QX talks to writer Ben Kavanagh about his new play The Convert being staged at Above The Stag Theatre, 8 June to 3 July.
“Excellent new dark satire about Conversion Therapy” – Dominic Canvendish, Chief Theatre Critic, Daily Telegraph
How did THE CONVERT come about?
I’d been working on adapting a monologue which I had done months earlier as part of an evening of one act plays called BODY POLITIC, which were all zeitgeisty and often satirical pieces about the politics of now. This monologue, where a doctor spoke directly to the audience offering them treatment to change the pigment of their skin to increase their life chances, seemed to me to chime with what was in the news at the time with LGBTQ+ conversion therapy and the idea of institutions expecting people to change their sexuality – from there the match was lit…
So how is this CONVERT different to the work-in-progress one we saw last year? What can audiences expect?
Well, I’ve substantially rewritten the piece into a full play rather than the one act it was originally and I’ve been able to flesh out some of the moments we had to cut back on for time issues last time. The production itself is a full production, fully funded, with a fantastic production team behind it and an excellent cast. Much of the play is very epic and has some large set pieces which were very meagre last time, but which can be fully realised this time. It’s very exciting!
“Startling New Writing” – Paul Vale, The Stage
Tickets £12-£15. Buy your tickets to The Convert here.
Congratulations on getting the play published. Was that important to you?
It was personally and professionally. Professionally because it’s my first published play and personally because it means ultimately the play has a life beyond the production, and that means more people might be able to explore this horrendous practice into the future both on the page and off. More to the point, I think at its heart the play is about the endurance of love and about accepting yourself regardless of the arbitrary tyranny of tradition or democracy so I hope even when conversion therapy is finally dead across the world (and I believe firmly that will happen) the play will still have something to say.
Talking of outreach, the play is hugely topical and sensitive; was there anything you felt you couldn’t include?
Not really. It was more about deciding what worked theatrically both in terms of the practicality in staging and also in terms of what an audience can take. Conversion therapy is hard to watch but it’s imperative an audience do watch. If they look away, you’ve lost them. Don’t get me wrong though, the play still goes to the extreme with what you see and is at times a piece of in-yer-face horror. To me though, it’s always the psychological that packs the most punch – a broken body is never as horrifying as a broken mind or a broken heart.
Lastly, why should people see THE CONVERT?
The same reason people should go to see any piece of theatre. To be moved, to see something in themselves in others, to laugh, perhaps to cry, and ideally to be inspired. If we can do any of those to a meaningful degree then I’d be very proud indeed and we’d have done our jobs; our job certainly isn’t to educate, even with a topic like conversion therapy – it’s to make you feel something to the point you want to go away and know more, and if it’s something as monstrous and outrageous as this, then to also do something about it.
The Convert has already starting selling out!
Tickets £12-£15. Buy your tickets to The Convert here.
The Convert at Above The Stag Theatre, 8 June to 3 July. 72 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP, United Kingdom
