Open Clasp Theatre company are the North East's only professional women's theatre company. Catrina McHugh is the writer and actress staring in their upcoming play, A Twist Of Lemon.
Butch Jackie wants a holiday, so four women set off to the island of Lesvos. However a lost suitcase, along with a white knuckle ride on the resorts banana boat not only put one woman’s back out but results in the women having a major fallout.
Set against the backdrop of adversity A Twist of Lemon highlights the courage, strength and humility of young lesbians and lesbians living in the North East and gives audiences a rare opportunity to witness the stories of a minority that, in the main part, are invisible to the rest of society. Like heterosexuals they fall in and out of love, experience the trials and tribulations of bringing up children, but their lives bare the imprint of a world where they, and their children, experience prejudice and discrimination. It takes time for change, but how slow does this clock have to tick? Open Clasp say its time to wind it up.
Thoroughly intregued, we decided to find out more, and Open Clasp were kind enough to let us have a quick interview with Catrina before she was set to do rehersals and finish the extensive job of tying up those tiny loose ends associated with any large writing and production task.
Broken Rainbow: Your new play, A Twist Of Lemon opens in September. Because it's so easy for a writer to do, can you sum it up in one sentence?
Catrina: A Twist of Lemon is courageous in its attempt to highlight the issues of same sex domestic violence and love, against a backdrop of adversity concerning global homophobia.
BR: How long did it take you to write?
C: I started writing at the beginning of May, so four months. However, phase one of the project, which is the workshops that directly informed the writing, took place from the summer of 2007 and finished in December 2007.
BR: It features same-sex domestic violence – a very topical issue, but often difficult to watch. What made you decide to feature this in your play?
C: All the plays Open Clasp produce are directly informed by young women, women and lesbian groups. The groups create characters and through that process issues are highlighted, discussed and then concluded upon.
BR: Do you have experience of DV yourself?
C: As with any issue the company tackles, my job is to advocate on behalf of the groups we work with, I have to reflect their experiences, understanding and desire for change. That’s not to say that during the writing process that I don’t’ pull on my personal experiences, and like most women, domestic violence has played a part.
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