In April 2022, I performed in Elemental Theatre’s self-penned piece, “Door 2 Door: 1994”. In this blog post, I’m looking back on this production, how it came about, and what went well.
We began meeting in June 2021, returning to rehearsals after 15 months due to the Covid lockdown (bar a short period in Sept-Oct 2020). We were all keen to create something brand new, taking inspiration from something we’d all had a lot of experience in thanks to lockdown: watching the telly.
The idea to develop a series of scenes set on the same street, with everyone watching the same thing on the TV, came about quite quickly, taking cues from TV sitcom “The Royle Family” and Channel 4’s “Gogglebox”. We needed a key event to bring all the characters together though – a defining moment that could work as a thread throughout all the scenes. We were also keen to explore the nostalgia of the 90s – lockdown had made us all sick of social media and the internet, so we were keen to explore a time before all that, and look at what “community” meant in the 90s as opposed to today.
Our initial idea was to focus on the millennium. New Year’s Eve 1999, everyone on the street getting ready for a party, having a drink to celebrate, counting down to midnight and finishing with a chorus of Auld Lang Syne. We quickly realised that this would be a difficult play to write though – “normal” things didn’t happen on New Year’s Eve, it was difficult to create scenes where families were just having a quiet night in – either everyone was partying/drinking, or complaining that they weren’t partying/drinking.
Luke came up with the idea to explore the National Lottery, which was first drawn in 1994. He pointed out that, when it first started, everyone was watching and buying tickets. And this really felt like it lent itself well to the play – if our characters had lottery tickets, then they also had a stake in the events on the TV.
This also lent itself to our second theme – the idea of “escape”, of being trapped in a dull, monotonous cycle (something we definitely could all relate to after a year of lockdown!). We developed storylines focused on “breaking free” and “new beginnings” – going to university, walking away from an unhappy marriage, having a baby, buying a bungalow. All of these themes are clear to see in the play – with the plot twist being that none of these things actually make anyone happy, they just lead to more misery. And the chances of winning the lottery are very slim.
The title “Door 2 Door: 1994” was born from the idea that, were the play successful, we could develop a series. Just imagine: “Door 2 Door: 1969”, focused on the moon landing. “Door 2 Door: 2004”, focused on the X Factor final. “Door 2 Door: 2022” about England winning the Euros. The idea definitely had legs.
The writing process for “Door 2 Door” was a little fractured. Scenes were all written quite separately – Chris developed a scene based on blind date, Luke wrote a scene involving a young man caught up in a dodgy drugs deal, and Tom wrote a scene exploring domestic abuse. This meant that the script was truly a group effort, but the effect of this was that the play felt a little too much like a sketch show. Some characters appeared in multiple scenes, allowing for some links, but there was no proper “story” – each scene told its own mini-arc and didn’t seem to contribute to an overall narrative.
One of the best things about the play, from my perspective, was the set. Tom and Alex put together some blocks that could be used for multiple purposes throughout – armchairs, side tables, even the shop counter in the corner shop! The table doubled as both a cupboard/window and a phone booth, meaning the set was easy to transport to our new venue at “Create Theatre” in Mansfield. The set could also be used again for other productions (in fact, the blocks were utilised in Elemental Theatre’s production of “Shakers” in November).
Despite the rehearsal period being a long, drawn-out process, the production still seemed to arrive before we felt ready. Lines were learnt last-minute, and scene transitions were hastily put together. Tom produced a fantastic programme (as always), and we all sat down and chose songs from the period to bring the play to life. As a result, the rehearsal period felt very stressful. Perhaps we were still getting back into the saddle post-covid? Or perhaps some of our enthusiasm had waned after being away for so long?
Regardless of any backstage problems, the final show felt very polished, and it was a production that we should all feel proud of. I would love to revisit the script one day – I think with a little more rewriting (perhaps a greater focus on Jamie, Pat and Robert as “main characters”) we could turn a “good” play into a “very good” play. And who knows? Perhaps one day a new “Door 2 Door” will materialise…
Tom Morley, January 2023
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