Media
briefing - Edinburgh Fringe world premiere
THE INTERFERENCE – A rape survivor’s struggle for justice
·
A new play by Lynda Radley
·
Directed by Cathy
Thomas-Grant
·
Presented and
performed by Pepperdine Scotland
About the play
When a university sports star rapes a fellow student it is
the survivor who seems to be on trial – struggling with the very forces that
are supposed to protect her. The
Interference, by Fringe First winner Lynda
Radley, explores the aftermath of a crime and the disturbing attitudes that
lie just under the skin of contemporary society.
The work has disturbing echoes of recent cases and events in
the USA and Scotland.
While it is set in an American university, the questions it
raises are for the whole of society. Realities become distorted, the attacker
is portrayed as a wronged man, his victim’s voice is drowned out and justice is
at risk as vested interests scramble to defend themselves.
Central
to the play is the adulation surrounding the attacker, the quarterback in the
university football team, and how people focus more on his career and the
impact on the team than on the crime or the damage to the victim.
The title refers to American football
rules allowing players to block opponents who try to tackle their teammate. It highlights the seemingly infinite
sources of opinion, commentary, and distorted or suppressed information that are
routine players in the aftermath of sex attacks.
Radley speaks about
The Interference
Radley, who is based in Scotland, says: “The play looks at the forces that are unleashed when a man of talent
and privilege is accused of a rape – in this case a university sports star. Something
very disturbing you often see in rape cases is that the survivor faces
disbelief and abuse. It’s incredibly difficult as they can end up at the centre
of a storm.
“In this case the fans
refuse to accept their hero can do wrong, there are outpourings of hate on the
internet, the media line up behind the star, the legal system is geared against
her and the university authorities are terrified of damaging their reputation
with funders. The crime is traumatic, but what follows can re-traumatise the
survivor again and again as she struggles to be heard and believed. It really
is no surprise that reporting and conviction rates are low.
“I think there is
something very dangerous bubbling away on our society and it has to be
challenged. One of the aims is to draw every member of the audience into
questioning their own attitudes and the myths that exist about rape.”
Pepperdine Scotland
The Interference has been commissioned by 2012 Fringe
First-winning company Pepperdine Scotland. The cast and technical crew are made up of
students from Pepperdine University in the USA, which has been presenting
performances at the Fringe since 1985.
The Interference, which is produced by Alex Fthenakis builds on Pepperdine
Scotland’s interest in issues of social justice.
Pepperdine
Scotland is a cultural and artistic exchange between Pepperdine University's
Department of Theatre and leading members of the Scottish Theatre Community.
Its first commission, Peter Arnott’s Why Do You Stand There In The Rain? won
a 2012 Scotsman Fringe First Award.
Pepperdine
has been performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 1985, and is proud
to have expanded its presence in Scotland with this exchange, developed with
support from Playwrights' Studio
Scotland and the Royal
Conservatoire of Scotland.
Working
with Rape Crisis
Lynda Radley and Pepperdine Scotland are working
with Scotland’s Rape Crisis charities to raise awareness of their work and to
encourage discussion about attitudes towards sexual violence.
One of their key objectives during the Fringe is to
encourage debate about the issue of consent and to encourage more consideration
about making it a compulsory part of the educational curriculum. This is a
measure already being introduced in California, the state where the Pepperdine
students are from.
Listings
details
The Interference by Lynda Radley is at C Venues C (Venue 34), Adam House,
Chambers Street, Edinburgh from 3 to 16 August.
·
Tickets: Weekend and weekday prices vary. Full price
£8.50 to £11.50, concessions £7.50 to £9.50, with special prices of £5.50 to
£7.50. See www.ctheFestival.com for the ticket price of each performance.
·
Time: 15.45
·
Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Age: 12+
Background information
The
writer - Lynda Radley
Lynda
Radley is an award-winning playwright and dramaturg who has been working in
professional theatre for over a decade. Her play DORM was recently shortlisted for
The Bruntwood Award - one of the UK’s most prestigious new writing awards. She
is currently developing plays with the Traverse Theatre, Magnetic North and
Stellar Quines. Lynda recently worked as dramaturg for Mark Bruce’s dance
version of Dracula which won a South Bank Sky Arts award. In 2011 Lynda
won a Scotsman Fringe First for her
play Futureproof, a co-production
between Dundee Rep Ensemble and the Traverse Theatre. Her solo show The Art
of Swimming was short-listed for Meyer Whitworth and Total Theatre awards
and toured internationally. Lynda is published by Nick Hern Books. Lynda
frequently works as a dramaturg and creative writing practitioner in
collaborative processes (National Theatre of Scotland, Citizens Theatre, Tricky
Hat, Playgroup, Imaginate, In Cahootz) and adapted Under Milk Wood for
the Tron Theatre's Home Nations Festival, part of The Commonwealth Games
cultural programme, 2014.
Director
- Cathy Thomas-Grant
Cathy
Thomas-Grant heads the Pepperdine Scotland exchange and has served as director
of Pepperdine's endeavours in Scotland since 2000. Edinburgh Festival Fringe
directing credits include Mr. Happiness/The Water Engine by David Mamet
(2002), Eve Ensler's Necessary Targets (2006) Robert Shenkkan's The
Kentucky Cycle (2008), Karen Sunde's The Fastest Woman Alive and
Naomi Iizuka's Language of Angels (2010), Why Do You Stand There In
The Rain? (2012 Scotsman Fringe First Award winner), Forget Fire (2014)
and Musical Direction for The Grapes of Wrath (2004).
Soundscape
- Michael John McCarthy
The
Interference features a live-mixed soundscape designed and composed by multiple
CATS (Critics’ Award for Theatre in Scotland) award nominee Michael John
McCarthy.
Michael
John is a Cork-born, Glasgow-based composer, musician & sound designer.
Work for performance includes: The Cheviot, The Stag & The Black, Black
Oil, The BFG & Steel Magnolias (Dundee Rep); Light Boxes, Letters
Home & The Authorised Kate Bane (Grid Iron); Into That Darkness,
Fever Dream: Southside & Sports Day (Citizens Theatre); In Time O’
Strife, Blabbermouth, The Tin Forest & The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two
Goldfish (National Theatre of Scotland), A Gamblers Guide to Dying (Gary
McNair/Show & Tell); Right Now (Traverse Theatre); Bondagers (Royal
Lyceum Edinburgh);; Under Milk Wood (Tron Theatre Glasgow); Glory (Janice
Parker Projects), Educating Ronnie (Utter). Other companies he has
worked with include The Arches, Lung Ha’s, Macrobert, Platform, People’s Light
& Theatre Philadelphia, Playgroup, Poorboy, Theatre Uncut, Vox Motus and
Youth Music Theatre UK. He has twice been nominated for the Critics Award for
Theatre in Scotland in the category Best Use of Music & Sound.
Pepperdine
University
Pepperdine
University is an independent, medium-sized Christian university enrolling
approximately 7,700 students in five colleges and schools. Seaver College, the
School of Law, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, the Graziadio
School of Business and Management, and the School of Public Policy are located
on the University's 830-acre campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu.
Courses are taught in Malibu, at four graduate campuses in Southern California,
permanent programme facilities in Washington, D.C., and at international
campuses in Germany, England, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, and China.
For
further information see www.pepperdinedrama.com @peppscotland
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