There's another Stanley at Laurels
A new hand is on the tiller at Laurels, the seaside theatre where exciting things happen. Alison Stanley tells David Whetstone what she has in store
Alison Stanley’s waiting at Laurels, the little upstairs theatre in Whitley Bay which has punched above its weight since it was opened in 2021 by Jamie Eastlake and Steve Robertson.
After four years, Jamie has moved on, his Eastlake Productions having partnered with the Theatre Royal to run its talent development scheme, Open Door.
Steve remains as managing director and head of comedy but when it comes to theatre, it’s been Alison in the hotseat since January.
To her now falls the task of ensuring Laurels fulfils its mission to create “bold work”, give a voice to marginalised groups and be the launchpad for “work looking for larger stages”.
The latter was spectacularly fulfilled when Jamie’s Gerry & Sewell, telling of two football-daft lads, transferred from Laurels to Live Theatre and then to the Theatre Royal.
Significant boots to fill, then, and underlined by the fact that Jamie took his Olivier Award, a fixture behind the bar, with him when he left.
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But Alison, it must be said, looks cool in her hotseat.
“It’s early days, obviously, but I think we’re building a good programme for the coming year,” she says.
“I’m very excited about that, and about offering opportunities to creatives in the region to get their work out there – and welcoming theatregoers and also non-theatregoers because we’re keen to convert them to the arts.”
This she has seen happening through Laurels’ Play and a Pasty offer, for which people pay a fiver for a script-in-hand performance plus a drink and a Greggs savoury.
“It’s like theatre Russian roulette because it can be a famous play or new writing, and you don’t know who’s performing either. It could be a new actor or a well-known face.
“It’s been running very successfully since summer. Some people dip in and out but there’s a core group who come every week and they’re forming friendships.
“I wanted to create a warm space for theatregoers and maybe not your typical theatregoers in that they haven’t been to fringe venues or maybe haven’t been exposed to the arts at all.”
This is not entirely a new world to Alison. She grew up in Dudley, the same North Tyneside village as Robson Green (who was best mates with her husband) and used to be taken on theatre trips by her mum, who also enrolled her for dancing lessons aged four.
In adulthood she had various unsatisfactory jobs but then decided: “This is no good – let’s just go for it.”
So she did, performing, writing and setting up her own company, Stanley Creatives.
She had a hit with her play Life of Reilly, inspired by real-life experiences of autism, and a re-worked version, Living the Life of Riley, is touring from July, produced by friend Leah Bell, from Blyth, and starring Vicky Entwistle, late of Coronation Street.
Jamie she knew from amateur dramatics and she was delighted when he returned from London and opened Laurels.
“It was great for me as a writer. I’d had work in other theatres but this was exciting because it was a place to experiment, and it’s the only producing theatre in North Tyneside.
“I had some of my work on here and then got more involved, running initiatives such as Play and a Pasty and becoming director of participation and community outreach.
“When Jamie stepped down I guess it was the natural progression to take over as head of theatre and programming.”
The new season’s first play is The Moth (March 6-8), which is being toured by Durham-based Elysium Theatre and has its world premiere this month in Hexham.
It began as short monologue by South African writer Paul Herzberg, telling of a strange encounter between a black British activist and a former South African soldier.
After that comes the first of two plays by Alison herself. T*ts Up (April 1-12) tells of three women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Of different generations, their responses and priorities vary.
“All my work is inspired by real life,” says Alison, adding that the idea for this came after she found a lump and went for assessment at the RVI.
“Fortunately it turned out to be nothing but it got me thinking and I woke up with this idea of three women whose paths would never have crossed were it not for this common denominator.
“I’ve worked closely with a North Shields charity called Live Well With Cancer and the ladies there have kindly shared their experiences.”
Blackbird In the Snow (May 6-17) began as a collaboration between North East playwright Arthur McKenzie and actor Davy Whitaker and it arose from the fact that both underwent heart surgery at the same time.
It tells of two comedians who were a double act before falling out. Now, getting on, they find themselves in adjoining hospital beds.
Sadly, Davy passed away in 2020. While the play promises humour, the run at Laurels should also see a tear or two.
Alison’s play Hard, telling of the life of a sex worker, follows (June 17-27) and it is also spawning Laurels’ first short film, for which a rehearsal is due after our chat.
Intended to be funny and serious, audiences responded well when it was staged at Cluny 2 in the Ouseburn (a run in Edinburgh the previous year having been lost to Covid-19).
“It sold out for six days,” says Alison.
“Whether it was because people were desperate to get out I don’t know but it made people laugh. Then we had it here so it’s back by popular demand.”
With various one-nighters in between, including Whose Crime Is It Anyway? on March 1, Alison is optimistic about the future of Laurels.
While largely reliant on box office takings, Alison says recently acquired charity status should help with accessing funds and opportunities to collaborate will not be overlooked.
“We’ll be relying on little pots of funding from co-productions and looking for sponsors or launching GoFundMe appeals. After that we’ll be looking down the back of the settee.”
One initiative that delights her is the new Rose Fisher Award for North East-based, female-identifying playwrights over 35. On offer is £2,000 and a production of the winner’s play later this year.
Rose was Alison’s mother who died of cancer in December, leaving her daughter with memories of a woman who loved to write but never sought an audience for her work.
“I did get to tell her about it before she passed and she was pleased. It has been said, and I don’t mind people saying it, that I am a bit ‘extra’. Most people buy a park bench but here we are…
“We launched it on the day of her funeral, January 10. Now we just have to get the word out. Applications close on June 30.”
And now, with the actors waiting, Alison must put on her directing hat.
Information about the Rose Fisher Award and the spring programme can be found at www.laurelswhitley.co.uk