By Charlotte Kyle, Social Media Manager
Full Frontal Theatre (FFT) is one of the most talked-about creative collectives to appear from the competitive Bristol University showbiz spaces in the past few years - a ‘striking trio with an insatiable appetite for improvement’ alongside a penchant for gruesome theatre and oft-avoided topics.
Epigram spoke with Grace Shropshire, producer of FFT, who works alongside Hen Ryan and Sadie Pearson, director and writer, respectively.
The group went off on a ‘small rampage’ around the UK this year with their debut production, To Watch a Man Eat, and got a powerful response to their bolshy theatre - with celebs in the audience including David Nicholls (the man who broke our hearts with One Day), no less. With a bank of five star reviews splattered across their website and industry professionals describing their first production as “salivatingly tense”, it's safe to say that the Full Frontal girls have made a name for themselves in their early post-uni career.
So, the trifles. Creamy-jammy puds have played a big role in Full Frontal’s marketing strategy for their first play - with some confusingly sexy shots of Lily Walker, who plays Melissa, engaging in what can only be described as dessert foreplay plastered across their socials and website. The team also bought a fresh trifle for every night of the production (surprisingly expensive?), leading me to question Grace-
'What's the deal with the trifles?'
'Well, let me ask your readers…in a world where we find ourselves motivated by sexual gratification, financial security or just life’s simple pleasures, what should we choose? Sex, money or trifle? This question was the premise for our first production To Watch a Man Eat, the play we launched Full Frontal with. It followed an investment banker, his domineering interior designer partner and a firefighter, who just wanted to eat trifle, in the garden, with his top off.'
Well there we have it. Perhaps the question should instead have been, why have I never eaten trifle in the garden with my top off?
Apart from pudding, Grace and I also delved into the world of establishing a name for your small business as three early-twenties women. She said that they sometimes get some surprised looks from industry professionals who have only communicated with the group through phone or email, but she said they’re generally used to lovely responses, noting that they have been called ‘memorable’ due to their tendency to coordinate outfits. The Full Frontal Look is sister to ‘sexy office chic’ - a bold lip and a shirt and tie will guarantee theatrical success, it seems.
And the most thrilling moment they’ve had as a team so far? Not the celebs, not the reviews, Grace simply said that the most exciting thing they’ve done is change people’s minds about plays - 'We’ve had middle-aged business men who have confessed to not really enjoying theatre say that our work has changed their mind. That is incredibly gratifying and validating. Speaking to people after the shows is definitely our favourite part of the process as it fortifies all of the hard work we’ve been putting in for months.'
Rodney Black: Who Cares? It’s Working, the team’s newest play, is showing at the Lion and Unicorn in Kentish Town this December (17th - 21st). Grace says, 'Rodney Black has made his career as a two-fingers-up-to-polite-society comedian, known for causing outrage. His motivations lie in contemporary qualms surrounding ‘language’ policing with his money-hungry and somewhat morally bankrupt manager. He titilates and aggravates with equal measure, cushioned by the seemingly impenetrable defence that ‘it’s all just a joke’. However, when a superfan of Rodney’s makes headlines after watching one of his sets detailing misogynistic violence, he is faced with an ethical dilemma and a new found spotlight - to what extent is Rodney culpable…and to what extent does he care?'
We discuss the assumptions that people are making about a play like is it another Gen Z wokeism, another clichéd exposure of our generation’s criticism of free speech? But if there’s one thing Sadie Pearson doesn’t do, it's predictable plays. Really, Rodney Black is a multi-dimensional discussion, perhaps making the audience empathise with a viewpoint they would typically feel estranged from.
If you’re lucky enough to snag a ticket before they’re gobbled up by the trifle-hungry theatre-goers of London, go and see for yourself what all the fuss is about.
