Liam Grogan and Benjamin Sumrie from Precarious Theatre has joined me in an interview to talk about the theatre company’s upcoming play One Hundred Percent which is performing on September 29-30, 7.30 pm at The Bread & Roses Theatre.
What was the inspiration behind your show?
Ben Sumrie (the creator and one of the writers of the show) was feeling quite worn out at the end of 2024, asked himself ‘why did I pursue this impossibly difficult career?’. Despite knowing he loved acting, he wanted more reasons to keep on going, and like a lot of people (and actors do) looked into his past. By coincidence, he came across a LAMBDA certificate, grade 8 distinction in speech & drama, and remembered how he received full marks, 100%. It made him laugh, ‘why did I get that grade?’, and brought him back to that 17 year old who wondered ‘I could be quite good at this, couldn’t I?’. He realised that, despite this supposedly inspirational moment, this certificate was not his inspiration to act; instead, he had gone to university to do a ‘safe’ degree. He wondered how different his life would have been had he idealised that piece of paper; a piece of paper that supposedly declared his ‘superiority’ in acting, the false-hope that it might have given him, and how irresponsible that would have been when it really meant nothing at all. This all appeared to him as a funny opportunity to write a play about what might have been and the person he might have become. Thus came One Hundred Percent, the story of an obsessive, compulsive, and extreme actor who has not lived up to your their expectations and, in their maladaptive daydreaming, schemes up a plan to confront their old examiner in a definitive showdown to set the record straight and find out once and for all whether he is really is good enough.
How long has your production been in progress?
The show was developed over 6 months earlier this year, with its first run in June, 5 nights at The Barons Court Theatre, followed by 3 nights at The Kings Arms a part of the Greater Manchester Fringe in July.
Where are planning on taking the play next?
In November, the show will feature as part of the Voila! Festival at the Playground Theatre, so all in all, a 12 month process!
What would you like audiences to take away from your show?
We want audiences to ask themselves: why does anyone pursue a career that comes from passion? This show is not just about acting, it’s for anyone who has felt they haven’t achieved their dreams. In a very Pinteresque way, we slowly unravel the truth of the characters, but don’t hand out simple answers, or guarantee a happy ending! We want the show to create debate, as One Hundred Percent attempts to hold up a mirror to the audience and ask ‘why is it so hard to do what we love?’
What are you looking forward to most about performing your show?
Bringing the show again and to new audiences and exploring new angles and nuance within the performance. The show is ever changing and with two different actors who play the Examiner role (a male and a female actor), the play can be very different night on night. Like the mock acting exercises that take place in the play, it’s an experiment on stage for us too! It’s always fun and always a pleasure to explore this with new audiences and spark discussion about the themes of the show.
Why did you choose your particular Fringe venue?
The history of The Bread & Roses as fringe theatre made it the perfect place to showcase our work. With it becoming ever harder to bring theatre to life, we are so lucky to be working with the founders of the festival itself. Equally, the intimate space is particularly advantageous for our production as the play is something of a pressure-cooker and a close audience only increases the tension and makes the comedic moments pop!
Which shows at the Fringe are you planning on watching?
We really look forward to seeing Drama Girls! Tilly Woof has worked with us on our previous show Conversion and we are so excited and pleased to see her work come to life again after being at the Edinburgh Fringe. Our show and hers have similar themes, commenting on the acting industry; it’s a bit like our productions are theatrical siblings! We’re also excited about Overwhelm; Working Progress Collective are producers of really high quality theatre that tells human stories. We saw their last show, Sessions, and it was really great.
Have you had any major hurdles to overcome to get this production on the stage?
Putting on any show is a challenge and One Hundred Percent isn’t a very orthodox piece of theatre. We, as a company, constantly want to do things differently and challenge our audience to think which hasn’t always been appreciated by the critics. But we’ve been buoyed by audience feedback and are excited to continue to develop the show, even as we go into the next round of shows.
What other productions have you previously been involved with?
Precarious Theatre has produced 3 other shows in the last 6 years: Failure Studies, A Theatre Show, and Conversion. You can find out more about them on our website: https://www.precarioustheatre.co.uk/past-productions
https://lambethfringe.com/events/one-hundred-percent
Instagram: @PrecariousTheatre
Facebook: Precarious Theatre
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