A radical and lyrical exploration of grief, friendship, heartbreak, and violence, One Breath Before The End is a new play from writer Stephen Leach, soon to open at The Glitch in London. The second play from 1912 productions, One Breath Before The End brings Stephen Leach and director Mimi Collins working together again, after the pair worked together on Can’t Wait To Leave, Leach’s first play.
One Breath Before The End will be running at Bristol’s Alma Theatre from the 13th to the 16th May, followed by Manchester’s 53Two from the 20th to the 22nd May, before making its London debut at The Glitch from the 27th to the 29th May. One Breath Before The End may just run for one hour straight through, but it sounds like the show packs a lot of emotions in that time.
I got the chance to interview both writer Stephen Leach and director Mimi Collins before the show opens. We had discussions about the upcoming run, the inspiration behind the show and the creative process of bringing a show to life, their hopes for this show, and more. It was such a fantastic conversation, and I hope you all enjoy reading the interview as much as I enjoyed conducting it.
Note: None of these answers have been edited in any way, shape or form. They are exactly as they were sent to me.
Hi there, and thank you both so much for doing this interview with me! Let’s start simple…can you please tell us who you are and a little bit about yourselves?
Mimi: Hello! My name is Mimi Collins, I am the Artistic Director of the London branch of Bespoke Plays, which was started in Los Angeles in 2018 by Christine Boylan (Avatar) and Ellie Pyle (Marvel Comics). We bring new works to the stage via staged readings, workshops, and full productions, and encourage international collaboration between our pools of writers, directors, and actors. This year, we have two pieces at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, and we will be taking a show – GOOD GIRL – to Edinburgh for the first time as well!
Stephen: Hi! I’m Stephen Leach, founder of 1912 Productions. I’m also the writer of this play. Last year I also produced the first-ever revival of Oscar Wilde’s little-known debut Vera; or, the Nihilists. Mimi and I first met when she co-directed my first play a couple of years ago, and we enjoyed working together so much we agreed we wanted to take a new project from start to finish together.
Next up, can you tell us a little bit about One Breath Before The End?
Stephen: It’s a drama set over a single night. Three lifelong friends – Ash, Oliver, and Kieron – are taking shelter in their childhood den while outside the world is going to hell: the sky is literally on fire and people are rioting. We’re not told precisely what is happening, but it’s serious enough that they’ve packed bags full of all the food they could get their hands on and holed themselves up where (hopefully) no-one will think to look. The group try and formulate a plan of action, but then Phoebe turns up…
Stephen – What made you want to tell this story? What was the inspiration behind the show? And similarly, Mimi, what drew you to this show and made you want to direct it?
Stephen: It started life as two different concepts that slowly overlapped with each other. Neither quite stood fully on their own but the more I thought about possibly bringing them together, the more they felt like part of the same story. What made both ideas feel linked was that in both instances the heart of the story I felt like I was getting at was this notion of great, unshakeable lifelong friendship. I was really interested in exploring what that means to different people: how people view the idea of showing up for someone and being a good friend to them, and the complications of how those ideas change as you grow up.
The setting is an abandoned underground car park, and that’s something I spent a lot of time thinking about. For that to be the group’s childhood hangout spot felt dramatically interesting but also quite real because it’s exactly the kind of place kids who grow up in small towns or rural areas find to hang out in – bridge underpasses, the corners of fields and woods, old sheds or industrial buildings. It gave the piece a sense of nostalgia, it’s a familiar space to all four characters, and it’s one in which they’re all on an equal footing.
Mimi: I was excited to get into this script as soon as I’d read it. It’s sharp and insightful and the characters are grounded and inspiring. One thing Stephen gets so well is how to strike the perfect balance between weaving a rich and complex story with leaving the audience wanting just a smidge more. It’s a luxury to get the chance to direct such a piece.
When bringing One Breath Before The End to the stage, was it a collaborative process, or Stephen, did you hand your writing over to Mimi to then bring the show to life with free creative reign?
Stephen: Bit of both. We’re constantly batting ideas back and forth but I’m sometimes a bit of a control freak (and trying to be less so) – I’ve certainly brought a lot of ideas to it outside of the text in terms of elements like sound and staging, but equally Mimi’s influence ended up shaping the story a lot as it was being rewritten.
Mimi: I view our process as very collaborative! My job is to bring that initial vision from script to stage, and we work best side by side.
Have you both got a specific creative process you follow for every show, or do you approach every show differently?
Mimi: I wouldn’t say I have a specific process, but I do have a specific priority for ensemble pieces like this – and that is bringing the cast together. If they’re enjoying the process and enjoying being around each other, they will bring that to the stage and the audience will feel it. I’m confident in my ability to create a space where everyone feels equally heard and held; the rehearsal room is mine to lead, but everyone has an equal voice.
Stephen: This is only the second play I’ve written but I did feel that a lot of my usual routines with writing were kind of upended with this one. I’ve always really struggled with titles, but the title for this came to me very early on and influenced the script hugely.
And I’m not always a very methodical writer: a lot of the time my process is that I write a bunch of individual scenes or bits of dialogue and then slowly string them all together, but this was harder to do that with. The story moves almost completely in real time throughout, so everything had to flow continuously from the start to the finish and not feel like a collection of individual scenes.
How has One Breath Before The End evolved from the first draft to the finished show? Were most of the changes in the writing, or the staging and direction, from the first to the final stages?
Stephen: It’s been through many different drafts. Early on there were six characters, which quickly became five and then four. In the very earliest versions the characters were somewhat older than they’ve ended up being here, and had very different jobs and outlooks on life – one of the characters even had a child.
Mimi: Most of the changes have been on the page, although we’ve had a few different actors come in and out of the show during the process of developing it. Cast changes always make a huge difference, and it’s so much fun to rework those dynamics.
Were there any challenges in both writing and directing One Breath Before The End? If so, what were they, and how did you overcome these?
Stephen: The play deals with the idea of history quite extensively, so for me the most challenging thing was how to explore the backstory without it overwhelming the present entirely. At one point the script incorporated some flashbacks, but ultimately they slowed the pace of the present-day story too much to work.
Outside of that the other thing has been getting into four different heads and making them all feel fully realised. When you create a group of characters like this there’s often a temptation to make them archetypes, so it was always in the back of my mind to try and twist those roles as much as I could to give them some additional dimension.
Mimi: No directing challenges as of yet, though we haven’t properly started rehearsals. It’s a play with a lot of talking and a lot of emotion but it’s also an intensely physical piece, so I think the biggest hurdle will be incorporating physicality while keeping everyone feeling safe – but that will be made much easier by building the trust and connection between the cast.
In contrast to that, what has been your favourite part of the process of putting this show together? Is there anything you’re most intrigued or excited to see audience reactions to?
Stephen: It’s an ensemble piece and by nature it requires close chemistry. We’ve had a few different actors come in and out of the process during its development and not always had that much time to workshop it, but it’s always been striking to me how quickly the groups would establish a rapport. That’s in large part due to Mimi, though: she’s incredibly good at getting a group of actors to bond and immediately establishing a rapport between everyone in the room. When we staged it last year people said they really felt the chemistry and the weight of history between the characters, and that was only with a couple of days’ prep so I’m excited to see how much further we can push that with more time now.
Mimi: Honestly? We’re going to break some hearts with this piece, and that’s always such an exciting feeling – to be able to capture the audience’s care and attention to that degree. But the best part of this process by far is working with Stephen and this stellar cast. We’re getting to do what we love: what could be better?
One Breath Before The End is a show that has a lot of depth and complicated emotions as a part of the story; how is it being part of a show that must be so emotionally challenging at times? Is there anything you had to do to look after yourselves whilst putting this show together?
Mimi: I hadn’t thought about looking after myself! My job more revolves around looking after the cast, as they will have the heaviest emotional lift here. Stephen and I need to make sure they know they can come to us with any concerns, and we need to preemptively make space for them to process and ground themselves between tough scenes.
Stephen: It’s a tough one but ultimately you have to remember the emotion goes into the scenes. Someone once said “take the work seriously, don’t take yourself seriously” and people who live up to that idea are the kind of people I like to work with. Every time we’ve gotten together to work on this show it’s been a great experience, so long may that continue.
Did you learn anything new about yourselves when writing and directing? Or is there anything you will now take away from One Breath Before The End? And has anything surprised you throughout the process of getting this show ready for an audience?
Mimi: No surprises yet, but I’m sure they’re just around the corner. They always are. That’s the joy of live theatre.
Stephen: I’ve learned how little sleep I can get by on.
What would you say to people to get them to come and see One Breath Before The End?
Mimi: It’s a stunning exploration of the human experience in the most dire moment imaginable. It’s both shocking, and deeply relatable in the most unexpected of ways.
Stephen: Said it all. Besides that, I’m a big advocate for new writing and think people need to support it more.
Final question from me, what would you like audiences to take away from One Breath Before The End?
Mimi: I would hope they find the world a little brighter upon leaving the theatre.
Stephen: Honestly? How pointless so much of the conflict we put ourselves through is, whether small-scale or large-scale in nature. That’s something I felt strongly when I started writing this, and it’s only increased over the time since. There’s so much wasted time and so much wasted opportunity as a result of the damage we do to each other, and that’s something this play explores in a very close-up way. That’s what’s at the heart of this piece, really: it’s a story about four people who all, each in different ways, ended up being less than what they could have been. And I think there’s something everyone recognises in that.
And there you go! I found this interview to be so interesting, and it was amazing to get the insight into the process of getting a new show off the ground. Leach’s and Collins’ answers were fascinating to read, and it is clear from their interview that this show is being crafted with so much genuine passion, care and attention to detail. It certainly sounds like One Breath Before The End will be a really poignant and layered play. I am genuinely so disappointed I can’t go along and see it myself!
One Breath Before The End will be running at The Glitch, London, from the 27th to the 29th May. You can find out more about the show and book tickets here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/vaultcreativearts/2075759
One Show at a Time 