“We all of us write our own history to some extent.” So says writer/director/actor Clive Moffatt. In his case, he’s has done this very literally; Nostalgia, the revue he brings to the White Bear Theatre next week, is based on his own life story. Discover more in the interview below, then book your tickets.
The lyrical revue, which captures the memories and reflections of one man’s eventful life, runs at the Kennington venue from 30 July to 3 August 2019.
Nostalgia begins with the 1946 arrival, in West Yorkshire, of a young Polish woman from a German labour camp. Using conversations, comedy, poetry and music, the production captures a lifetime’s thoughts and emotions, ranging from the innocence of youth through the trials and triumph of middle age to the resignation of later life.
Jayne Beaumont leads the cast. She’s joined in the cast by Liam Weller, Nick Rutherford, Ian Recordon and Clive Eliot.
The production is written and directed by Clive Moffatt, who is also the founder and Executive Producer of Nomadic Theatrical Productions. The show’s music has been selected and arranged by composer and saxophonist Andrew Liddell.
Clive Moffatt on Nostalgia
What inspired you to create Nostalgia?
It was prompted by the death of my Mum, aged 98, in 2017. Dad had already passed away in 2014, aged 96. With me being an only child, Mum’s demise in effect brought to a close my family association with Wakefield and unlocked a flood of nostalgic memories about my childhood and early years in West Yorkshire up to the point that I left Wakefield to explore new worlds in 1968. It also prompted to me to reflect on my later life..
Why were you drawn to create a revue to tell this story and what does it add that a play might not?
I have always written poems. Lyrical summaries of where I was and what I thought at the time. A revue offered me the opportunity to draw on these and expand them to include imagined conversations spliced with comedy and punctuated with “memorable” music. A revue with theatrical vignettes and music provides a lyrical rhythm that a traditional play does not. The format is more flexible and can span the passage of time more easily.
Where did the story at the heart of Nostalgia come from?
Nostalgia
The story is autobiographical – most of the references are factual but, as always with nostalgic memories, there is a mixture of fact and fantasy. That is why remembering what happened is often a lot more fun than the truth of what it really was like back then… We all of us write our own history to some extent. This revue spans my life from 1949 to the present.
You wrote and are directing, as well as appearing in the revue. Is that a challenging to pull off?
Yes, it is challenging. However this is such a personal story that I felt that I was the one best able to guide the actors in understanding the background, motivation and emotion of the characters that they are playing. To provide some essential links in the story, I created the role of the independent narrator – a sort “Dave Allen” style raconteur. This revue is short in duration (60 min ) but high on emotion and impact.
What can audiences expect from Nostalgia?
I hope they will be engrossed by the story, enjoy the comedy and the music and walk away with fond memories of their own. Too often nostalgia is dismissed as a negative sentiment – a wallowing in the past – when in fact it’s the positive glue that binds our memories and helps us face up to an uncertain future.
What’s next for Nomadic Theatrical Productions?
I launched Nomadic in 2014 with the aim of encouraging new writing, new acting and technical talent. We did a successful adaptation of Tartuffe at the Courtyard Theatre in 2014. We have showcased a couple of new plays since and later this year and next we are hoping to stage a full-length new political comedy Political Agent and a modern day take on the themes in Waiting for Godot called Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
