In December 2005, New Writing North published this collection of Julia's plays for radio and the stage. It brings together her plays for theatre, Eating the Elephant, Head of Steel, The Women Who Painted Ships, Venetia Love Goes Netting, The Last Post, Personal Belongings, Doughnuts Like Fanny's and her radio plays, Attachments, Sea Life, Posties and Appointments. The book is available via NWN's website and on Amazon.
It has introductions from Julia herself, Sue Roberts, her radio producer from the BBC, and Jeremy Herrin, Associate Director at Live Theatre. Jeremy Herrin first met Julia Darling when he directed her monologue Venetia Love Goes Netting. In the preface, Jeremy recalls working with her:
Julia Darling is a generous person. This is demonstrated in all her work, and particularly in her plays. These plays were written as gifts: always offerings for an unsuspecting but invariably charmed audience; often specific treats for particular performers or companies; and always given with an almost casual kindness. Having worked with her on a number of projects, I've never had a sense of Julia writing in order to receive anything in return. Not for her a take on the world that is cluttered by petty ego or a thin definition of what success really is. This wisdom is never far from her work.
Her relationship with Live Theatre has been an effortlessly favourable one: the inclusive feeling of the auditorium perfectly reflects the warm give in her writing. I have enjoyed many memorable nights with her plays: Venetia Love Goes Netting as performed by Madeleine Moffat and presented as part of an epic two evenings of monologues titled NE1 was the start of Julia's interest in all things postal. The story was so strong that it quickly became repositioned to be the climax of the first evening. Literally, no one could follow it. This obsession with mail continued with a tour around County Durham and back to Live Theatre with The Last Post. Personal Belongings was written for the actress Zoë Lambert to show off her crazy talent and delightful voice. Also Attachments was written with Charlie Hardwick and Trevor Fox in mind and Julia beautifully harnessed their consummate skills for high comedy and sweet pathos. To me these shows are as definitive of the theatre's work as any of the plays by Live's most celebrated writers.
Her creation of character is an enduring example of her generosity. They are presented with humour, they all have surprises under their wrapping and they always reveal their better natures sooner or later. The people in her plays usually undergo some process of self-realisation and they (and us their audience) end the evening happily more often than not. This defiantly unfashionable approach is typical of Julia and the feeling of seeing her plays is equivalent to working with her or even spending any time with her at all: audiences leave the theatre in the same buoyant, heartened mood as any number of writing students, taxi drivers or slightly pushy young directors that have had the genuine pleasure of her company.
I am delighted that New Writing North has chosen to collect all of this work: it is fantastic that it is available and I am hopeful that Julia's work will be presented again and again. It's a gift.
For permission to perform any of Julia's plays, contact Claire Malcolm at New Writing North:
This website also carries information about the original production of Eating the Elephant.
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Created by Julia Darling and Cornwell Internet. |
Last updated on 14th March 2006 by Roger Cornwell.
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