We recently interviewed the stage designer, Hannah Batt, and the writer, Morgan Noll, from Somna Theatre’s production of ‘There’s a Man in the Woods’.
Established in 2018, Somna Theatre is a brand new, London-based theatre company. Somna focuses its body of work on both new writing and established pieces. They believe storytelling comes first and create accessible story driven pieces that are supported by experimental forms of presentation and design. They centre themselves around genres such as dark comedy, horror, and science fiction.
What has inspired you as a company to centre on genres such as dark comedy,
horror, and science fiction?
Hannah: “I think for me, from a design perspective, it’s all about wanting to build the most evocative kinds of narrative spaces. There’s a reason that certain franchises have such strong communities around them- fans of fantasy, sci-fi and horror are so dedicated because those fictional worlds are always so intense and narratively rich, there’s so much to explore. I think we’re all interested in how we can create a really heightened experience for audiences, so we’re drawn to genres with the most potential for that
intensity.”
Morgan: “I think…we’re fascinated by the spectacle! We always trash our stages in some insane way— we’re sort of famous for that, ha. These genres allow us to play in big, stylistic, and grand ways! Moreover they physically transform the air in the room. For an hour, you’re out of your day to day. You’re in space, you’re in a storm drain in 1945, you’re in 2054 in an alternate timeline. Isn’t that fantastic? It’s not interesting to me to parrot back to you reality as it is authentically experienced. I want the realities I will never get to experience. I think it’s more interesting to heighten it, tweak it, or re-order it. To some degree, how we envision future or other worlds, affects how we shape our own. There’s a massive movement right now for Sci-fi writers to write more positive visions of the future. Why? Because some of them feel personally responsible for instilling, even in a small way, an unconscious assumption of this surveillance/authoritarian system we’re seeing emerge. What we imagine has more power than you realise.”
How has the process for this show been thus far? What have been some of the
most memorable moments?
Hannah: “I won’t lie- the challenge of bringing the woods into the theatre has felt a little daunting at times. I think my favourite moment so far has been the expedition to the woods Morgan and I took last week to scavenge. Most of our set is organic and involves us getting more than a little dirty, but that’s half the fun! That and sitting in my first rehearsal with Brad (our co-director) and Jack (playing Russell). I legit got shivers hearing the script out loud.”
Morgan: “I’m banned from calling Homebase in Swiss Cottage so yeah it’s been fun. They thought I was a nutter. “Hi, hello, do you have any dead tree stock?”. Ha. The most memorable has been the handing down of Grant 2 The Lantern. We’ve done this show before and have had a few of them (RIP Percy and Grant 1). I handed Jack over the prop and it was lovely to see ol’ Grant have a go again.”
Hannah: “I’ve heard that Jack has given the lamp a whole different character this time round though, so it’s Grant no more! We have a habit of naming our set/props it seems- our Tarp structure for our last show (Infinityland at London Horror 2019) was called Greg. He’s just hanging out in my basement
right now!”
‘There’s a Man in the Woods’ was a five star hit at the 2018 London Horror
festival. Why have you chosen to bring it to The Space?
Morgan: “Space is really special for emerging creators. Space treats emerging artists with respect, compassion, and understanding. We wanted to do it here because the venue is incredible and the staff truly want you to succeed and do everything in their power to ensure that. We knew that this old church as well would be perfect for the show. It’s old, it breathes by itself and it adds just that little extra touch of atmosphere.”
Hannah: “Everyone at The Space has been so accommodating! Even when I came in with the most ambitious and ridiculous ideas, we’ve found ways we can bring them to life. It’s such a great place for theatre-makers to nurture their craft.”
How have you as company dealt with portraying the themes relating to the limits
of love especially when it comes to one’s own children?
Morgan: “This came out of me watching an interview with Linonel Dahmer where he talks about his son while also hawking his book about the whole ordeal. It was incredible to watch. He says very calmly, ‘yes I still love my son’ but his face is a totally different picture. I remember being like, ‘he’s lying? He must be?’.. But to be honest, I’m still not sure. That’s the funny thing about parental bonds, some people are truly, truly, ready to die for their children. It’s beautiful…but you have to wonder does that belief dampen, even a little bit, if they’ve done things that are truly awful? We try to show a case in which a father is perhaps being a little more honest than Lionel…I think it’s a show where you really have to put yourself in the characters shoes and ask yourself: is there a part of me that would snap?”
Hannah: “It can be quite a heavy script to sit with long-term- it certainly challenges that assumption we all carry that parents always naturally love their kids, even if it’s buried really deep down. Over the period we’ve had this show in development I’ve been making sure to call my mum a lot more often!”
It seems that hyper-masculine culture and the disintegration of communication seem like rather large themes within ‘There’s a Man in the Woods’. How are those themes dealt with within the story and what should the audience take away from that?
Morgan: “Sometimes, when someone hurts you, or something’s wrong you just can’t get words to come out of you. It seems almost impossible to explain why you’re upset, so you swallow it. The classic “It’s fine”. We kind of just take this suppressing to its absolute worst outcome. ‘There’s a Man in the Woods’ follows this father who is reliving the nightmare of his life with his only son. The experience of watching it is frustrating because you feel like there’s so many times he could have stepped in, could have addressed it, could have reached out…but he doesn’t. He can’t. There’s this blockage in him that prevents him from really communicating with his spiraling son. In some American communities, it’s really hard for men to express themselves, especially in male-to male relationships. So that expression has to come out in other, less direct ways. Sometimes these releases can be violent. The takeaway from this, I think, is to be vigilant of that ‘lump in your throat’ feeling—what that’s telling you is something in you needs to come out and pushing it away takes you further from those around you.”
Overall after seeing this show, what message do you want the audience to leave
with?
Morgan: “It’s happened before, it’s happening now, and it can happen again.”
Hannah: “Horror theatre is alive- kicking, screaming, and ready to break down
your door.”
Running from November 26th-November 30th