Imagine winning a prestigious Olivier Award for the first play you have ever written. That is what happened to former actress Bola Agbaje earlier this year for Gone Too Far. She tells Joy Francis how she is coping with the pressure to follow up with another success and why she has little time for theatre critics.

May/June 2008

Bola Agbaje

When did you start writing and why?

Before I started writing I wanted to be an actor. It didn’t go the way that I wanted it to – my 13-year-old sister was more successful than me. I still wanted to do something the in arts though. I was left with the frustration of being a black actor and reading for roles that I didn’t relate to. So I could either sit down or complain that there were no opportunities or create ones for myself. So I decided to write plays for met to act in. In 2004 I went to see The Gods Are Not To Blame at the Arcola Theatre, London. It was the best production I had ever seen. It had African characters, the whole cast was black and I thought - I want to be involved in a project like that and write plays that grabbed people like I was grabbed.

How did you get onto the Royal Court’s Young Writers programme?

In 2006 I decided to give up acting and write. I Googled writing courses and saw the Royal Court Critical Mass programme for young black playwrights. It was a ten-week course. I got accepted. I knew I had the ideas, but didn’t know how to structure a play. After the course we were given four weeks to write a play. At that stage I just wanted to have professional feedback. The Royal Court also run a Young Writers Festival and was taking applications for 2007. My play was selected for full production. I would say I was at the right place at the right time. Regardless of whether the Royal Court put my play on, in the back of my mind I knew I would have staged it anyway. I have a group of friends who would invest in me. I would have found a venue and I would have got the actors together.

Gone Too Far won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliated Theatre this year. Were you surprised?

Extremely surprised. The success was way beyond what I had imagined. It is nerve-wracking when a new audience comes to see your play. It sold out during its two-week run. As it was such a short run I didn’t even expect to be nominated. I got a call from Dominic Cooke [Royal Court Artistic Director] one Sunday. He said, you can’t say anything yet as it hasn’t gone to press. I kept it a secret for a while. I was worried they could change their mind and say that I wasn’t nominated and if I had told everyone it would have been terrible. That is the one and only secret I have ever been able to keep. I was so excited about being nominated I didn’t care about winning. It is such an achievement to be recognised, you think that’s enough.

What is Gone Too Far about?

What it is to be young, black and British in today’s society. The play focuses on two brothers - one born in London, the other in Africa who has come to London to live with his brother. Their mother sends them out to get some milk, but loads of things happen on their journey to stop them getting the milk. The themes are stereotypes, identity and the problems that you face on a daily basis - about who are you and what you stand for. I’m African [Nigerian]. Up to the age of four I lived in Hastings. We were the only blacks in the village. We then moved to London and then to Nigeria when I was six. In Nigeria they kept calling us the English kids. When I came back to England at eight-years-old to live on the North Peckham estate I was told I was African, not English. It was such a confusing childhood. It was hard to get an understanding of who I was, what I stood for and who I wanted to be. I spent a lot of time figuring out my identity. I am proud now to say that I’m African. There was a time when I was seriously thinking about changing my name through Deed Poll. When I went to college and University there were so many Africans who were like me. I realised that we were not at the bottom of the food chain and my mentality changed completed.

The reviews of your play are interesting. Sam Marlow of The Times describes Gone Too Far as ‘structurally flawed, blunt, and the characterisation lacks complexity.  But it has a joyous, irreverent energy and a fresh, winning playfulness’. How do you feel about this kind of scrutiny and interpretation of your work?

As a playwright, I write things that are truthful and I try to make my characters as truthful as possible. Sometimes they [critics] cannot relate to that because they haven’t been to or lived on an estate. They are from a different world and expect a certain format in theatre. Of course my play will be a bit flawed - it was my first one and I hadn’t written a play before. The play is about a black world and young black characters. The white people in the play inflict on that world and they were the stereotypical characters. In the play there is a debate about the West Indian and African divide. A lot of people who saw the play said that they didn’t know there was such a divide. In plays you don’t usually see black people who are complex and white people who are the stereotypes; it is often the other way around. Some of the reviewers didn’t like this. As the play was shown in a theatre in the round you can see the reactions of the audience. There is one scene when an old lady thought that she was going to get mugged. The people who were most uncomfortable with this scene were the white audience members. There is always a debate at the end of the play and this scene is the one where mainly white people would say you can understand why she thought she was going to be mugged. It is like putting a mirror up to them and sometimes they don’t like what they see. A review is one person’s opinion. The feedback to the play was always good.

What has happened since winning the Olivier as I’ve heard from a number of people in the arts that you didn’t attract that much attention despite being young and winning with your first play?

My mum will tell you, she was the most upset about that. She thought that this is such a prestigious award and yet The Voice newspaper didn’t contact me the next day. She did boycott them for a while. The play has a longer run now and will show at the Royal Court, Hackney Empire and the Albany Theatre in the summer. That’s why I’m not too fussed about the press. I don’t want people to be bored of me. I am a one woman band. I think to myself when the time comes I will make a noise for myself.

Who currently inspires you in the theatre world?

I’m new to it so when I’m asked this question it is slightly difficult. I read more plays now and I have been seeing more plays. I’m still learning. In terms of inspiration there’s debbie tucker green. What I think is her achievement after watching Generations and Random is that she grabs your attention. When I went to see Random, there was this guy behind me who was coughing. There was a point in the play which grabbed everyone’s attention. This guy stopped coughing and held it in to savour the moment. I think it is hard to do that. To be a great playwright you have to be able to do that.

What more can be done to get young fresh voices onto the stage?

It is about people wanting to take risks more than anything. At the same time it is about people being willing to take risks themselves. As a new playwright, if you want something really badly you will go out and get it. There are loads of young black talented entrepreneurs who host events that attract thousands of young people. They also need to invest in the arts. Find like minded people like yourself. Find a young director and writer. Do a ten minute short film. That will be your show reel. Everyone needs to start somewhere. If you want to write plays do so even just to get feedback. That is what is good about the Royal Court.

What are your next steps?

I’m having a play reading in July. As well as Gone Too Far I was commissioned by the Royal Court to write my second play; I’m in the final draft stage. It’s called Off the Endz. It’s still about young people. It is about two friends and the choices they make to get off the ‘Endz’. Fingers crossed it will be shown next year.

Gone Too Far will be on tour from 23rd July-16th August 2008. Check magazine listings for details.

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