After acclaimed runs in Bristol and London, Segments Company now tours WILT - a raw, honest, and unexpectedly hilarious portrait of grief.
Nadia and Elliott are returning home after the funeral of Nadia’s father. The pair struggle to cope with the loss as their relationship tumbles through the five stages of grief. Long-held tensions and buried truths begin to surface as Nadia fears she may be losing her father a second time.
Premiering in 2023, WILT gained local recognition, paving the way for its 2025 tour. The show has received critical acclaim and glowing audience reviews, the team is excited to bring the relatable production to new audiences.
Critics have praised WILT’s emotional depth and precision. Annie King (The Reviews Hub) called it ‘an incredibly impressive work… deeply complex yet still coherent and slick.
WILT is written and directed by Jazz Summer, we sat down with Jazz to learn more about the play.
What can you tell me about WILT?
WILT is a drama comedy play exploring different experiences of grief. It follows a couple, Nadia and Elliott, after the passing of Nadia’s father as we see them both try to come to terms with the death. The play is full of love, humour and sadness, things that truly come hand in hand with one another. The play subtly takes you through the five stages of grief as you see how they affect the relationship. WILT has been in the making for years and has been through several different versions to get to where we are now. It’s been incredible to have had such an incredible audience and critical response. I’m so excited to be able to continue WILT’s journey this Autumn.
WILT is a drama comedy play exploring different experiences of grief. It follows a couple, Nadia and Elliott, after the passing of Nadia’s father as we see them both try to come to terms with the death. The play is full of love, humour and sadness, things that truly come hand in hand with one another. The play subtly takes you through the five stages of grief as you see how they affect the relationship. WILT has been in the making for years and has been through several different versions to get to where we are now. It’s been incredible to have had such an incredible audience and critical response. I’m so excited to be able to continue WILT’s journey this Autumn.
What inspired the creation of this piece?
Originally, WILT was inspired by my own experience with grief. I lost my incredible grandad, Jim, and didn’t know what to do with all the emotions I felt. To be honest, I didn't really know what to feel. He died during covid and so I hadn’t been able to see him for months, I felt this intense sense of separation and loneliness that had nowhere to land. It wasn't until a year later that I started thinking about writing a play. I had roses in my room and found myself staring at them wilting and thinking about death. I started doing lots of research into the five stages of grief and had the idea to use them as a structure for a play. Originally, Nadia was very much my own voice, me trying to waddle my way through the marsh of my loss. I used the writing to attempt to process the loss post covid, whilst I was reuniting with everyone, I would never be reunited with grandad again. There was also a feeling for me that a lot of help and art that was around me, about grief, wasn't very honest. It was all very hopeful and encouraging whilst ignoring how truly devastating it is to lose someone. I wanted to create something that people could see all of their confusing feelings in. Their sorrow, despair, hysteria, laughter, numbness, all of it. When I was re-writing the show early last year, my other grandad, Fred, passed away, and the company and I did interviews with each other and family members about grief. This really gave the piece more inspiration. It has become a piece inspired by many people’s experiences. The soundscapes you hear at the start and end of the play are pulled from those interviews.
Originally, WILT was inspired by my own experience with grief. I lost my incredible grandad, Jim, and didn’t know what to do with all the emotions I felt. To be honest, I didn't really know what to feel. He died during covid and so I hadn’t been able to see him for months, I felt this intense sense of separation and loneliness that had nowhere to land. It wasn't until a year later that I started thinking about writing a play. I had roses in my room and found myself staring at them wilting and thinking about death. I started doing lots of research into the five stages of grief and had the idea to use them as a structure for a play. Originally, Nadia was very much my own voice, me trying to waddle my way through the marsh of my loss. I used the writing to attempt to process the loss post covid, whilst I was reuniting with everyone, I would never be reunited with grandad again. There was also a feeling for me that a lot of help and art that was around me, about grief, wasn't very honest. It was all very hopeful and encouraging whilst ignoring how truly devastating it is to lose someone. I wanted to create something that people could see all of their confusing feelings in. Their sorrow, despair, hysteria, laughter, numbness, all of it. When I was re-writing the show early last year, my other grandad, Fred, passed away, and the company and I did interviews with each other and family members about grief. This really gave the piece more inspiration. It has become a piece inspired by many people’s experiences. The soundscapes you hear at the start and end of the play are pulled from those interviews.
How does the show fit in with the ethos of the company?
A huge part of our ethos is to create real, relatable stories and WILT is exactly that. It’s raw and honest, drawn from true experiences and it’s brave. The actors are so vulnerable on stage and so relatable. Grief is a universal feeling whether you’ve lost someone, or a pet, a job, a friendship or maybe a part of yourself, everyone can relate to the feeling of loss. Another thing that is at the core of our company is connection, we want to make people feel connected and the play has allowed us to do that amongst the company, our families, but also with our audiences. We’ve had so many beautiful conversations with audience members about how connected they felt to the characters and how much the play has helped them or really got them in the feels. You can feel the company in the show; our humour, our language of movement and our stories.
A huge part of our ethos is to create real, relatable stories and WILT is exactly that. It’s raw and honest, drawn from true experiences and it’s brave. The actors are so vulnerable on stage and so relatable. Grief is a universal feeling whether you’ve lost someone, or a pet, a job, a friendship or maybe a part of yourself, everyone can relate to the feeling of loss. Another thing that is at the core of our company is connection, we want to make people feel connected and the play has allowed us to do that amongst the company, our families, but also with our audiences. We’ve had so many beautiful conversations with audience members about how connected they felt to the characters and how much the play has helped them or really got them in the feels. You can feel the company in the show; our humour, our language of movement and our stories.
How have you approached growing and developing the show to what it is today?
It’s been a long process. The first iteration we performed is nearly unrecognisable compared to our current version. We have had consistent feedback over the last couple years, and constantly taken it on. I’m now on the sixth draft since our first performance and it’s so incredible to be at a place where we feel confident about the script. As I mentioned, the show has grown from just being drawn from my experiences to being inspired by many and that has allowed the show to become more layered. I took a year away from the play whilst I did my final year of drama school and when I came back to it, we ripped it open and it blossomed into something completely new. We’ve had several mentors contribute to the development of the play and I think you can really feel how much of a labour of love this play has become.
It’s been a long process. The first iteration we performed is nearly unrecognisable compared to our current version. We have had consistent feedback over the last couple years, and constantly taken it on. I’m now on the sixth draft since our first performance and it’s so incredible to be at a place where we feel confident about the script. As I mentioned, the show has grown from just being drawn from my experiences to being inspired by many and that has allowed the show to become more layered. I took a year away from the play whilst I did my final year of drama school and when I came back to it, we ripped it open and it blossomed into something completely new. We’ve had several mentors contribute to the development of the play and I think you can really feel how much of a labour of love this play has become.
How vital was the feedback you received in helping you grow the show?
The feedback has been pivotal, the first run in Bristol used an entirely different script to the second run a year and a half later. Nadia starting out as my voice in the piece led to a lot of difficulty making Elliott fully fledged and deserving of his space in the story. I used feedback from our mentors to mold him into who he has become now and it’s been beautiful to hear different people relate to each of the characters. Receiving feedback from our audiences in Bristol helped me realise how important the play is and fuelled us to take the play to new places and new audiences. I can say for certain the play would not look how it does today or be performed where it has been if it weren’t for our audiences and mentors and their incredibly honest and inspiring feedback.
The feedback has been pivotal, the first run in Bristol used an entirely different script to the second run a year and a half later. Nadia starting out as my voice in the piece led to a lot of difficulty making Elliott fully fledged and deserving of his space in the story. I used feedback from our mentors to mold him into who he has become now and it’s been beautiful to hear different people relate to each of the characters. Receiving feedback from our audiences in Bristol helped me realise how important the play is and fuelled us to take the play to new places and new audiences. I can say for certain the play would not look how it does today or be performed where it has been if it weren’t for our audiences and mentors and their incredibly honest and inspiring feedback.
How do you go about combining the roles of writer and director?
For me, the most important thing is to act like the writing isn’t mine. It allows me to investigate the text more deeply, not being precious about my words. It’s such an incredible privilege to know the characters so deeply but I always allow the actors to have opinions and challenge mine. I embrace it, I want them to form their own interpretations. It’s incredible to be working on a play that was written with the actors in mind because they are so perfect as their characters. They’re so believable and real. The combination of director and writer has felt smooth and made rehearsals feel slick and natural as we all know the play so well.
For me, the most important thing is to act like the writing isn’t mine. It allows me to investigate the text more deeply, not being precious about my words. It’s such an incredible privilege to know the characters so deeply but I always allow the actors to have opinions and challenge mine. I embrace it, I want them to form their own interpretations. It’s incredible to be working on a play that was written with the actors in mind because they are so perfect as their characters. They’re so believable and real. The combination of director and writer has felt smooth and made rehearsals feel slick and natural as we all know the play so well.
What was the first piece of theatre you remember having a big impact on you?
I’m sure there were things before this but the piece that sticks out to me is A Monster Calls by Sally Cookson and Adam Peck. If you don’t know the play, it’s based on a book about a young boy whose mum has cancer. A monster appears in his garden, telling him stories each night and taking him on a journey. I watched the play recorded at home as part of some work I was assigned and it impacted me beyond words. Me and my mum watched it together whilst she had cancer and was in between chemotherapy treatments, unbeknownst to my teacher that assigned the project. As you can imagine, the play hit home. That relatability factor has never left me, the choices with the monster's representation and the sound design were absolutely incredible, jaw dropping. I think there is theatre to escape and theatre to relate, A Monster Calls was the latter for me and I think WILT is too. A Monster Calls made me feel seen and allowed me to feel really crap about things that were really crap in my life, and that’s what I’m trying to provide for people with WILT.
I’m sure there were things before this but the piece that sticks out to me is A Monster Calls by Sally Cookson and Adam Peck. If you don’t know the play, it’s based on a book about a young boy whose mum has cancer. A monster appears in his garden, telling him stories each night and taking him on a journey. I watched the play recorded at home as part of some work I was assigned and it impacted me beyond words. Me and my mum watched it together whilst she had cancer and was in between chemotherapy treatments, unbeknownst to my teacher that assigned the project. As you can imagine, the play hit home. That relatability factor has never left me, the choices with the monster's representation and the sound design were absolutely incredible, jaw dropping. I think there is theatre to escape and theatre to relate, A Monster Calls was the latter for me and I think WILT is too. A Monster Calls made me feel seen and allowed me to feel really crap about things that were really crap in my life, and that’s what I’m trying to provide for people with WILT.
What gives you inspiration?
As an individual, nothing inspires me more than my friends and family. My family is so hard working and caring, we look after each other and that love and generosity inspires me. As a creative, my friends and people I meet are such a source of inspiration. People are so interesting and unique, their styles, mannerisms, stories, and their way of speaking is so varied and intriguing. I will never be stumped as a writer if I just people-watch. I also take inspiration from experiences and feelings that I have had. I’m someone that tends to process things in private and I like writing because it allows me to make my emotions public and relate to others. That feeling of shared experience drives me and inspires me.
As an individual, nothing inspires me more than my friends and family. My family is so hard working and caring, we look after each other and that love and generosity inspires me. As a creative, my friends and people I meet are such a source of inspiration. People are so interesting and unique, their styles, mannerisms, stories, and their way of speaking is so varied and intriguing. I will never be stumped as a writer if I just people-watch. I also take inspiration from experiences and feelings that I have had. I’m someone that tends to process things in private and I like writing because it allows me to make my emotions public and relate to others. That feeling of shared experience drives me and inspires me.
What do you hope someone takes away from seeing WILT?
It's okay to feel a million things after a loss or nothing at all. It’s okay for your grief to last a long time or not hit you for years. Grief is yours and yours only, someone existing one day and then not the next is insane, it’s unfathomable and there's no right way to deal with it or react to it. Love and be honest.
It's okay to feel a million things after a loss or nothing at all. It’s okay for your grief to last a long time or not hit you for years. Grief is yours and yours only, someone existing one day and then not the next is insane, it’s unfathomable and there's no right way to deal with it or react to it. Love and be honest.
Where can people see the show?
WILT is going to the Bread & Roses Theatre as part of the Lambeth Fringe, 13-14th October at 7:30pm and the Ustinov Studio at the Theatre Royal Bath, 24-25th October at 7:30pm. For more information follow our instagram: segmentscompany or go to our website: segmentscompany.co.uk. I hope to see you there :)
WILT is going to the Bread & Roses Theatre as part of the Lambeth Fringe, 13-14th October at 7:30pm and the Ustinov Studio at the Theatre Royal Bath, 24-25th October at 7:30pm. For more information follow our instagram: segmentscompany or go to our website: segmentscompany.co.uk. I hope to see you there :)
Post a Comment