Interview with the playwright and director
Alison Munro

Alison Munro, History teacher at Aston Comprehensive, has been a member of The Company since 1994 and has directed a wide range of productions from Shakespeare to Terry Pratchett. She is not new to script writing, although all previous forays have been adaptations of classic novels, rather than writing a play from scratch. Previous scripts include Pride and Prejudice, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Prisoner of Zenda and The Man in the Iron Mask.

Can you give a brief outline of the plot?

It’s a musketeers story, and features the famous Four Musketeers – D’Artagnan, Porthos, Aramis and Athos. Only in my story, they’ve got older. Quite a lot older, because at least two of them have children in their late teens. The story is a follow up to “The Man in the Iron Mask”, when the musketeers swapped twin brothers to put the good guy on the throne of France. In this play, these actions come back to haunt them, and threaten their families, but in true musketeer fashion they swashbuckle their way through to a huge fight at the palace of Versailles. Actually, though, the real work is done by Marie, D’Artagnan’s daughter, her friend, Sarah, and a couple of nice young men that they pick up en route.

 What was you inspiration for writing D'Artagnan's Daughter?

In 1999, I adapted “The Man in the Iron Mask” for The Company, and we always said that we’d have to do a follow up. I also saw a French film called “La Fille de D’Artagnan”, which suggested that D’Artagnan had a daughter just as impetuous and brilliant at sword fighting as he was, and the two sort of came together. I have to say that I was also nagged mercilessly by members of the Company who wanted another swashbuckler. We love to claim that we do drama for the sake of Great Art, but sooner or later every actor really wants to appear at the top of a flight of stairs, draw a sword and exclaim “Aha!” Plus I love writing comedy and I wanted to do something that had the feel of films like “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

The play is set in the late seventeenth century. As a history teacher have you included actual historical context and real characters from history?

Umm. Yes. Sort of. This is where I get really embarrassed. As a history teacher I really ought to include accurate historical details. But it can get really boring. So I’m afraid that I’ve taken horrible liberties. I think it’s criminal to let the facts get in the way of a good story or a good laugh. I have included real characters – such as King Louis XIV, Jack  and Sarah Churchill (Later Earl & Countess of Marlborough and ancestors of Sir Winston), and the Duc D’Orleans. However, their ages are all wrong, as one of my A Level students keeps pointing out, and I have some of them doing things that they never ever did in real life, such as being avid beetle hunters, or fighting off pirates armed only with a candlestick and a vicious rosary.

How long did it take to write?

Far too long! All the other plays that I’ve written have been adaptations of novels, so someone else had done most of the plotting. So even when I messed it around a bit, I at least had a structure to begin with.  I began with the idea of the attack on the convent three years ago, and then began to list ideas and people that I wanted to involve in the plot. Then I got well and truly stuck. So I turned to my partner, John Ansari, who is a genius at stories, and we hammered out the main plot. I wrote most of it last summer during the school holidays, and redrafted it over Christmas and at February half term – so it really is hot off the press. The trouble is, I keep wanting to change it now.

Having put all your artistic might into writing the masterpiece, are you happy with your cast's interpretation of the script?

Artistic might? More like shameless thievery and plagiarism. But yes, I love watching what the cast do with the script. It’s one of the best things about writing, because you get to watch your words and your people come alive, sometimes in unexpected and really delightful ways. By the way, it’s also a really good way to show up the inadequacies of your writing – I just had to change some lines that had sounded fine in my head, but just died on stage.
I’m really impressed with a new member of the Company, a lad called Scott Ellis, who is playing Jack the pirate cabin boy. Scott has just won a place at Lamda to begin acting as a career, and it really shows in his performance. He’s turning the Jack that I wrote into something really special.

What have you enjoyed most about the production?

Directing is 80% casting. I think the cast is outstanding. I love the collaboration in performance – the way that we bounce ideas off each other, particularly when we’re coming up with visual gags. But I’m also very excited about the costumes – there are about 60 in all, and some of them are very elaborate.

What have you found most difficult?

I think the fights. The Company has a reputation for spectacular fights that go beyond most people’s expectations of both amateur and professional theatre, and I think we’ve outdone ourselves this time. At one point we have twenty three people on stage fighting at the same time. John Ansari, the fight choreographer, has, I think wanted to kill me at times as the script says things like “They have a really big fight, using amusing vegetables and furniture”. He has had to turn this into something that actors can do, and then we both have to bring it all together into a coherent scene. And maintain our relationship at home!

What has been the most challenging thing for the actors?

At the risk of repeating myself, the fights! Jennie Kirby, who plays Marie, and Rob Joyce, the evil Chevalier de Gite have a huge fight at the end with lots of fancy moves and witty one liners. They are both working so hard to make it spectacular, and I think it’s going to be very special. Plus, we have a team of ‘thugs, pirates, henchmen and guards’ who keep having to charge on stage and be beaten by various musketeers, nuns. They get very bruised by the end of rehearsals.

Who is your favourite character and why?

It has to be the musketeers, and Constance, D’Artagnan’s wife. The actors playing these five parts are absolutely brilliant, and they work together so well. Ken Rowe’s Aramis is a twinkly old rake, and Alan Wade’s Athos attempting to be a master of disguise is much funnier han I ever envisaged.  They hardly need directing, they just are these brilliant, funny, occasionally grumpy but always adorable older men. Alex Moore (Porthos) and John Ansari (D’Artagnan) played the same roles in the ‘Man in the Iron Mask’, and they know their characters inside out. I fully expect Alex to steal the show like he did last time. But my heart really belongs to D’Artagnan and Constance (Laura McDonnell) because they are so innocent, so loveable and honourable and deeply, deeply dippy.

You make a cameo appearance as the Reverend Mother, how have you managed to balance being on stage with directing?

Well, the Reverend Mother is really bossy, and a director has to be bossy, so…

Rumour has it that some of the comic lines have taken inspiration from other sources. Whose comedy genius should we look out for?

Again, this has become a trademark of the swashbucklers that I write. We have a bit of a ‘quote bingo’ thing going. OK. I have used lines from Terry Pratchett, Eddie Izzard, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Princess Bride, Dad’s Army, Andy Hamilton, Lethal Weapon, Blackadder, Carry on just about everything, Aliens, The West Wing, Green Wing, The Sound of Music (well, there are nuns), Captain Pugwash (I’m really sorry about that), Star Wars, Joyce Grenfell and many many more.

Who will the play appeal to?

Big kids of all ages. I think it works on a lot of levels. There’s broad humour, and some more intellectual jokes; there’s swordfighting and action, but also a bit of an emotional thing about fathers and daughters and sons. They say you should write what you would like to see and this is what I like – big romance, style, wit and some clever mucking about with history.

What is the highlight of the production?

The reverend mother. OK, maybe not. I think people will remember John’s amazing fights – especially the pirates. But I really like the silly characters such as Sister Bernard, the ninja nun, or the beetle obsessed Duc, or Samuel Peyps’ diary secretary.