A pitch perfect product

PRODUCER Leah is on the pitch of her lifetime to a young starlet, selling Mohamed And Me, the story of an American woman and the suicide bomber she falls in love with.

Playing the desperate producer in Mark Ravenhill’s solo show is The Thick Of It and Sherlock star Olivia Poulet.

“I’ve read some pretty cataclysmic scripts where the content is just unbelieveable, but he’s deliberately pushed it,” she says. “I think it isn’t too far from the constraints of reality.

“It’s not the same time as when Ravenhill was writing – we have moved past 9/11 now, although it is still very painful. Now we are talking about girls going to Syria, deciding they want to marry terrorists.

“I wish it felt a million miles from reality, but it isn’t entirely impossible. The story is ghastly and horrendous but it still resonates.”

When Product was first performed in 2005 it was Ravenhill himself who played the part of the desperate producer pitching to a silent onstage actress.

For this revival Poulet is on her own, but not a line of the script has changed.

“I was slightly concerned whether or not it would work as a woman playing the producer,” she admits, having already taken the show to last year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

“The gender swap was seamless. There is a line in it which is: ‘I wept like a woman’ and when I read the script I wanted her to say that.

“She’s not relying on her gender or sexuality, she’s trying to be quite tough. It’s quite a testament to Mark’s script.”

Product is Poulet’s first one-woman show – and initially she was hoping to repeat Ravenhill’s use of a non-speaking actor to react to.

“I prefer having people to play with,” she says. “I initially begged to have someone with me like Mark did in the Bush Theatre.

“It ultimately worked out that it didn’t add anything. She doesn’t speak for 50 minutes.

“During my time in Edinburgh I positioned her sitting in the second row of the auditorium, so when I was looking out it wasn’t like looking at a general wash of audience. It gave me a focus, which helped.”

The title of the play underlines the business side of the Hollywood machine, something Poulet admits makes her sad.

“People say things like: ‘What time is the talent arriving’ when they talk about actors,” she says.

“I find that absolutely mind-blowing. You have these writers, sound engineers, designers, directors and producers who all have talent.

“People in our industry live in a box – it’s a convenient terminology to call the actors ‘the talent’.”

She sees Leah as a “damaged, desperate soul” on her last ditch attempt to save her career.

As an actress she has faced her own share of desperate auditions and pitches.

“You don’t get better at auditions, you get better at managing your expectations,” she says.

“When you go into the room it sometimes feels like everything in the world depends on the next 20 minutes.

“When you’re starting out it is so overwhelming. The crushing ups and downs are so intense.

“But you get better at accepting that it comes and goes, and you will carry on.

“You have to be sensible and surround yourself with the right people.”

Poulet’s appearance at The Old Market previews a month-long run of Product at London’s Arcola Theatre.

“The Old Market show will be my first since Edinburgh,” she says.

“I’m trying to read the piece again before rehearsals. I’m looking forward to starting again and giving it a crack of the whip in front of London audiences to see how it is received.

“An audience is like a living organism – you just don’t know what you’re going to get from one night to the next.

“One day it’s a comedy, the next it’s a tragedy – in Edinburgh we got some real belly laughs and gasps.

“The great thing is it’s up and down in 50 minutes – which is a completely unique selling point for a play that does as much as this!”

Essential info

Starts 8pm, tickets £12/£10. Call 01273 201801.