#Interview with actor and playwright – Abigail Hood about her play – Monster Showing Now until 18th October at Seven Dials Theatre @7DialsPlayhouse @VeritasTheatre1 @KepowTheatre @AbiHood1 #Theatre #Stage #WhatsonTheatre

Interview with Abigail Hood
about the theatre play – Monster

by Louise Cannon –
Bookmarks and Stages

Welcome Abigail Hood to Bookmarks and Stages, thank you for your time. What has been created is an insightful interview as we delve into writing and performing a play with a full cast. We also delve deep into the play’s themes that deal with trauma and abuse, touch upon the research and a real case and self-care and more…
There are great photos to show you, a little about the play and then onto the interview itself and how you can go and see this gripping, challenging sounding play. There will also be post-show Q&A sessions with representatives from Advance on Thursday 2nd and Thursday 9th October at Seven Dials Theatre. Please see further details after the interview.

Abigail Hood, Lauren Downie, Lisa Ellis, Steve Hay, Sarah Waddell, Kevin Tomlinson

Set in Glasgow in 2006, and following a story spanning two decades, Monster follows Kayleigh ”°Kay”± Grey, a teenager prone to trouble whose fierce loyalty to her best friend Zoe often tips into dangerous retaliation. When a single act of violence shatters the lives of everyone around her, the play asks searching questions about culpability, rehabilitation and whether forgiveness is ever truly possible…
At its heart, Monster follows the devastating consequences of a violent act committed by 15-year-old Kayleigh Grey. Moving between the events that led up to the tragedy and her adult life, the play asks whether someone raised in violence is destined to repeat it – and whether true forgiveness or redemption can ever be found…

You are both playwright and performer of Monster, how does that feel to be able to have that much creative control and how does it feel to bring your play to life, when before, it was in your head and on a page?

It’s an exhilarating experience to be both playwright and performer of Monster. When I was writing, I would roleplay each character on my own—improvising their words and trying to get under their skin to understand their motivations and triggers. I always knew I would play Kay because I wanted to challenge myself, as both writer and actor, to make her as three-dimensional as possible—to explore someone capable of something terrible while still finding the humanity within.

As a performer, stepping into the world I created is both strange and wonderful. It started as a very solitary process—me with my laptop and research—and then suddenly you’re in a rehearsal room with a director, cast, and creative team who bring their own ideas and energy. The play stops belonging only to you and starts to take on a life of its own, which is the most thrilling part.

Performing and writing are two very different skill sets, what or who inspired you to both and do you ever find when you’re performing, that you do it differently from how you imagined when you first put your words down on a page?

My inspiration to become a performer came when I was nine years old and selected as one of the juvenile dancers in the annual professional pantomime at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds, my hometown. The whole process was glorious: Sunday dance calls, a week of intensive rehearsals in the theatre with the professionals before opening, and then eight weeks of daily performances—I was in heaven! We were only allowed to do one show a day, but I would gladly have done both. I loved everything about being in the theatre: the magic of the stage, the camaraderie of working together, and the joy of sharing the final performance with an audience. My mum still remembers how I could (and would) recite the entire pantomime, playing every role! Though I was a shy child in everyday life, on stage something else would take over.

I didn’t consciously decide to become a playwright, but I’ve always loved telling stories. It wasn’t until a period of ‘resting’ as an actor that I finally began to write. Still, I think the spark was lit much earlier, during one of my first professional acting jobs—playing Alice in the original production of Polly Stenham’s That Face at the Royal Court—when I witnessed the extraordinary impact a play can have. Seeing how it provoked conversations, challenged perspectives, and demanded urgent social reflection made me want to create work with that same power.

I’m also hugely inspired by the writing of Simon Stephens, Mike Bartlett, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who write with honesty and urgency about the world we live in now. For me, the impulse to write comes from a need to explore the “grey areas” of life—those complex, uncomfortable spaces that, when shared on stage, might help us understand each other a little better and, hopefully, nurture a more tolerant society.

This all said, I think I was always destined to become an actor and writer. A few weeks ago, I found some old schoolwork from when I was twelve: the task was to write an autobiography (an ambitious undertaking for twelve-year-olds!) and we’d been asked to brainstorm facts about ourselves. Under the ‘likes’ category, I had written: acting, dancing, and writing stories.

In terms of performing a role, it is often different from the way I imagined, as I am interacting with other actors who bring their own unique energy to their roles. They too are making choices and creating their version of the character, so the way a line hits you can make the response come out differently from the way you planned. Pre-conceived ideas often go out of the window once rehearsals begin.

Monster follows Kayleigh Grey, raised in an abusive household, hooks up with a bullied teenager who has a strong bond with her. How did you get inside the minds of such complex characters to make them realistic?

I did a great deal of research into abused children and children who had committed violent acts — reading biographies and autobiographies, newspaper articles, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, and speaking to psychologists and criminologists. Research was just the starting point. After that, I tried to get inside my characters’ heads — finding out what made each of them tick: their fears, hopes, triggers, and complexities. To do this I did lots of character developing writing exercises and improvising dialogue with myself. In particular, I wanted Kayleigh to feel fully three-dimensional—to reveal her humanity and show she’s more than the violent act she committed.

What emotions did you experience when both acting and writing the part of Kayleigh Grey?

When I was writing Kayleigh, I felt a mix of sadness, empathy, and deep distress for the harm she caused and the fact that the worst part of her was allowed to prevail. I wanted to understand her fully—her fears, her hopes, the moments of light in her as well as the darkness—without excusing the harm she caused. She does something horrifying, but that doesn’t make her a bad person through and through. There are qualities in her that are recognisable, even likeable, and it was important to me that the audience could see that complexity.

When I play Kayleigh, those emotions become very immediate. I think about the many children I read about and researched who committed these kinds of acts—the people they were before, and the people those acts turned them into. You have to hold both sides in your head: the vulnerable child who made choices, and the consequences of those choices. I feel it is really important to show her both as a feral, abused teenager and then as a grown woman building a life but plagued by the guilt of her childhood crime. It’s emotionally intense, but it’s also what makes the role so fascinating to inhabit.

The play explores violence, trauma and forgiveness, which you say are urgent themes, why do you feel they are important themes to explore in a play?

I think they’re important because they’re so often talked about in headlines or statistics, but not always in a way that captures the human side. Violence, trauma, forgiveness — these are things that shape people’s lives in complicated, messy ways. They don’t fit neatly into boxes of right or wrong, good or bad. A play gives you the space to sit with all of that, to feel it rather than just read about it.

For me, theatre is about empathy. It’s one thing to know something happened; it’s another to be in the room with characters living through the consequences of it. Violence and trauma don’t just end when the event is over — they ripple outwards, shaping families, relationships, whole communities. And forgiveness, or the absence of it, is just as complex. People talk about forgiveness like it’s a single moment, a decision you make and then move on, but it isn’t like that. It can take years, or it might never come at all. I think a play can hold all those contradictions — the harm done, the grief, the anger, the humanity of everyone involved — in a way that feels real. These themes matter because they raise questions we don’t always have easy answers to, but I think they’re questions worth asking.

You drew upon some harrowing real-life cases, such as that of Mary Bell, what went through your mind as you studied her case and how did you choose what to depict in your play?

When I read about the case of Mary Bell, what struck me most wasn’t just the crime itself, but everything around it — the childhood leading up to it, the public reaction, the way the media talked about her. There’s the act, which is horrifying, but then there’s this whole story of neglect, violence, and missed chances to step in before things got so bad.

For the play, I didn’t want to retell any one real case. Instead, I wanted to capture the patterns I kept seeing across so many stories: children sometimes failed by the systems meant to protect them, the complexity of their inner lives, the tension between the harm they suffered and the harm they caused. It was less about the details of any single case and more about what those cases revealed about society, about responsibility, about what happens when intervention comes too late or not at all.

In Monster, Kayleigh isn’t Mary Bell or anyone else — she’s fictional — but she carries echoes of the things I read and watched: the loneliness, the anger, the tiny glimpses of hope alongside the devastation. I wanted to create a character who felt real, not a headline or a symbol, so the audience could see both the child who needed help and the person who did something terrible. Choosing what to depict was always about serving that balance — showing the roots of her actions without excusing them, and leaving space for the audience to sit with the complexity rather than be handed a simple answer.

In what seems like an era of “self-care”, did you take some time to digest what you were ultimately creating and how did you take time to separate yourself from the facts you were reading about and what you are depicting on stage?

I think when you’re writing about something this heavy, you have to find a way to carry it without letting it completely take over. Some of the real-life cases I read about stayed with me for days — the details, the families, the children involved. It was impossible not to feel the weight of it.

But I always reminded myself that what I was creating was fiction. It was inspired by real patterns and questions but Kayleigh and her story were my way of processing all of that in a creative space rather than retelling someone’s real-life pain. That helped me keep some distance.

I also gave myself breaks from the material when I needed them. Sometimes that just meant stepping away for a day or working on a different part of the script — something less intense — so I could come back to it with a clearer head. And I think the act of shaping it into a story, giving it structure and characters, was part of how I separated myself too. It stops being a list of facts and becomes something that can spark empathy, conversation, and understanding, rather than just adding to the horror.

What do you hope the audience will take away when they leave the theatre?

I would like audiences to leave the theatre understanding that things are rarely black and white. I hope they will warm to Kayleigh to begin with and then feel torn when they witness the devastation, and irreparable damage, she causes to the family of the child she kills. I hope the play prompts questions about society and encourages reflection on forgiveness and justice.

I also hope audiences think about how society treats vulnerable young people, and in particular young women, which I believe is an incredibly important issue. This is why the production is supporting and supported by Advance, a charity that helps women and girls who experience violence and abuse, which can in some cases lead to their being trapped in a cycle of abuse and criminality. Advance helps them break this cycle and regain control of their lives. As part of our work with this charity a number of young women will participate in workshops led by workshop leaders from Advance before watching the play. There will also be post-show Q&A sessions with representatives from Advance on Thursday 2nd and Thursday 9th October.

What’s next for you?

First, a holiday! After that, I’m looking forward to new projects. I’ve already written another play, so I’m excited to see where that might go, alongside other acting opportunities that come up.

Discover how to see Monster at Seven Dials Playhouse here: https://www.sevendialsplayhouse.co.uk/shows/monster

Where can people follow you on social media, if you have any accounts?

Veritas Theatre Company:

Facebook = Veritas Theatre Company

X = @VeritasTheatre1

Instagram = veritastheatreco1

Tik Tok = veritastheatreco

KEPOW! Theatre Company:

Facebook = Kepow TC

X = @KepowTheatre

Facebook = Abi Hood / Kevin Tomlinson

X = @AbiHood1 / @KevinxTomlinson

Instagram = abihood22 / kevintomlinsonuk

Monster is at the Seven Dials Playhouse until 18^th October. For tickets and more information, visit: https://www.sevendialsplayhouse.co.uk/shows/monster

#Interview with comedian and actor Lucy Pearman with Lou on new show, Lunartic #LucyPearman #Lunartic @sohotheatre 29th Sept – 4th Oct #comedy #theatre #stage

Interview with comedian and actor, Lucy Pearman Lunartic

Interview by Louise Cannon

It gives me great pleasure to be interviewing about her new comedy show, Lunartic, which is transferring from a sold out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Theatre to Soho Theatre from Monday 29 September – Saturday 4 October 2025 at 9:15pm. Please find how to book at the end of the interview.
Thank you and welcome to Bookmarks and Stages, Lucy Pearman.

Lucy Pearman’s latest show, Lunartic was nominated for the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality and nominated for Best Variety Show at the Leicester Comedy Festival Awards.
She has also wrote and starred in BBC Three’s Please Help, which was nominated for a BAFTA following its release. She has appeared on Red Dwarf and other tv shows. She was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2017 for her debut full-hour show Maid of Cabbage.
She has successfully had other shows transfer from the Edinburgh Fringe to SoHo Theatre, such as Baggage.

Before the interview, which contains fascinating and entertaining insights into the themes of the play, the BAFTAs, Red Dwarf and some humour, here is a bit about Lunartic.

In Lunartic, the Moon is putting on a show. But, as the Sun keeps reminding her, the Moon will never be a star – and without him, she’d be invisible altogether. Through her trademark blend of surreal character comedy, joyful audience participation and prop-fuelled silliness, Pearman takes us into a huge-hearted story about loneliness, big dreams, and wanting to be seen. As the Sun threatens to switch off the light altogether with a total eclipse, the Moon faces the dark – and the audience is invited to join her in a wonderfully daft celestial adventure.

Without further ado, here is our interview:

Lunartic, it’s a clever, playful, fun name, what inspired you to call your show this?

I quite like using references to madness because I’ve very often been called those things. My 2018 show was called *Fruit Loop*. So I think the titles just come from all the things I’ve been rightly or wrongly called along the way.

2. Lunartic was a sell-out show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has now transferred to Soho Theatre. How does that feel, to know your show has life beyond a major festival, and what does it take to tour it?

Incredible! I’m so, so happy that I get to make what’s in my brain and people fancy coming to watch it.

I think the key to touring something is being sure people will come. I’ve started a mailing list, maybe that will help!

3. Interestingly, the characters in this play are the sun and the moon, with the moon putting on a show and the sun reminding it that it is also required. What inspired this concept?

Well, I sort of thought about the moon and wondered if she minds that, if the sun switched off, she’d just be a sort of big rock in the dark.

I’ve had times where I’ve felt a bit like a big old rock in the dark, so I sort of connected with that idea.

I like the thought that everybody loves the sun so much and is so happy when it’s around, but what if he was a bit of a dick, the villain of the piece I guess.

4. The themes are loneliness and big dreams. How did you weave these into such a celestial storyline, and why do you feel they’re important themes to focus on?

I have always felt like the moon looks so isolated and sad… I would always talk to the moon after gigs like a really trusty nocturnal colleague.

I liked the idea that she worked nights but also love the way she pops out in the day sometimes, and I imagined the sun being a bit cross about that, like she’s stepping on his shift a bit.

5. Since your show covers big dreams, what is one of your big dreams and why?

I had an actual dream that I was a clown wobbling around Liberty, that was quite nice, that feels within my reach. But career dreams… I would love to work with Julia Davis or make film, but also, hand on heart, I’d like to buy a pig.

6. What do you hope people take away from the show?

Well, nothing, because I will need all the props for the next night. It’s too stressful when people take everything home with them.

7. You were BAFTA nominated for Channel Three’s *Please Help*. Did you go to the party, what was that like? If you didn’t, what did it feel like to know you were nominated for such a prestigious award?

I did go to the party and I felt like a competition winner, but it was bonkers and amazing.

My mum lost her shoe, not because she’s such a liability, but the cloakroom threw them away, which wasn’t ideal, to be honest with you.

8. You starred in Dave’s Red Dwarf feature-length special. What was your best experience within this show?

Oh God, walking on set, meeting the cast, wearing fake custom made fang teeth, pretending I was in space. But my favourite bit was probably eating croissants with Craig Charles.

9. What’s next for you in your successful career?

I think it’s: buy a pig, then off to Hollywood… with the pig. Me and the pig, the pig’s flying and I’m holding on for dear life… could happen!

You can take a trip to the moon, via Soho theatre by checking out the box office here: https://sohotheatre.com/

Follow her Lucy Pearman here:
Instagram: lpeaman
Website: lucypearman.com

#Interview with Lorna Rose Treen By Lou about 24 Hour Diner People #RoseTreen @Instalorns @sohotheatre #24HourDinerPeople

Interview with Lorna Rose Treen
about 24 Hour Diner People

Soho Theatre – 8th – 13th September 2025

Interview conducted by Louise Cannon

I had the pleasure of interviewing the award-winning actor Lorna Rose Treen about her popular show, 24 Hour Diner People now at Soho Theatre, London. In August 2025, it sold out all 30 shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, coupled with many glowing reviews, it’s the successful stage show you don’t want to miss!
Find out a bit about it below and then onto the interview. At the end of the interview, you can find out how you can get your hands on tickets so you can see the show yourselves and the awards won.
*Please note, I am not affiliated to anyone or anything.

24 Hour Diner People offers up a full-fat collection of eccentric, escapist, and delightfully silly characters – all served with a side of proper jokes. Expect to meet a waitress who dreams of flying, a trucker with unusually long arms, a woman who’s kept her umbilical cord, a 1960s spy on a caffeine high, and a teenager giddy from her first kiss – all somehow coexisting in a strange, time-warped roadside diner.

1. You sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and had to add extra dates due to demand for your show 24 Hour Diner People. What did that feel like at the largest festival in the world and what are your hopes as your tour it to Soho theatre, London?

It felt like an administrative error! But no it was honestly so nice to see the tickets flying, especially because no one had seen the finished show yet so it was mostly selling because people wanted to spend time with me whatever it was I was gonna do. What a lovely compliment!

2. You have some eccentric characters in your show. Are there particular people or idiosyncrasies you’ve observed in human behaviour to create your characters?

I love watching documentaries and imitating the way we used to speak in the past. I am a nightmare to watch TV with because I parrot whatever is being said and try to copy the intonation. My grandma taught me this, we were a nightmare duo.

3. What inspired you to create characters that are seen as being “voiceless” and giving them a voice and in a comical way?

I like watching the background characters in films and TV, especially from years gone by. I love giving a 5 minute monologue to a character who is a background character for a reason. So often these are women, whilst the men get to be funny in the spotlight, so it’s fun to put the attention on the women and make them get the laughs.

4. The diner you’ve created sounds brilliant fun. You say it’s a fantasy Americana seen through your Midlander eyes. What was the pull for you to build this type dineras the premise for you show?

Fringe is long, and if your show has life after fringe – it’s even longer. I wanted to build an environment I wanted to lock in and spend a lot of time in. Americans who’ve seen the show have commented that I clearly love the mundanity of the day to day, but for me a diner in America is a most exciting place to be. Growing up there were diners in every sitcom, drama, musical and film. Even though they weren’t real, they hold a place of play and joy andescapism built entirely from fiction and dreams, that you just couldn’t get in Redditch’s (now defunct) Chicago Rock Cafe.

5. If you could meet anyone in a diner, who would it be and why?

I’d like to meet James Broom from sixthform because he still owes me £20.

6. You’re no stranger to comedy and have worked with Emily Atack on her show (ITV), Time of the Week (BBC R4), true crime mockumentary, Criminally Untrue and more… what was it like to work on such huge hits and people and how do you take those experiences forward into your expanding comedic career?

Time of the Week is my radio show I co-created with Jonathan Oldfield. We star in it alongside Sian Clifford, who is unbelievably funny. It’s such an honour to be stupid alongside her. She’s like, properly properly good. Series 2 is coming out later this year, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear the nonsense we have written and made Sian say. The writers room and cast are made up of people we not only find incredibly funny, but also people who we love working with. I think sometimes solo performing can feel a little lonely (not when you’re on stage connecting with an audience, but all the organising and writing process). So time of the week is a real beacon for me to connect with my fellow character colleagues like Ada Player and Alice Cockayne, Jodie Mitchell, and Jonathan. And touch base with some of the best new writers like Priya Hall. It’s a real delight to bounce your ideas off someone you think is the funniest person in the world. There’s a reason why American comedy is so successful and I think a big factor is the writer room culture. It really grows and nurtures talent.

7. Going back to 24 Hour Diner People, what do you hope people will take away from it.

I just want them to have had a stupid nice time. I don’t think my comedy will ever make you learn nothin.

8. Where can people follow you on social media?

Instalorns on instagram

LornaRegionalTransport on TikTok

Deborah Meaden on Linked in

Lorna Rose Treen will be performing 24 Hour Diner People at Soho Theatre from 8^th-13^th September. Tickets here – https://sohotheatre.com/events/lorna-rose-treen-24-hour-diner-people/

Chortle’s Best Alternative Act 2024 – Winner

Channel 4 Sean Lock Award 2023 – Finalist

Dave’s Best Joke of the Fringe 2023 – Winner

Chortle’s Best Newcomer 2023 – Winner

BBC New Comedian 2023 – Semi Finalist

Funny Women Stage Award 2022 – Winner

Funny Women Comedy Shorts Award 2022 – Winner

#Interview By Lou with the Tony Award Winning Actor, Laura Benanti on new show Nobody Cares @laurabenanti #NobodyCares #comedy in #Soho #London at #Underbelly on 2nd Sept #Theatre

Interview with Laura Benanti
on Nobody Cares

Interview by Louise Cannon

Welcome, Laura Benanti, to Bookmarks and Stages and thank you for the opportunity to interview you.

I am absolutely delighted to interview Laura Benanti about her new show, Nobody Cares, which had a hugely successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It has now directly transferred to:
Underbelly Boulevard Soho, London on 2 September for two performances only.

See after the interview for ticket details.

Laura is best known for her show-stealing performance as Louise in Gypsy alongside Patti LuPone on Broadway. For this role, Laura won a prestigious Tony Award.
She is also known for her recurring role impersonating Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, alongside other major Broadway such as Eliza Doolittle in my Fair Lady and more. She has also appeared in tv shows, such as Nashville, Gossip Girl, The Gilded Age and more…

Here’s a little about Nobody Cares before we talk about it interview, finding humour in being a former people pleaser and in the perimenopause, Melania Trump and why she impersonates her, connecting with audiences and more… The answers are fascinating and insightful.

Nobody Cares, is a hilarious, heartfelt, and sometimes brutally honest autobiographical hit charting Benanti’s journey from an 18-year-old ingenue to a recovering people pleaser with all of the missteps and marriages (three!) along the way. Her comedic take on everything from motherhood to perimenopause is yet another star turn.

Your show, Nobody Cares had a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, you’ve stepped onto the glitzy stages of Broadway, huge tv series and won a Tony. What inspired you to choose the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to showcase Nobody Cares and what did you like most about your time there?

I’ve always wanted to perform at the Fringe! Being at a festival full of theatre nerds was a dream come true!

2.You bring Nobody Cares to intimate stages, what do you enjoy most about this and are there any challenges, compared to big Broadway stages?

I enjoy connecting with the audience in a completely different way. I can communicate with them. It’s a much more relaxed vibe.

3. You bring comedy, ranging from parenthood to perimenopause, they can be inherently funny subjects, but what do you feel is important that we find the humour, even in the most challenging of times of being a women?

I endeavor to see the world through the lense of a sense of humor. For me, it’s the only way through. Humor eradicates shame.

4. You tackle being a former “people pleaser”, how did you overcome people pleasing?

I’m still working on it! I actively work on it during the show! There are definitely people who come to the show thinking I’m going to sing Broadway music and instead I deliver original comedy and songs that has very adult themes and language. I find myself wanting to apologize to them for that, or wondering what they’re thinking. I have to tell myself to let it go and be present.

5. What’s one of the funniest moments of the peri-menopause? Frankly, I ask as I am one of those women hurtling ever closer to that age and stage of life.

I think embracing that you will, at some point, look for your phone and it will be in your hand. Brain fog is real!

6. After London, what’s next for you in your illustrious career?

The day after I land I film a few days on a very sweet movie called “the Ditch” and then we take our show to Berkeley, California.

7. On a side note, us in the UK often have an eye on US politics. You’re known for impersonating Melania Trump on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which is incredibly funny, even from a single pose. What inspires you to do impersonations and kick ass out of politicians? We also have many comedians doing this, it’s often clever.

First of all, I want to apologize on behalf of America that some of us voted for our current POTUS (pervert of the United States. Doing this impression is an act of rebellion and a way to keep people laughing during what is a very serious time.

You can catch Laura Benanti in Nobody Cares by finding out more details and booking here: https://underbellyboulevard.com/tickets/laura-benanti-nobody-cares/

#Interview By Lou with author Laura McHale Holland about Shinbone Lane ‪@lauramchh.bsky.social‬ #books #ShinboneLane @HenryRoiPr

Interview with Laura McHale Holland
On Shinbone Lane

Conducted by Louise Cannon

Laura McHale, welcome to Bookmarks and Stages. Thank you for allowing me to interview you about your fascinating book, Shinbone Lane. Thanks to Henry Roi PR for the opportunity and putting us in touch to do this author interview.
What Laura has to say, is truly interesting and she even imparts a poem as part of one of her answers. We talk about inspiration, world building, secrets, healing, including her own healing space, transformation of lives, the 1970’s, her characters, one of whom is a dancer and one whom is Maddy who both have quite a story to tell and more…

Laura McHale Holland is an independent author whose works of fiction and non-fiction have been recognized by the Next Generation Indie, Readers Favorite, INDIES and Indie Excellence book awards. She lives north of San Francisco and enjoys her grandchildren, film noir and a strong pot of black tea.

Firstly, here is a little about the book, before the interview…

For reasons they can’t quite explain, the lost always find themselves on Shinbone Lane…

San Francisco, 1974. Sixteen-year-old runaway Maddy is escaping the blame for a crime she didn’t commit. Miles from home, she is taken under the wing of the elderly Clara and her neighbor Ted, and soon finds a place among the kaleidoscope of personalities on the oddly named Shinbone Lane.

Ted’s three-story Italianate Victorian house overflows with travelers, free spirits, and artists. His backyard is a haven for all who are willing to see its magic. But burdened dancer Eloise Watkins condemns the transient “riffraff” in her neighborhood. Their frivolity flies in the face of her grief over friendship lost and a daughter who’s missing. And nobody — nobody— understands.

But like all who tread on it, Shinbone Lane has secrets of its own. And like all secrets, they lie uneasily in the dark, until the truth emerges to lay the past to rest.

Who or what inspired you to write?

When I was seventeen and in my last year of high school, one of my uncles rescued me from a chaotic home situation and sent me to a Catholic girls’ boarding school in a tiny country town. It was 99 miles from an abusive stepparent and far from my wild friends in the Chicago area. The environment at school was controlled but also very loving. I didn’t know how unsafe I’d felt until I was cared for by a team of nuns who had dedicated their lives to helping teenage girls at risk. It was a respite. I had quiet time. A bombardment of conflicting thoughts and feelings inside of me eased, and I had the urge to express myself. I wrote poems that I sent in letters to friends back home. I knew five or six chords on the guitar and wrote a few songs, too.

I remember one of the poems I wrote at boarding school. I was thinking about my father, who had passed away when I was eleven, and a boyfriend who’d recently left the country to follow a guru around the world:

to ponder again

what’s been

what was now

not knowing how

or even why

love’s vital beating

ever fleeting

left to stay

left me this way

to ponder again

what’s been

After graduation, I didn’t keep writing. I was enrolled in college but didn’t show up, afraid I’d make a mess of it. I went through a dark period, which I began to come out of in my early twenties. At that point, with conflicting thoughts and emotions wreaking havoc within, I began keeping a journal, thinking it might help me sort out what I really thought about things. Then I attended Columbia College, a creative arts school in Chicago. Every student was required to take writing workshops, and I was bitten by the writing bug, particularly by a workshop led the novelist Larry Heinemann, who said, “Laura, you are a writer. All you have to do is do it.” It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Ha!

2. Shinbone Lane is an intriguing name. How did you come up with this street name?

I’d begun brainstorming about a name for the lane, but wasn’t happy with any ideas I’d had. I happened to tell my husband, Jim, I was trying to come up with a name, and he threw out, as more of a joke than a serious proposal, Shinbone Lane. The idea jolted me. It seemed more suited for a Western genre story. But as I thought about it, I realized it offered possibilities for creating a story about the name within the larger story of the novel. The story I wove into the novel was inspired by folklore, and this meshed with my love of magical realism, where a story is rooted in the everyday world, but inexplicable, extraordinary things happen as a matter of course.

What’s your process when world building a lane that really comes to life with many personalities and a bit of magic?

Memory played a big part in this, because the fictional lane is located just up San Francisco’s 29th Street hill from where Jim and I raised our family. So when I envision the environment, I picture it very much as it was in real life. The lane itself has more of a golden glow about it, and things happen there that don’t ordinarily happen. It’s the world slightly tilted, but it’s still our world. It doesn’t involve people casting spells and using magic potions. It’s not epic fantasy where you create entirely imagined worlds. It’s more like forces are at work in the natural world that we don’t fully understand. As for the people, they aren’t based on specific individuals I knew, but they were inspired by the many people who passed through my life in the 1970s. The characters came to me and took shape as I was writing. I didn’t think them up ahead of time.

What attracted you to the fully loaded themes of secrets, healing, transforming lives?

The themes stem from my life experiences but they have universal resonance. Who doesn’t have a secret or two? Who hasn’t been harmed or hurt in life? Who hasn’t wished for healing at some point? And as for transformation, we are all transformed as we move through life. Sometimes it’s dramatic, and we notice. Sometimes it’s a gradual transformation that sneaks up on us. Sometimes we seek transformation and get what we want; sometimes we seek transformation and get something else entirely. Sometimes we don’t want transformation, but we get it anyway. In writing fiction, I love for characters to be grappling with big things, some things that others don’t know about and wouldn’t guess, some that are obvious, some things that can never be healed, and others that can. And I love to create communities where, as in real life, terrible things can happen, but where an underlying love helps everyone pull through, maybe different than they were but ready for a new day.

What’s your healing place or space and why?

My healing place has always been the outdoors, walking in particular—from the Midwest prairies to the crowded streets of Chicago’s north side, to San Francisco’s magnificent hills and valleys, to Sonoma County’s many trails and byways. Walking has always calmed me while at the same time woken me up, and made my troubles seem a little bit lighter, at least for a time. It’s odd, but I didn’t realize until answering this question how important walking has been for me. I walk our dog every morning, but I’ve been so pressed for time in recent years that I walk for only about half an hour. I’m going to have to work in some longer walks regularly, walks without my dog, too, who’s a little on the goofy side and easily spooked, so he’s not a relaxing companion.

There’s a bit of magic on Shinbone Lane and reasons why, at least consciously, the characters don’t all quite know why they are there. How do you believe that magic in the real world plays out for people and how did you go about weaving it into your book?

Some characters have lived on the lane their whole lives; others are newcomers. They’re all there because they want to be, because life on the lane appeals to them. They’d have difficulty explaining why, which is not all that unusual. I’ve never given much thought to why I wear certain clothes, for example, or why I’m drawn to some foods and not others. And like the folks who populate Shinbone Lane, I can’t easily explain some of my choices; they happen so quickly on a gut level.

Similarly, weaving magic into the real world as I write is an intuitive process. Some of the magic expresses a longing I have for the real world to have more magic manifest in our days, for things not to always follow the natural laws we’ve come to understand, for inexplicable things to be more common and not relegated to streaming TV series. Also, there is a lot about the universe that we don’t know. I keep that in mind when writing fiction, and it helps me push boundaries between the real and the imagined.

One of your characters is 16 year old, Maddy, who is escaping the blame for a crime she didn’t commit. She gets taken in by Clara, a significantly older woman and her neighbour, Ted. What significance do they play in her life and how important do you think it is that young and old come together in society?

Clara and Ted are hugely important to Maddy. They have given her a foundation of love she never had. They are like many people in the world who are rock solid good, through and through, and are unsung. It wouldn’t occur to them to look for recognition for doing the right thing. Their goodness helps to attract magic, though they don’t do anything consciously to bring it about. And a world without elders would be bleak indeed, especially for children, who would never know people who have lived through times that for younger generations are known only through books and documentaries. Plus, those of us who were lucky enough to have at least one loving grandparent know the love they give is profound and unique.

Travelers, free spirits and artists feature in Shinbone Lane, who are willing to see the magic. How did you find writing about such, practically bohemian characters in-contrast to the grittiness of Mattie escaping a crime?

Despite her unfortunate home, where the crime occurred due to a family member’s mental illness, Maddy is very much a part of her generation, which is breaking free of rigid cultural norms and expectations. Also, in the 1970s, large numbers of young people were on the move, largely because it was before real estate prices soared to heights almost beyond comprehension. It was easy for someone to take off with a little bit of money in their pocket and travel, sometimes staying on the move, sometimes settling down in a new place, where people could explore and maybe bring out different sides of themselves. Having lived through that time, it was a natural process for me to write about it.

There’s Eloise who is a burdened dancer who wants rid of anyone who she feels is “riff-raff”, has lost her daughter and has decided there’s much no one understands. Did you feel the powerful emotions of your character here and how did you convey them onto the page and out to the audience so they can also experience her life?

People on the lane thought they knew Eloise. She’d lived there all her life, after all. But it turns out they barely knew her at all. Writing her was a lot of fun, as well as surprising. I didn’t know when I first envisioned her what turns her life would take, and I had compassion for her in the end. I felt what I imagined she was going through, as well as other characters’ reactions to her actions. When writing fiction, you have to put yourself through an emotional wringer at certain points in the narrative. If you don’t do that, readers are unlikely to be moved by the stories you tell. I’ve found that as long as I show up emotionally while writing, I don’t need to worry about conveying emotions on the page. The emotions flow with the words.

Shinbone Lane is set in 70’s San Francisco, a bit like the time when you went for a visit and stayed. What compelled you to stay, how did it influence your writing and what changes have you seen in the city?

Initially I stayed in San Francisco because I had the feeling after a few weeks that I wanted more, that I hadn’t experienced what I wanted to experience in the city. I decided to remain for a few months. I bought a Fast Pass for $11, which was good for a month. With that I could take a bus, streetcar, or cable car anywhere and ride as far and as long as I wanted within the city. And the rides, even just to run errands or visit a friend across town, were extraordinary with incredible vistas, largely because of the hills, the ocean on one side and the bay on the other. Even some of the backyards you’d pass on the J-Church were stunning, and riding the 10-Monterey bus was breathtaking.

I quickly found temporary office work in San Francisco and a room in a Victorian flat with two amicable roommates for only $79 per month. I enjoyed exploring the city’s distinct neighborhoods and microclimates, all the artist collectives, dance and theater troupes, cultural organizations, street fairs, free events in Golden Gate Park, and so many people my age who were trying new things. I decided I wanted to take piano lessons. To do that, I needed a piano, so I bought an old Kohler upright on time, $17 per month for three years, and said, well, I guess I’m staying for three years. I wound up staying for almost thirty years, and now live only an hour away.

San Francisco influences my writing the same way any place I’ve come to know well and love does. The streets, the parks, the restaurants, the main events of the time are part of me. The experiences I had, the highs and lows, are wedded to where they took place. A huge difference in the city between the 1970s and now is that it is so much more expensive to live there. There are bound to be exceptions to this, but generally, artists and people not earning Silicon Valley type incomes can’t afford to live there anymore unless their homes have been in the family a long time. People of limited means have to leave. And that changes the culture of a place.

What do you hope readers get from your book?

Knowing a place where they’d like to linger for a while. Characters they’d like to meet in real life. A story written in a way that delights and absorbs them. A sense that tough things can happen, but the support you need is usually nearby, and healing can and does happen. And a reminder that what we present to each other day to day is only a part of what we are. It’s not like we’re purposely hiding things from others or from ourselves, but many things are hidden. In the end there’s a longing to give and receive love, even in the worst of us, and that is powerful.

How did you celebrate publication day?

I didn’t do much on publication day itself, other than watch for reviews from people who’d read advance copies. That was pretty exciting, especially since my daughter had helped find early readers, and we were phoning and texting each other as reviews appeared. The following weekend I participated in a joint book launch party with members of Redwood Writers, the Sonoma County branch of the California Writers Club. The writing itself is a solitary activity, and it’s great fun to share milestones with other writers. The sense of camaraderie is uplifting.

How can people follow you and your work?

Thank you, Louise, for asking me such thought-provoking questions and spotlighting Shinbone Lane. Here’s my Linktree listing with links to my website, Facebook, Instagram, Substack and Bluesky pages: https://linktr.ee/lauramchh

#Interview by Lou with Max Fulham about his show Full of Ham at #EdFringe @ThePleasance @maxfulhamcomedy #Comedy

Interview with Max Fulham about Full of Ham

conducted by Bookmarks and Stages – Louise Cannon

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Max Fulham to Bookmarks and Stages for a Q&A session on his comedy act, playfully named, Full of Ham.

Max Fulham likes to make people laugh through ventriloquism (vent). It’s perhaps not quite all as you’d expect. He has put his own twist on this art-form. He’s worked with some of the biggest stars in show-biz like Craig-Revel Horwood and Mel Giedroyc. He started out in Linlithgow, which is not too far from Edinburgh

Without further ado, let’s find out more through the interview.

You’re known for modernising and bringing new audiences to ventriloquism, but who or what inspired you to take up this artform and create stage shows with it?

How did you train to do ventriloquism?

I taught myself as a child and there was a little worn patch of carpet in front of the mirror in my bedroom where I used to stand and practice. My first puppet was a little pink hand puppet and it was the first of many over the years I asked for for subsequent birthdays and Christmases. It probably took me a few years before I was even half decent and I am grateful I was still a child because being a bit rubbish can be sort of endearing then!

I took up ventriloquism (or vent if you’re really cool) after my parents bought me a puppet for Christmas when I was nine. I have been hooked on it since then! Having done it for a good few years now, one of the things I realised is that a lot of audiences had never seen ventriloquism live before and also had a few preconceptions about it being a bit old and naff. I suppose that is the main inspiration for trying to take it in some new directions or simply to use it to create the funniest things I can. I have been inspired by many of the greats over the years like Ray Alan and Terri Rogers and I think looking back has what has gone before can be a great jumping off point when wanting to take things in a different direction.

Your style is very different from having a dummy on your knee. You’ve decided to create an inner monologue, use inanimate objects and expressions.

What inspired you to do it this way and what themes do you tend to lean towards in this show and why?

It’s fun to play with what people expect from a ventriloquist and twist it into something slightly different. There may be a puppet as you’d expect at one moment but it becomes something unexpected. I have also really enjoyed exploring stuff that doesn’t use a puppet, what happens if there are multiple characters onstage but I’m the only person there? In terms of themes I feel that the show really goes from the everyday to the absurd, from supermarket checkouts to a box full of intrusive thoughts.

You started life in Linlithgow and then headed to clubs and cruise ships, now home to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. How has your travels influenced what you bring to your shows?

My travels have enabled me to perform for such a wide variety of audiences which is invaluable experience for any performer. What will sometimes work in one scenario will not work in another and I hope that I am slightly better at working that out now after performing all over the place. The vibe I always want to create in my shows is a sense of unity that we are all there in a room and I have some fun things to show you.

Rowan Atkinson, Mel Giedroyc, Craig Revel Horwood and Terry Fator famously highly rate you, which is fantastic. How did that come about and how does this add to shaping your career as you progress ever forwards?

I have been lucky enough to work with or meet some phenomenal people and some true comedy heroes. I worked with Craig Revel Horwood in pantomime last year, he was the Hook to my Smee and we had a great time! I worked with Mel Giedroyc on her show Unforgivable and she has been encouraging me to do the Fringe since then! Getting to meet and work with these wonderful people is often a nice reassurance that I’m getting at least something right… it also looks good on the poster and I’m very grateful for their kind words!

You’re billed to be appearing in Panto with Alexandra Burke and Dr. Ranj, how are you preparing for that and are you able to share what it will be and where?

Yes! I’m off to Neverland this Christmas (read: Southampton). It is shaping up to be a fantastic show from what I have heard in the meetings I have had so far. One of the amazing things about panto though is that it comes together so quickly and we only start rehearsals a week and a half before the show opens so preparations come a lot later in the year!

What’s next for your solo ventriloquism shows?

I would just quite like to continue doing my nonsense and making people laugh. I am excited to see where the characters and ideas from this Fringe show go, I have a feeling a few of them may have life beyond this show!

Where can people follow you on social media?

You can follow me on Instagram @MaxFulham and on TikTok and Facebook @maxfulhamcomedy.

Max Fulham has brought his show ‘Full of Ham’ to the Edinburgh Fringe the August, every night at 6.40pm in the Pleasance Courtyard. For tickets and more information, visit:: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/max-fulham-full-ham