Kent has a thriving arts scene, particularly here in Canterbury and in the coastal towns of Folkestone and Margate. There are such a wide variety of venues offering theatre and comedy shows, from fringe scale to large regional productions, which make it a brilliant place to live if you are an arts enthusiast. It is really exciting when UK tours are announced, as it often means an act or touring production might be heading our way. One of these acts, the musical comedy duo ‘Jonny & The Baptists’, made up of Jonny Donahoe and Paddy Gervers, are bringing their Edinburgh Fringe hit ‘The Happiness Index’ to Folkestone Quarterhouse this May. The show is a musical comedy that looks at the recent 14 years of Conservative rule and “explores the connections between personal tragedy, government austerity, and mental health”’. I was intrigued by how the group would use music and comedy to cover such complex and political topics, and recently had the opportunity to ask the pair some questions about the show.
To what extent have you drawn on personal experiences in creating the script?
The Happiness Index is a deeply personal show about trying to help people when you have neither the skillset or capacity, spread across the backdrop of a spiralling nation undergoing severe political and global disasters.
We don’t want to give too much away, but we do put a large chunk of ourselves under the microscope in this one – and you’ll be surprised how strong the correlation between personal and political nosedives appears to be.
How did audiences react to the show in Edinburgh last year?
It was a joy! We are delighted (and feel very lucky) to keep getting bigger and bigger audiences every year. But also, we really feel (and hope) we struck a chord with them. This show is an odd balance of serious and silly, and you hold a responsibility as performers (both to the audience and to yourselves) to be thoughtful and truly considerate when tackling topics like mental health and grief. We try each show to forge a meaningful connection with the audience in the room. So to get to hear them literally laughing and crying every night, is a nice way to find out you’re doing the right thing.
What can you tell me about the creative process for putting together a ‘Jonny & The Baptists’ show? How did you collaborate with award-winning theatre-maker James Rowland on this particular production?
We took a different approach this year. We try not to use the same formula for writing a show each time as that’s a surefire way to get a little bored of your own process and end up using the same devices or tricks – not fun for anyone involved – so this year we teamed up with James and wandered a little into the unknown. We sort of knew what we wanted to talk about, and we sort of knew how we wanted the show to end, but had no plan whatsoever for the other 55 minutes – so James got us up on the stage and got us to improvise it. The whole hour. Now I know that probably doesn’t sound like a big deal, but that is quite a terrifying thing to do – to go on with pretty much zero plan and just trust each other to construct a story and make each other laugh – and as it turned out, it worked. James’ process is hugely driven by going on a stage, knowing roughly what story you’re trying to tell, and then telling it and discovering it and shaping it for yourself. It was precisely the right match up for The Happiness Index and got us out of the cycle that was gradually becoming a bit like an eerily accurate depiction of the vultures from The Jungle Book.
What are you most looking forward to with taking the show on tour across the UK?
Oddly enough – seeing how it develops. Much like we mentioned above, the show does change and shift. It relies heavily on improvisation, and it keeps things fresh (not to mention it’s a story about UK politics which can change every day).
Touring is a lot of work, and it’s lovely that there are two of us: it allows us to actually be on a stage and enjoy each other’s company – and that often involves trying to make each other laugh, or catch each other off-guard. We’ve been on stage together for the thick end of 14 years now – the least we could do is enjoy it.
In Folkestone and at some of the venues on the tour, you will be presenting a second WIP (work in progress) production after ‘The Happiness Index’. What do you hope to achieve from trialling this work in progress in front of an audience?
We have a big, new, silly and brilliant idea and we want to get out in front of audiences and find out what we ALL think of it. Speaking to Folkestone, it has such a strong art scene, which is great for presenting new work, so we’re excited to see what the audience makes of both our shows and to work with the team at Quarterhouse. It’s a new city for us, but the team there has been fantastic and supportive.
We like doing double-bill shows as we hope it not only gives bang for your buck in a cost of living crisis, but you get to see a show nearing the end of its creative completion, and be part of the start of the next one. There might be an idea in that particular performance that becomes the central hinge of the entire next show, in which case you get to say “I was there!” – or we might do something that never, ever happens again. Which is what theatre should be about!
What do you hope Kent audiences take away from the performance?
Ideally, merch. Armfuls and armfuls of merch. So much merch you can’t even fit it in your bag so you have to buy more merch bags to then in turn buy more sweet merch. That’s the grand plan here. That’s the long game. Drop all the arts stuff, just shift these great tea towels and magnets. You’ve rumbled us. Oh and perhaps also a feeling that you’ve laughed at things you didn’t expect to laugh about, maybe got suddenly a bit emotional, and a sense that you’ve experienced some unusual comedy-musical-theatrical chaos whilst simultaneously keeping the arts alive in the UK. But mainly the merch stuff.
If you were to sum up ‘The Happiness Index’ in one word, what would it be and why?
“This show has made me happy”. Wait, that’s six words. OK – just “merch”.
Watching ‘The Happiness Index’ in Kent
It was fascinating to hear about the duo’s creative process, specifically how James Rowland encouraged the pair to get up on stage and improvise in the show’s early development. You can catch the production and the group’s new WIP at Folkestone Quarterhouse for one night only on Friday 30th May, with tickets available via the venue’s website. It sounds like a fantastic opportunity to watch an Edinburgh hit in Kent and also witness the development of some new writing right under your very eyes.
Thanks for reading my blog today.
Love Kat xxxx
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