If you would like to watch a recorded interview please click on the TFT YouTube Channel.

Question: Is this your first New Play for TFT?

Robert: This is indeed my first play for Titchfield Festival Theatre, however it is not the first one that I have written. I wrote a full length play about the  French Revolution: Stay of Execution, performed at Baron’s Court Theatre Hammersmith in 2012.

This is though the first production which has been filmed. I am really excited about that.

Have you always had an interest in WW1 or military history? Is the play based on any real people you have come across in your research who served in the trenches?

Robert: I have always had an interest in history. I studied at Winchester University and was awarded a degree in History and Drama. This combined two of my passions in one.. I am particularly interested in the Napoleonic Wars period.

When I started jotting down ideas for a play in 2012, it was close to the 100^th anniversary of the First World War. My mother showed me some family history, about my great grandfather who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was one of the first people to treat soldiers suffering the effects of mustard gas.

The play is actually based on people that I know or that I have met, including people whom I studied with at Chichester Festival Youth Theatre and at the London Centre for Theatre Study. Therefore all of the characters I have created from people that I have met.

The two brothers are foundered on myself and my brother Philip. Sadly my brother took his own life in 2013 and I wanted to write about a story which is based around our lives, and of sibling bereavement; of grief and loss. This play is dedicated to Philip.

Have you ever been to the Western Front where the play is set?

Robert: Yes I visited in 1994 a family trip to the Ardennes. I want to go again. It was surprisingly peaceful – and emotional.

Tell me please about the two main characters, Will and Pip.

Robert: They are two very different characters; the older brother Will is happy go lucky, but lacking in self-confidence, and suffers from anxiety. He is more sensitive. Pip has his feet on the ground, sees what is in front of him. Pip loves his brother – and is a true performer. Both also love theatre and performance.

Are there other characters in the play?

Robert: Yes indeed. There is Ernie, MC of the theatre, who is based on my best mate. Jack and Ernie are a real comedy duo. I have had great fun tweaking the parts. Lizzie becomes a nurse – and is Will’s love interest. I think you would say that Cecily and Edna hold the men together, and are volunteer field nurses. They are the backbone of the music hall.

Kevin Fraser, Theatre Director told me about the preparations, including digging a trench. Did this help the actors to understand, albeit in a very small way, the issues of trench warfare?

Robert: Yes it did. When we filmed it was bitterly cold, muddy. Some of the characters got stuck in the field! For me, the First World War was a 19^th century war fought with 20^th century weapons.

Why do you think people will like the play?

Robert: It is a nice, rounded story, with rounded characters. I have been really impressed with the technical crew – they have been incredibly professional.

Thank you Robert.

WATCHING THE STREAM: MADMAN OF LOOS

To watch the streaming please click here.

Until Sunday 21 February 2021.