I ask Littler what kind of influence his literary background (he read English at Oxford) has had on his directing. He claims that “Directing plays is one of the least literary jobs you can imagine.” While giving him the skill of being able to read and absorb copious amounts quickly, directing “is mostly about bolting bits of wood together and harnessing people’s talent and telling a story. Bloody Poetry is a very literary play so I found myself using my English Literature degree probably for the first time because most of the time I think it would get in the way and make the work academic, dry or uptight. As a director, all you’re trying to do is to make the world that the writer has created exist in a lively way that makes sense within its own internal rules and to tell a story in an engaging way.”
Littler founded his own company, Primavera, in 2003, when he was between school and university, giving him a base as a freelance director. As a freelancer, he has the freedom to pursue projects that interest him and delights in the way in which “One of the joys of being a director is that you can move from a play about Byron and Shelley to a musical to a new play. It’s very stimulating that one can feed the other,” but remains pragmatic about funding and logistics and the way in which much of the revenue comes from ticket sales. There are never any guarantees of taking the show further: “If you do a fringe show, you have to make it for that place. You can’t make it with an eye on transferring or touring because then you’ll definitely mess it up. You won’t be focused on the space you’re making it for.” He very much hopes to do more co-productions with regional theatres, probably on a relatively small scale.
In addition to running Primavera, Littler continues to work extensively as an associate director. He worked with Peter Hall for about three years and he speaks with great warmth about how Hall gave him a job when he only had a small amount of professional experience and the way in which he gives his associates a safe and nurturing way of taking responsibility. Through Hall, Littler was introduced to Trevor Nunn, with whom he first worked on A Little Night Music at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2008. In one of his most challenging jobs so far, Littler was recently responsible for taking this production to one of Budapest’s most prestigious theatres (with the help of an interpreter) and he can now speak enough Hungarian to conduct a technical rehearsal.
Anthony Howell and Susannah Harker in Jingo. Photo: Robert Workman
This August, Littler will be directing Charles Wood’s play Dingo at the Finborough, where he staged Wood’s similarly named similarly named satirical fable Jingo to considerable acclaim in 2008. He states, “Dingo is the best play about war that I have ever come across. It’s an absolutely lacerating attack on Winston Churchill’s war policy and the necessity of there being a war at all. Even now, this kind of aggressive pacifism is still quite startling. Charles Wood was a soldier for many years so he gets the violence, the comedy and the humdrum nature of it. I think – touch wood – it will be a huge rediscovery as there are a lot of people who think it’s one of the great lost plays of the second half of the twentieth century. It is a Marmite play and there will be people who don’t like it at all. It was very controversial in the 1960s when Churchill was more or less above criticism and it will be interesting to see what kind of reaction it gets now. I haven’t seen a recent play that goes all out for the concept of war.”
Does Littler have a favourite project to date? He responds, “Bloody Poetry because I’m doing it now. It’s an incredibly happy company and creative team and they’re all very bright and passionate. If it’s a happy project, it’s always the one you’re doing at the time.”
Bloody Poetry is playing at Jermyn Street Theatre until February 25th 2012. For more information and tickets, visit the website.
