Actress, playwright and autism activist, Alison Stanley, talks to Steve Russell about her passion for theatre in education, and why she's collaborating with one of Tyneside's most infamous figures.
Sex is hard work. Not, I hasten to add, an embittered personal reflection, but the title of an eye-opening memoir, currently being adapted for the stage by Alison Stanley. Written by a former Newcastle sex worker, the book is a frank account of her journey from chat line girl to disgraced brothel madam. Controversial territory, but Alison has built her reputation on challenging drama, so readily accepted when she was approached to develop it into a play:
What really interested me was how she viewed her career. Stereotypically, people think of sex workers as having been forced into it via drug or alcohol problems, but she simply saw it as an alternative to the nine to five.
As in many of Stanley’s works, the character will be anchored in domesticity, challenging the notion of sex workers as immoral outsiders, by depicting an ordinary woman struggling with the humdrum of life. There’s also comic exploration of the juxtaposition between fantasy and reality. Alison elaborates:
There’s a scene where she is on the phone to a gentleman, pretending to be sexy while doing the ironing, with a bowl of water and some bananas nearby for realistic sound effects!
The nature of those sound effects shall remain unsaid, but the play will certainly shine a light on some peculiar proclivities! Socially conscious drama has become Alison’s forte, and she’s hoping to emulate the success of past works, Bedsocks and Secrets and The Life of Reilly. As a mother to an autistic son, the latter was deeply personal, exploring autism as lived by an average North East family. The ground-breaking play – in which she also starred – received rave reviews upon its debut at Northern Stage, and a packed-out 2019 tour would follow, including a run at Edinburgh Fringe. Building on this success, she’s developing a series of children’s books featuring the Reilly character, and a big-screen version of the play is currently in pre-production, with filming set to begin in 2021:
The screenplay is ready, and we’ve got a great team at Try Hard Films working on it, with Daymon Britton lined up to direct. Existing investment will be supplemented by another fundraising ball early next year. It’ll be set in Newcastle, with some of the shoots potentially in Teesside.
Everything under the Reilly banner forms part of Life of Reilly CIC, a social project established to raise awareness of autism, and provide support and resources to those whose lives are touched by the condition. Alison founded CIC alongside close friends, Christine Stephenson and Kelly Best, who also have autistic children. Driven by personal experience, they operate programmes designed to increase awareness and tolerance. Really Reilly is a theatrical production which visits schools, teaching children about autistic behaviours, with post-performance workshops reinforcing its message. There are also workshops designed for parents, grandparents, and others in the support network of a child with autism. Naturally, COVID-19 has disrupted their schedule, but Alison immediately began innovating:
To keep a strong online presence, we had the actors from the stage version of The Life of Reilly read monologues from the original script, then I developed that by writing lockdown specific monologues to show the challenges and coping strategies of families living with autism.
Featured on their Facebook page (The Life of Reilly NE CIC), the darkly comic monologues document the additional pressures arising from a condition to which routine and familiarity are so crucial. One features the bully character from the play, delving into her background and why she displays bullying behaviour. It’s a theme Alison has decided to expand upon:
I’m in discussions with some domestic abuse charities about a theatre in education project around bullying, and I’m writing a play on the same theme, which will hopefully be brought to the stage next year.
She’s also working on a pantomime, featuring an autistic Goldilocks, and a series of children’s books based on an autistic female character, something she feels is under-represented in the media.
A self-confessed diva since childhood, Alison Stanley was born to entertain, but it’s her passion to inspire social change which really seems to drive her prodigious output. As one of her characters might say, ‘keep gannin lass’!