“The world is hellfire at the moment, and it’s important that we have a record of who we were”
BY VEE WILSON , IMAGES BY CHLOE BURTON
In At Once Before And After, writer and director Charlotte Ive weaves together mythology, queer identity, and forgotten stories to tell a narrative that is both historic and incredibly present, beautiful but urgently needed.
In this conversation with DIVA, she speaks about the inspiration behind the show, the importance of representation, and the power of reclaiming the narrative.
Can you tell me about the inspiration behind the show and where the idea came from?
The show is like a lot of things that have kind of threaded themselves together. Initially, I knew I wanted to write something that explored women, or female-identifying people, within mythological worlds. […] I think from there, I ended up thinking through the concept of one, women and queer people not really being written down in history despite their existence; and two, the stories that get told about us tend to be very defining and not always in the best of ways. And then I thought about how people who exist within the margins of stories can take power from that and use it to their own benefit as protection. So, it started there, and then a lot of witchcraft, humanism, and mythology got chucked into it as well.
The production explores themes of female identity, self-discovery, and finding a sense of belonging. Who do you see this speaking to the most?
Whilst you could watch it because there’s a queer love story in it, and if you’ve experienced a queer love story you might really engage with that, at the same time all of the characters in it are people we’re not used to seeing be main characters. I know from my personal experience growing up, how much queer material there was on TV, in theatres and books; I always felt like I couldn’t see myself. So, I really hope that the story appeals to anybody who has also felt like that, for whatever reason. Because that’s what it’s about, the people who haven’t been written down.
Why do you think it’s so urgent that we tell these stories now?
The world is hellfire at the moment, and it’s important that we have a record of who we were, who we can be in the future, and the fact that we’ve always been here. I think if you get written out of stories and history, it becomes so much easier to erase yourself, and it means that future generations don’t have that grounding. […] For me, theatre has always been a space where I get to experience something outside of myself, and I get a greater understanding through that experience. I think that’s what’s important about communities that are threatened right now, like trans and queer people; we need those who haven’t necessarily had that experience to get an understanding of them as beautiful human beings.
You said that you didn’t have this representation yourself when you were growing up, what do you think your childhood self would think watching this show then?
I think she’d be extremely excited and extremely geeky because I was a very excited and geeky child. I think she would feel a lot less lonely. I was sort of coming to age just after Section 28 had disappeared, and it impacted me across my 20s. There was still this enormous sense of shame, a feeling that you don’t belong, and restrictive boxes that you had to be put into. I think if my childhood self saw this glimmer of hope, that said you can be anything, and your story is just as valid as everyone else’s, that would have been lovely.
So, is there a specific message that you want people, especially women and the LGBTQIA+ community, to take away from your play?
To have confidence in the fact that you are the main character and that your stories are as present as all the other stories we’re used to seeing. […] There’s so much rhetoric throughout the play of thread, sewing, tapestries, and the patterns that we make. I think that the same pattern will always exist if we’re not the ones writing it; if we’re not the ones sewing it. If we want to make the pattern ourselves, we have to cut the threads and make what we want to see.
To book tickets to see At Once Before And After find tickets online here or contact the box office on 020 8237 1010.
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