“We’re the biggest town in the UK not to have a train station but we do have a pub called The Railway. So, you know…imagination.”
In a forgotten northern town, an Antisocial Behaviour Officer listens to the complaints of local residents. She’s very good at her job. And she cares. She cares so much. Which is why it’s such a pisstake when everyone forgets her 30th birthday…
ASBO BOZO is a play about isolation, responsibility, and the emotional toll of supporting people at society’s forgotten fringes. A day in the life of someone who gives her all to others - and gets nowt back.
Ahead of a run at Riverside Studios we sat down with writer and performer Georgina Duncan to learn more about the piece.
What can you tell me about ASBO BOZO?
ASBO BOZO takes place in a forgotten town in the North West of England and follows BOZO,
an Antisocial Behaviour Officer, over a 24 hour period on her 30th birthday.
ASBO BOZO is a play about isolation, responsibility, and the emotional toll of supporting people
at society’s forgotten fringes. It’s a day in the life of someone who gives her all to others - and
gets nowt back.
Where did the inspiration for the piece come from?
I wanted to write something that I could perform that was unmistakably me and that trod that line
between humour and heartache as all my favourite plays do.
Coming from a Northern, working class background, I also wanted to write something that
represented my roots. I was reading a lot about council estates and ASB work and thought it
was a totally compelling, challenging and rich world to set my play in.
How did you approach the writing and development of the piece?
In preparation for writing the play, I spoke to a couple of Community Safety Officers from my
local council (they’re the guys who do the top down policy on Community Safety - ASB Officers
do the face to face meetings - this is one of the things I learnt at this meeting!). It was clear to
me that the sector (unsurprisingly!) is totally stretched and the people who work in these types
of roles desperately want to and do make a huge positive impact. It’s challenging work but
incredibly important and everyone has got into it for the right reasons. The show examines the
impact this kind of work can have on people’s personal lives.
There’s a lot of towns in the North of England, where I grew up, which never really recovered
post Thatcher. There’s a lot of poverty, crime and boarded up high streets and it can, at least
from my experience, feel like people in these towns have been forgotten. Having said all that, I
also wanted to talk about the brilliant characters who I know make up these communities – their
wicked sense of humour, resilience and pride.
I started writing ASBO BOZO whilst I was an understudy on The Mousetrap in the West End
earlier this year. It was the perfect time to do some daydreaming in the dressing room. I was
then kindly gifted some space to R&D the play back in January by the very brilliant and
supportive BOLD Elephant and Castle off the back of being shortlisted for their playwriting prize
with a different play. The play totally transformed over that week – gifted space to skint, early
career creatives is rare and not to be underestimated!
How has the collaboration with Colm Gleeson and Will Bishop helped to bring the show
to life?
Ahh it’s been brilliant to work with the guys. I have written ASBO BOZO but it has been totally
co-created with Colm and Will.
We all trained as actors at LAMDA and first professionally collaborated back in 2022 with our 5
star show This Be The Verse at the Hen & Chickens Theatre, Islington. We have known each
other for years and have incredibly similar tastes and sense of humour so it was a no brainer to
work with them again on shaping and building this story. I love them both dearly and they’re both
very talented writers in their own right (if you like weird and eerie stories, check out their Audible
play California in Norfolk as part of the LAMDA Gnr8 series - it’s sensational.)
Colm is also my fiancée, so it’s nepotism 101 – I’m biased but he’s genuinely brilliant at
provoking me and we have a great shorthand when it comes to dramaturgy.
We’re also working with Isabel Buchanan for the first time as the show’s Sound Designer, who is
a fellow LAMDA graduate (a few years after us). I love the idea of working with other LAMDA
alumni. There’s some continuity around our theatrical language and we’ve all got to support
each other in this industry.
It felt important to us that ASBO BOZO’s sound be felt as a real presence onstage – it is the
other character in the play. Izzy totally ran with the brief from day dot and she is building a
superbly exciting soundscape to support the story.
How do you physically and mentally prepare yourself for a performance?
These days I try to keep it simple - make sure my body and voice are warm and keep my brain
clear and active. I think we can overcomplicate preparation for performance - for me, as long as
I’m physically prepared, I've done the work in rehearsals, I’ve done the reading and the
research, when it comes to the actual performance it’s all about being easy, open and actively
listening. You’ve just got to sit in it, open your eyes and ears, be playful and work on making
sure your nerves are under control.
When did your arts career begin?
I always knew I wanted to do it. There was no lightbulb moment or decision, it was just
something I knew I was going to try and do. I started doing Am Dram at local groups in
Lancashire and got into LAMDA in 2015. My first gig was a 6 month tour of Sally Cookson’s
Stickman around the UK - it was not the work I thought I was going to be doing (I was all
Shakespeare and Screen acting at LAMDA - and I’ve done very little of either since graduating!)
but it was a wild ride with some fantastic folk and I absolutely adored seeing all these
magnificent venues up and own the country.
How do you reflect on your career to date?
Certainly a portfolio career - I’ve done absolutely everything to stay creative. Unless you’re very
lucky, the first couple of years out of drama school are an enormous shock to the system.
You’ve just spent the last three years chewing on the most fantastic parts and plays and working
on your performance and approach to storytelling for 8-12 hours a day, 5 days a week - to
working 3 front of house/bar jobs and auditioning for car adverts. It took me a couple of years of
working through that to understand what I wanted for my career and how to have autonomy
over it. I graduated from LAMDA in 2018, did a couple of years acting, then switched to
producing. I worked first for Josh Andrews as his Production Assistant and then went on to
become Assistant Producer for one of my favourite theatre companies Told by an Idiot. This
year I accidentally got back into acting so here I am! I’ve been writing plays on my commute
since 2020 and recently completed writing groups with Theatre503 and Soho Theatre. I fully
expect my career to shift and move continually throughout my life - it’s taken me until the ripe
old age of 29 to work out that this is how I want to carve out my career. There’s lots of things
that are important to me now that never were in my early 20s and vice versa. The obsession
with storytelling has never changed. The dream is to never have to pick up a ‘day job’ again -
we’re still working on that one!
What was the first piece of theatre you saw that had a big impact on you?
I think I have to give two answers for this. The first memory I have of a live performance is of
Phantom of the Opera - my parents took me when I was about 4 years old, probably at
Manchester Opera House. I remember they brought two pillows from their bed as a makeshift
booster seat so that I could see over the person in front of me and the moment the chandelier
came down over my head it just totally blew my mind - unfortunately it was all over from that
moment. There was no way I was going to do anything else as a career.
The other answer is a bit of a funny one - and not theatre in the traditional sense, but it was
certainly my first biggest influence on storytelling as a child. My mum had this video of Kate
Bush music videos and I used to watch it again and again on repeat. I never got sick of it. I
thought she was incredible (and I still do) - her videos and lyrics are so theatrical and I
remembered she played everything from a child, an unborn baby, to a soldier or a bank robber. I
thought it was just the most exquisite, mesmerizing thing.
What keeps you inspired?
Most of the time it’s watching the work my friends create - anything from readings to scratch
nights to full blown performances. I always feel totally revved up and inspired after supporting
one of my friends. And weirdly, it’s also watching theatre I don’t like - sometimes the
conversations you have about what you would do differently or what didn’t quite hit or what was
a near miss is the one thing you need to get you going on a creative project. Colm and I do this
every time we finish a show and I love it. I think the more you engage with absolutely everything
the more able you are to refine your tastes and ultimately your voice as an artist.
What do you hope audiences take away from seeing AZBO BOZO?
I hope people have a good time. My favourite thing about going to the theatre is the 2 hour pub
trip afterwards where you dissect every choice and line and moment from the play you have just
seen. ASBO BOZO is as funny as it is moving, so I hope people are entertained but are left with
lots of food for thought – there should be plenty to chew on over a couple of Guinnesses and a
packet of crisps!
Where can anyone see the show?
ASBO BOZO will be at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith for 6 performances 6th -29th March
(Thursdays 7.15pm & Saturdays 14.15pm) - hope to see you there!
Tickets are available from https://riversidestudios.co.uk/see-and-do/asbo-bozo-159973/
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