Party

What inspired your play Party? I think the set-up came from my first year at Cambridge. Sometimes, coming back to my room at night from the college bar, there'd be a group of students sitting on the staircase debating things. One night, it might be Communism, the next night God. Something about a staged argument struck me as quite funny, particularly as this was happening at the same time most other students were getting pissed and trying to have sex with each other. In the play, I wanted to look at the way in which discussions and committees and focus groups are often the worst way to get anything done or actually learn anything, and that, much of time, people are reciting rehearsed opinions and using the time in which someone else is talking to think about the next thing they plan to say. I think that's pretty much the problem with everything. Well, apart from things like famine.  

What do you think each comic brings to the performance? What is your relationship like with the others? The main thing that each of the cast bring is an understanding that the more connected we are as a group onstage, the funnier the play becomes. There's no showboating or mugging in the show, and hopefully that keeps the thing feeling very real. My most hated thing about plays is the idea of ‘funny' and ‘serious' parts. This concept ruins most Shakespearean comedies, and makes actors in apparently funny parts think they can be as over the top and goofy as possible, because other characters bring the truth of the play, and they bring the comedy. The cast of Party are all brilliant at playing the tiny physical and verbal things that define someone's character and relationships with others. That's why they're in the play. Apart from me - I'm in it because I wrote it and no one can stop me acting in it. Although they've tried. So my relationship with them is a bit strained, actually.

How does this project compare with your previous works? I think it's probably the most fun thing I've done, certainly on stage, firstly because I'm not doing it on my own - which can be a bit lonely - and also because, unlike sketch shows that I've done, there are no technical cues to learn or costume changes or any of that bollocks. The whole thing plays out in real time and once we're onstage we don't really leave it, and that's very exciting, because there are no gimmicks or contingencies to fall back on. Obviously, it also means that it's quite a high-pressure show in that sense. Even little mistakes with the lines or the rhythm can throw us off balance, so it's got to be pretty precise. Which hopefully it will be, even if it looks like it's a complete shambles. It's a finely honed shambles.

How are you planning on staging the play? Pretty simply I'd imagine. If any of us could juggle or do flips or anything I'd probably find an excuse to crowbar some of that business in, but we can't really do any of that, so it'll be ordinary stuff, lookswise. I'm hoping the guy in the lighting box can do something to make us look more impressive than we are. Actually, Nick Mohammed is very good at magic, so if it's going badly, I'll get him to chop someone in half or something. 

What do you think the key is to making people laugh? Not sure, really. Not everyone finds the same stuff funny, so your best bet is probably just to do things that make you laugh and hope you're not the only one. If you are the only one, you'll still have enjoyed it, so it doesn't matter so much. The main thing is probably taking risks. My favourite comedians are ones that are always taking risks, even if it doesn't always work. Millie Churcher