Q & A With the Star of A Play For the Living in a Time of Extinction, Stephanie Hutchinson

Stephanie Hutchinson admits she’s “feeling very happy where I am at the moment”. Where she is, geographically speaking, when we talk is at home in Leeds on the receiving end of a Zoom interview.

She’s talking about her career and the fact that she never imagined she’d ever do a one-person stage show. But that is what her upcoming project as – a solo turn as an actor in what’s described variously as “a bold experiment in eco theatre-making” and a “fiercely feminist off-grid production”.

The title, A Play For The Living In A Time of Extinction, is an indication that this Headlong, Barbican and York Theatre Royal production will be unlike anything you’ve seen before. Hands up anyone who has witnessed a stage production powered by bicycles.

Strictly speaking, Stephanie won’t be on her own. There will be eight cyclists on stage pedalling away to power lights and microphones. A choir is also involved in director Mingyu Lin’s production at York Theatre Royal.

Miranda Rose Hall’s play is on no-travel tour using an eco-friendly blueprint. The rest of the production, from local actor to cyclists, are provided provided by the theatre hosting the show. Stephanie sees it as a co-operative production not just a one person show.

“I’ve not seen A Play but heard a lot about it,” says Leeds born-and-based Stephanie who plays an actor called Naomi whom she describes as scared of death but confronting fears about an impending ecological disaster.

“What caught my eye was just how sustainable the production is. Naomi is described as a woman in her 20s who is scared of dying. She’s already had to go on stage and act in front of people. She’s confronted that fear. Now she’s facing her fear of dying and wants to have a conversation about it.

“I like how interactive it is. It’s not just me, not just a verbal splurge. She wants to know what others are thinking. I don’t want the audience to feel they’re just being talked at.”

Despite the subject, she says A Play isn’t all gloom and doom. There are funny moments. Gloomy and funny is her hope for the experience.

“I don’t think it’s just a message play. She’s having a conversation, making the audience aware of what she’s found during her research. It’s also like an ode to the Earth as well because the Earth has given us so much but in return we’re not treating it back very well. It’s almost like she’s blessing the Earth and thanking it. But we do need to be careful – if we keep going the way we’re going future generations might not have it.”

Stephanie was last seen on the York Theatre Royal main stage in Green Hammerton’s Bad Apple production of Elephant Rock during the TakeOver season in May last year. Her other credits include Shake the City, based around the clothworkers strike in Leeds in 1970 and seen at both Leeds Playhouse and Jermyn Street Theatre in London.

All this is something of a surprise for Stephanie who didn’t nurse acting ambitions from a young age.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I was a teenager. Then when I was 15, 16, I was going to theatre classes where you’d do singing, dancing, acting and I was like, ‘I quite actually like this – can I do it at uni or go to a drama school?’.

“So at 18 I went to Salford University and graduated with a BA (Hons) Performing Arts. I’ve managed to carry it on, although I’m not quite sure how I’ve done that. My ambition is just to keep on going because I can’t really see myself doing anything else. Even in my day job I do role play and that’s acting on the side. Acting is getting paid for doing what I love.

“I thought I would never do a one-person show. I am feeling very happy where I am at the moment. Very happy.”

Written by Steve Pratt