Kate Marlow, a tv and theatre coach who's worked everywhere from the X Factor to Big Brother, was sick of ranting on Facebook about the austerity and attacks on the working class. She got angry and answered back in the only way she could. Kate wrote a play, Knock Knock, which is being performed over five days at the Kings Arms for the Greater Manchester Fringe.
This week, Kate was busy handing out flyers for the show at the People's Assembly Budget Day demo on Market Street in Manchester, trying to encourage an audience that will appreciate the sentiments of the Tory Government-damning drama...
"I wrote it after being inspired on a People's Assembly march last year" she recalls "It was the first time I've got political because I'm sick of seeing what's happening to ordinary people in communities, it's really hurting me inside. I was Facebook ranting, which of course is pointless, but I'm a theatre director so I wrote my first play.
"It's a story about a young woman, Jo, but it's a story that could happen to any woman" Kate explains "She loses her job, the debts start, she fails to turn up to a Job Seekers Allowance signing on....she loses her benefits, the debts get worse, she gets ill, there's the children, and so on...and then Knock Knock, the bailiffs are at the door...
"...But she has a neighbour who's a bit older and wiser and has been there herself before" she adds "They get together, they fight back, although there's not a happy ever after..."
...But there are guest Tory puppets, David, George, Boris and Ian "I really have some fun with them because they're evil" - and a very special appearance by another puppet called Gary Barlow, plus an ace music track from the Cabinet of Millionaires.
The story is told through a homeless ex-serviceman, played by Salford's Clay Whitter "he's amazing, a dream, he's brilliant" says Kate and any profits made from the play are being passed on to top Salford homeless support group Coffee4Craig.
Indeed, the whole production has got ethics running right through the heart of it. Kate has financed Knock Knock from her own pocket, no-one is getting paid to perform it and she doesn't want affordability to stop anyone from seeing it.
Kate's encouraging people to pay on the door, rather than through the GM Fringe ticket agency which has a £1.25 booking fee "Our play is anti-austerity, we're not having that" she laughs, adding "Money must not be the obstacle from you seeing this piece of work because it's for people. If you want, pay what you feel on the way out. We hope to cover some costs but we're doing this from passion. It's the best thing we've got to put our voice out there..."
Knock Knock, presented by Love and Light Theatre and written and directed by Kate Marlow, stars Amy Forrest, Clay Whitter, Shaun McGowan and Janet Thompson and runs for five performances during the Fringe.
Performances: Saturday July 11th 3pm; Monday and Tuesday 13th/14th 7:30pm, Saturday 18th 3pm, Saturday 25th 3pm
The Kings Arms Theatre
Bloom Street M3 6AN
Tickets £9/£7 (but see above!)
Further details are on the GM Fringe website click here.
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