Blackpudlian artist Lauren-Nicole Mayes is making waves and bringing her solo show Dear Little Loz to the Edinburgh Fringe playing at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall from 5th to 27th August (not 14th).
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Ahead of the Fringe I sat down and spoke with Lauren-Nicole all about the show.
Lauren-Nicole began by explaining to me the premise of the show. "Dear Little Loz is a mixture of verse and free-form poetry. The premise of the show starts as we witness Loz on a familiarly disappointing first date, this prompts her to look at what she believes she wants, needs and deserves from men and the belief system she has built to support that. Exploring attachment theories and the ability to re-write her own story, Loz looks at her relationship to the word ‘Love’ and why and where that all began."
Inspiration came from reflecting on her younger years, she explained "I was inspired to write the peice after an early writing commission asked me to speak about ‘ What I could have said, should have said and would say now’. This prompted me to look at the younger version of ourselves and what, with hindsight and a new perspective I would re-iterate to the younger me. Often hard hitting subject matters are difficult to approach, I wanted Dear Little Loz to be full of wit and compassion, it’s healthy to be able to laugh and cry at the things we once believed were acceptable and inspired by the events that have led us to change."
With the show being inspired by her younger years I posed how much of the show I based on true life. "The show is semi-autobiographical. Of course, the character; Loz has a lot of my characteristics, isms and ticks however she is a character and I enjoy the differences that allow me to look at her separately to myself. It allows me not to examine every inch of myself in the story. The emotions and feelings Loz experiences are stemmed from the truth of my own life, however the characters in the show are fictional. Some of the situations we see her in are based on truth and others are based on emotional truths that are now being portrayed through a scenario that didn’t happen in real life. Allowing me as Lauren-Nicole to tell the story in a way that feels like a story as opposed to reliving memories."
The show is clearly about something we can all relate too but our chat turned to what Lauren-Nicole would want to an audience member to take away from the show, she said "I want Dear Little Loz to allow audiences to also recognise the younger version of themselves. The weight we carry from child self to adult self and the events and people who have shaped us. I hope people can see themselves in Loz and that audiences can look at the people and events they attach too and ask themselves what Love means to them."
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In explaining the show in three words she chose "honest, spicy and warm!"
For Lauren-Nicole I asked what does theatre mean to you. She explained "Theatre means a playground for me to play, to be open, to engage with myself and others, to learn and most importantly to care. To care for the person on stage, to care what they have to say and to care about their world."
Our chat wrapped up with Lauren-Nicola explaining "People should come see Dear Little Loz because I’m pretty sure, I am the only working class actress/ writer from Blackpool making her fringe debut with a solo poetic show! It’s a celebration of love and all its complications and it is a real insight into how our attachments shape us. I think we can all learn something from Loz."
Dear Little Loz plays at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall at the Edinburgh Festival from 5th to 27th August (not on the 14th). Tickets are available from https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/dear-little-loz
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