

• The Major General’s Song

• RADA - Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

• Solpadine - Over the counter pain medication that contains Paracetamol, Codeine and caffeine.

• Orange Squash - Orange-flavored drink made from orange juice, sugar, and water.

• Put A Ring On It

• Crime Silk - A Silk lawyer is the colloquial name given to a Queen's Counsel, a senior barrister or advocate who is selected by an independent panel committee due to their knowledge, experience and skill.

• UK Chambers - Organization that ranks lawyers across the UK.

• Anne Robinson - UK host of TV game show The Weakest Link.

• Jeremy Paxman - Arguably Britain's most respected political journalist, renowned for his tough, rigorous interviewing of public figures.

• Pamela Stephenson - Australian clinical psychologist, writer, and actress who is married to comedian Billy Connolly.

• Devils on horseback - Bacon-wrapped dates.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• 2008: COCKROACH - Traverse Theatre.

• 2009: VANYA - Gate Theatre.

• 2010: DANCING BEARS - Clean Break Theatre Company.

• 2010: PINK - Tricycle Theatre.

• 2010: WHILE YOU LIE - Traverse Theatre.

• 2011: EDGAR AND ANNABEL - National Theatre (Paintframe).

• 2014: THE WARDROBE - National Theatre - Connections (The Shed).

• 2015: RULES FOR LIVING - National Theatre (Dorfman).

• 2017: FANTASTIC MR. FOX - Lyric Hammersmith.