Psychological Thriller ‘People Will Think You Don’t Love Me’ Opens At KXT on Broadway
Image: People Will Think You Don’t Love Me
A new play opening at the KXT on Broadway, People Will Think You Don’t Love Me, ponders if a person who undergoes an organ transplant can inherit traits of the donor.
Transplants are a common enough occurrence these days, and one that writer Joanna Erskine deals with in People Will Think You Don’t Love Me, only she takes the premise further to explore what happens to transplant recipient Michael and those around him when his personality begins to transform as his donor is revealed.
“It is a thrilling psychological drama about identity and relationships,” Jules Billington, director said.
“While there is no medical proof for cellular-memory I find there is the volume of anecdotal evidence compelling.”
Award-winning play hit stages 2016
The script for People Will Think You Don’t Love Me first came to the attention of theatre audiences in 2016 when it won the 2016 Ensemble Theatre Stages Reading competition and later a Silver Gull Award.
“Joanna approached me and said she was going to do it herself, and then KXT programmed it and she suggested that I come on board as the director,” Billington said.
Billington is a highly in demand director, often working for Bell Shakespeare, while the three-hander featuring Tom Matthews, Grace Naoum and Ruby Maishman is being produced by Erskine’s Little Trojan Productions.
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“I love Little Trojans because it is the idea that you can put a really powerful idea, surprise or concept into this little Trojan horse and then what comes out grows into an extraordinary thing,” Billington said.
People Will Think You Don’t Love Me features ‘A-team’ cast
“We have gathered an A-team and we are very proud of the level of artistry of every single person,” Billington said.
Tom Matthews plays Michael, the transplant recipient and is thrilled about early readings of the text and the process of discovery as its multi-levels reveal themselves.
“Every time I read it I see something new, it jumps between people playing it out, and there are a lot of slow reveals that keep you on the edge of your seat,” Tom Matthews said.
“The way that it is written is in a way that people really love right now, and that is in a non-chronological order as it jumps between people.”
As the director, cast and crew are in the final stages of technical rehearsals the skill in the casting is becoming evident to Matthews.
“I had seen Ruby’s work before but I hadn’t seen Grace’s work at all, and it is smoothing to read a script and put your own judgement on it, but then seeing someone bring something that you never expected and being able to play off, that can surprise you,” Matthews said.
“It’s just a really exciting moment when someone comes up with a new idea in character I never expected and we are lucky in having a cast that clicks well and the chemistry is there from the beginning.
“I look at what the other two are doing and I think it is amazing, and I would have never thought of it that way.”
For most in the cast and crew this is the first time at the KXT, a theatre that is making its mark in Sydney for its adventurous programming and intimate atmosphere.
“It’s about the space and how intimate that theatre is and this is a very intimate play about relationships and about how their lives are affected by this medical intervention,” Matthews said.
“This is probably the perfect theatre for this play.”
People Will Think You Don’t Love Me is on from 15 – 30 November at KXT on Broadway. You can find more information here.
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