The Murmuration of Starlings is a play about love and survival.
When a predator threatens to destroy all you have ever loved, how far will you go to protect it? The Man must battle demons, aliens and his own memories to change everything.
The Man packs items into a rucksack and leaves the house, not for the first time, for a bus stop 100 yards away. The Boy finds himself wondering at a starling murmuration unable to recall how he got there. He is confronted by The Man, who seems determined to lead him away. There is an overarching sense of confusion and danger as the two are continually pursued by an unseen ‘alien’ predator. How do you battle something you don’t understand and don’t see coming?
Ahead of performances at Seven Dials Playhouse in March, we caught up with writer and director Joe Graham and actors Steve Hay, who plays The Man and Jenny Johns, who plays The Woman.
What can you tell me about The Murmuration of Starlings?
Joe Graham: Without giving too much away, the play is at heart a love story. This love is threatened by a predator that reveals its true nature as the play progresses. The play is at times symbolic and surreal in parts and described as ‘marked with an impressionist brush’, which I like and explains some of the styling.
How would you describe your character and their role within the story of the play?
Steve Hay: My character, The Man, is struggling to come to terms with his whole existence, and a rapidly changing situation which leaves him uncertain of past, present and future and even reality.
Jenny Johns: I play The Woman - the other half of the love story. There’s a duality about this character as we see her both in her own reality and in that of The Man’s. In her reality she is a carer, in The Man’s, a protector or warrior.
Your play delves into the complex dynamics of love and survival. What inspired you to explore these particular themes?
Joe: I was inspired to write a simple love story and the play explores a deep love and what someone would do to save that love at all costs. The survival aspect was inspired by starling murmurations and how they move to protect everyone from the predator.
This play grapples with love and survival in the face of danger. How do you think these themes resonate with today’s audience, particularly in our current climate?
Joe: Other than love, the harder themes of the play are definitely current and very much something that many people deal with or have experience of within their relationships and families. I realise I am being a bit vague on this, but it is important that the audience experience much of the surreal and confusion along with the characters, to a certain extent, to reveal the true nature and purpose of the love story.
Steve: I think times are tough just now. There seems to be a heavy burden, a cloud hanging over so many people, just a step up in the level of burden that any caring person in society feels at the moment. And at heart, this play, is a love story. A heartbreaking, tender love story. It’s a tough watch in places, but it is beautiful.
Jenny: Love and what we do to protect those we love are timeless and universal. I think everyone can relate to these kinds of struggles.
The starling murmuration is a powerful image in the play. How do you interpret this symbolism?
Joe: The starlings murmurations inspired me probably long before I even knew what the play would finally be about. The reason for murmurations is all about safety in numbers as there is usually a predator on the edges that creates the movement and the beauty we see. I wanted to create a story and play that would reflect all of that.
Steve: I’ve seen and heard murmurations (I used to be a journalist and at one point wrote for Britain’s best monthly Birding magazine). And to me it’s everything that goes on inside my head. Just that.
Jenny: Life is unpredictable and at times dangerous but there is beauty in the struggle to overcome.
The Man and The Boy have a unique relationship that reflects confusion and danger. Can you tell us more about them?
Joe: Going to dance around this a little bit, other than to say it is fairly obvious early on who they are and what their relationship is. All part of how the play opens up and evolves. There is a physical and ethereal aspect to the Man’s relationship with every character.
The story hints at the importance of memories. How does your character’s past influence his present decisions, and what role does memory play in shaping his identity?
Jenny: The Woman’s relationship with their shared memories is complex and often painful. Protecting and reinforcing those that are simple and practical to maintain the present. Longer and more emotional memories she has more difficulty facing - packing them away until they literally burst out.
Steve: I think that’s a very now question, particularly as people are manipulating memories every single day on social media, or presenting a version of themselves that they want the world to see. And all that together with all of the AI images that are flooding our timelines. What the hell is real? My character’s reality is at the root of everything he does. His reality is his love for The Woman. That’s his simple, multi-faceted rock-solid truth.
There’s a compelling element of an unseen ‘alien’ predator throughout the play. What does it symbolise?
Joe: A little bit more tap dancing here. The symbolism is strong and impacts everything that happens in the play, but I don’t want audiences to think that there is a lot of symbolism that will not easily reveal itself and be so abstract that it will annoy and confuse them. It all reveals and resolves, but to say now what it symbolises will spoil it. We did previously explain this play literally, but found that some potential audiences then made up their own mind about what they were ‘going to see’..But I believe that his is not something you have seen before!
Steve: The threat may always be there, but for the characters, it’s not always at the forefront, or even particularly on their minds at all. Life goes on. Little things distract. There are moments of joy, moments of love. Moments of peace and happiness, and that’s what our characters feel.
Jenny: The Woman is shaped by this tension. She is constantly aware of the lurking danger but chooses not to acknowledge it until it is absolutely necessary. The epitome of ‘putting a brave face on it’.
At its core, this is a love story. What do you believe is the most poignant expression of love in the play, and how does it impact the characters’ choices?
Jenny: The fact that The Man’s new reality hinges solely on their relationship and their past together. Their love story transcends the predator’s threat.
Steve: The way The Man and The Woman met when they were The Boy and The Girl is the key to their relationship, and it is the root of his love for her. Books... the book. He loves that she reads. He loves the way she reads. That feeling has never left him. He would face any danger for her, and for love. And he hates what’s happening to him/them now. And he wants to spare her any current and future pain...
How do you envision the audience’s experience with the play?
Joe: I hope that audiences will experience a joyful, heartfelt play that will also make them think and add to the conversation about the main themes. There are themes in the play that are always in public conversation and I think theatre has a chance, through this play, to add to that conversation in a new way. A theatrical experience should send audiences away thinking differently and seeing theatre as a creative way of looking at things and not just literally reflecting what we already know and see.
How do you balance the roles of being the writer and the director of the piece?
Joe: It took me a long time to work up the courage to direct this play. I normally direct my own plays, but when I wrote this one I thought it was tricky to put on stage. The physical and ethereal aspects had to be addressed. Once we worked out how to stage it, it became and exciting challenge. It is quite film-like even on the page and we use a lot of original music and projection. Once in the director’s chair, I can then work with and call-out the writer as the process is collaborative and actors bring so much to the table that you have to let it evolve.
What is the feeling like when you first get to see a piece like this come to life from the page to the stage?
Joe: Very emotional. There is so much that actors and our production team put into this and every play we do at Balancing Act, that I am eternally grateful that all this talent is prepared to get behind and commit so much of their energy and time into something I have written. Blows me away every time.
What was the first piece of theatre you remember having a big impact on you?
Joe: I first experienced theatre working backstage in the King’s Theatre, Glasgow as a part-time stage-hand whilst at Glasgow School of Art. The experience of being in that environment is something that has never left me. It was some years after that before I attempted to write, But my love of theatre was born there.
What keeps you inspired?
Joe: To work with the amazing Balancing Act family we have, and continually add to, is such a joy that I want to keep on writing so that we continue to have these experiences. Also to bring our play to the heart of the West End shows we are doing something right.
What do you hope people take away from this performance?
Joe: I would love audiences to feel it was an immersive experience that dealt with a subject they perhaps know about, but not in a way they have thought about before. There I go being vague again.. Sorry.
Steve: I try to never judge an audience - you never know what they’re thinking, what kind of day they’ve had, what experiences they’re bringing into the theatre, how they react. You just never know. We just have to feel and tell the story. I would hope that they see and feel the genuine love between the characters, and can feel connected - that’s important - to some aspect of one of the characters. I think we’ve lost a lot of connection - with nature, with people, with each other - and all the while superficially having more and more ways to connect. I’d just like to connect authentically with the audience in some way.
Jenny: At the end of the day we have to let the performance go. Each individual will come away with a different experience of it but I hope everyone finds something that they recognise in it.
The Murmuration of Starlings runs at Seven Dials Playhouse from 3rd - 14th March 2026. Tickets are available from https://sevendialsplayhouse.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173669526
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