NYRA opens Monday 24th August at The Courtyard Theatre, following the return of two women from space: but something feels off. Learn more about what you can expect:
1: Why did you choose science fiction as the setting for a personal story?
I’m naturally quite introspective, and I think this kind of question is sometimes easier to explore through science fiction. It allows you to go deeper into parts of psychology and reality that are normally inaccessible.
2: The play suggests that we can’t outrun our past. Was this the central question you wanted to explore?
Carl Jung said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” That’s essentially what I wanted to explore. I think until you really face the things that have happened to you and the repetitive patterns in your life, it’s very hard to understand yourself, and therefore very hard to understand life. We often feel powerless because of that. I wanted to change that narrative. What if we can actually understand those patterns and choose a new direction?
3: Memories can sometimes be unreliable. How does that influence the play?
That’s exactly the point. Memories are often blurred because it’s too painful to remember. Sometimes they’re exaggerated because they’re so deeply engraved in us, and sometimes they’re romanticised. That’s what makes memories so interesting. It’s almost never just about what factually happened. It’s more about the identity you’ve formed through everything you’ve experienced. The way you remember something becomes the story you’ve been telling yourself throughout your life. That’s why memories hold so many keys to understanding who you are.
4: The play is described as text-driven. What made you decide to use this storytelling technique?
As much as I love avant-garde theatre, I think if you want to explore the stories we tell ourselves, you have to actually tell those stories. That’s why text became such an important tool for this play.
5: How has the collaborative process been throughout the development of NYRA?
I’ve been very lucky with my team. It all started with this idea of a science fiction story where people travel to a distant planet and are forced to face their deepest fears. My friend, who also became the producer, trusted me and gave me permission to write it. Then I met Daniel, who found the idea fascinating and really encouraged me to push it as far as I could. He challenged me to explore it more deeply and to be brave and bold with it. Even the characters were inspired by, or sometimes evoked through, conversations and work with the actors in NYRA. So in many ways, NYRA became a truly collaborative process.
6: What has been the most enjoyable part about creating NYRA?
I used to be quite self-conscious about telling my own story. As this is my first full-length play, I felt I had to write about the one thing I know best, myself. That meant trusting that it was okay to be exposed, and trusting that my own story could still feel universal and interesting to other people. The whole process gave me so much joy because I realised I don’t have to be anything I’m not.
NYRA opens Monday 24th August at The Courtyard Theatre. Many thanks to Eve Kim for answering our questions. Book your tickets here!
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