Not so Luvvie
By Jo Phillips
You may well have heard the term “Luvvie”, but if not, it’s a slang phrase often used in slight a contrary way for actors originating in British theatre. It is from their apparent tendency to call each other “love” and “darling” (apparently because when you’re going from job to job it’s easier than remembering people’s names). Find out more on Not so Luvvie Here
It follows the idea that those that work in the creative industries as a whole, not just actors are usually self-employed so they go into new work situations very often.; therefore no need to learn everyone’s names. However, the full slang term is in fact “theatre Luvvie” so prevalent is the love between those in the world of acting.
The Play with Speeches
But what happens if you fall out of love within the theatre? This idea is actually explored in playwright James Woolf’s new play, The Play with Speeches which is a comedy about actors in the audition room under exactly these circumstances.
Penny and Anthony were once an item, but things went pear-shaped a year ago and they separated. Now Penny has been chosen to direct Anthony’s play and there’s a theatre full of actors waiting to audition. Tonight. As in, right now.
Penny is ill-prepared, Anthony is wounded and the actors arrive with enough emotional baggage to fill the dressing room. What could possibly go wrong?
James is a playwright and fiction writer who we have covered here at .Cent many times. His last play Empty in Angel explores the fight for rights in the gig economy which was shown last September at The Bloomsbury Theatre. James has had many short stories published and listed in competitions, and he also writes short fiction as well as plays.
Empty in Angel
This hilarious new comedy from Off West End award-nominated Olive & Stavros is playing at the Jack Studio for two weeks following a sell-out performance at the Hen & Chickens Theatre.
“you get to read the part of Ralph’s love interest, although sadly, by the end of the play
you’re a largely forgotten figure. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.”
The Play with Speeches
The Oxford English Dictionary’s first recorded use of the word Luvvie, in an interview Stephen Fry did in The Guardian in 1988 although the word and the concept are apparently older, and was a phrase popularised by British actor James Villiers.
The Play with Speeches runs Tuesday 11 – Saturday 22 October 2022 at 7.30 pm at the Jack Studio Theatre. Brockley Jack Studio Theatre 410 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2DH
Writer| James Woolf Director| Katherine Reilly Producer | Olive and Stavros
No performances: Sundays and Mondays. Running time: One hour and fifty minutes, including a fifteen-minute interval. You can purchase tickets Here.
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