Golf Course War Machine is told through the drug & drink fuelled fury of Pippa a protesting Valley’s girl who’s camped out on the Coldra roundabout on the eve of the NATO Summit in 2014 (played astonishingly by Melanie Stevens). She’s a powerhouse. Probably my favourite character I have written.
Let me try to recount our journey for you.
Chris Harris
In July 2016, Luke Hereford, our gallant director and Artistic Director of ‘No Boundaries Theatre’ asked if I had anything ten minutes of length and suitable for one woman. Golf Course was my submission to the Sherman Theatre’s first incarnation of TAITH in 2015, their programme to nurture and develop new playwrights in Wales. I was unsuccessful. So, it was better in Luke’s hands than sat in a drawer. What started out as a ten-minute piece for a scratch night (performed skilfully by actress Seren Vickers) quickly ballooned into something we both became very excited about. Something passed through each audience member’s shoulder that made us think that this play had the potential to be something more.
Last summer was consumed with understanding how 10 minutes could become 50 minutes. The answer – through our leading lady Pippa. The promise of the new play would rise from the question, why is she there? Who is Pippa? What right does she have to be sat on a roundabout outside Wales’ flagship hotel?
The ten minute play landed on the eve of Britain exiting the European Union. Our final R&D performance in November 2016 was presented on the day of Trump’s win at the White House. The first performance of this tour began on the triggering of Article 50. So,this play has lived alongside pivotal turning points in global politics. But to say that Golf Course is a play about politics would be unwise. Sure, politics is the springboard, but I think this is a play about responsibility. What responsibilities do we have when we don’t even realise it? This is ultimately what changes Pippa.
For me to answer those now would spoil the play for you, but what I can say, is that the result was fascinating. For this 24-year-old girl who sits on the roundabout, hungover and serenading her demons, this situation is very real. Pippa may not necessarily understand everything that she protests for, but when she joins the crowd, she feels the electric pulse through her and this ultimately is what makes her determine what it is she truly believes in.
We as a creative team are fascinated by the notion that young people have become increasingly more interested in the politics of the world, having seen a much more vibrant and active engagement and discussion amongst peers and friends. Maybe this is why there’s been a hunger in playwrights to react in different ways to the Brexit vote on our stages. I wouldn’t say this play directly responds to it – however it’s unfair to say that voice hasn’t reared its head at certain points in the plot.
But what’s in it for Wales? This is what Pippa tries to decipher for a while. As the politics of the world changes, how does it affect Wales? Especially now that the thought is mulling around in the air that Wales could separate from the UK. What I personally love about this play is the roots it sets within our own Celtic history. We are a nation of rebels. The Chartists. The Becca Girls. The Celts, for goodness sakes. We’re all born from a bloodline of people born to fight back. Pippa recounts these figures in her own story.
This is not a historical play. Yes, it’s set in 2014. But I hope that audiences may be able to watch it with the idea that Pippa’s tent could have been pitched anytime and anywhere in the world.
I can’t even begin to tell you how far this play has come. Sat at Aberystwyth’s Arad Goch Theatre, seeing this incarnation of the play for the first time, gave me a sense that there’s something solid in this play that can be shared for every audience member. Golf Course War Machine feeds on the idea that those on the outskirts of the political sphere can really make a difference.
Hope to see you on the tour.
Performances begin at 7:30pm (50mins runtime)
Tickets £9 and £7.50 for Concessions available from rwcmd.ac.ukThe Caird Studio at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama,
Cathays Park, Castle Grounds,
Cardiff CF10 3ER
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