PHOTO: Award-winning writer Tony Earnshaw, whose works bridge literature and theatre, shaping stories that resonate deeply with audiences and readers alike.
Immersive Theatre and Creative Challenges
Tony Earnshaw discusses his diverse writing career, spanning novels, poetry, and theatre. He reflects on creative challenges, immersive storytelling, community engagement, and the enduring themes of belief, integrity, and legacy in his work.
Tony Earnshaw is a literary force whose work spans novels, poetry, theatre, and librettos, each infused with a distinctive voice and depth of thought. His ability to navigate multiple genres with such dexterity speaks to both his creative ambition and his profound understanding of storytelling. From his novel Blessed Assurance, which explores themes of belief, integrity, and human relationships, to his poetry collection Paths and Digressions, where language flows with lyrical precision, his works captivate readers and audiences alike.
Beyond the written word, Tony’s contributions to theatre are equally compelling. His immersive site-specific productions, Passion for the Planet and The Causeway, go beyond traditional stagecraft, engaging communities in meaningful dialogue and leaving a lasting impact. As a playwright, he crafts narratives that challenge perspectives, and as a librettist, he weaves words with music to create performances of remarkable resonance.
With a career deeply intertwined with the literary and performing arts communities, Tony’s work is not just about storytelling—it is about connection, creativity, and legacy. His involvement in Mole Valley Poets and Mole Valley Scriptwriters, as well as his role in founding Damn Cheek Productions CIC, underscores his dedication to fostering artistic collaboration.
In this interview, Tony reflects on his journey, the challenges and rewards of writing across genres, and the inspirations that drive his work. His insights offer a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a writer whose versatility and passion continue to shape the literary and theatrical landscapes.
Tony Earnshaw is a masterful storyteller whose works captivate, challenge, and inspire, blending artistry, intellect, and deep human insight across genres.
What inspired you to delve into such diverse forms of writing, from novels to poetry to librettos?
A combination of ‘opportunity’ and my lifelong love of the theatre, music and the written word. When these drivers are combined with an interest in meeting new challenges diversity of work becomes inevitable. Each of these forms of writing informs my work in other areas – poetry influences fiction style and theatrical dialogue, and an ear for music underpins it all.
How do you balance your creative projects with your active involvement in community arts and organisations?
I see the two as complementing rather than conflicting. Working with community arts bodies and organisations is a source of joy. I find sharing with other people – not only writers – produces ideas, inspirations, and opportunities. It gives me a network of people to bounce off, and an audience and a readership.
Could you share the challenges and rewards of writing immersive, site-specific theatre projects like The Causeway?
Projects like The Causeway and Passion for The Planet are immersive for the writer as well as for the cast and audience, requiring lots of meetings and discussions with community groups and individuals and letting the overall shape of the piece emerge in response to those discussions.
The initial challenge was to move away from a mindset of writing a play, or a poem, or a story. It was all of these and more, each contributing to the overall arc of the production. I found this was a challenge that was best met by throwing myself into it and adjusting as necessary. To add to that challenge, the site-specific nature meant that the order in which the various elements were played had to change as the production teams worked out how the promenade would work – meaning adjustments to retain the story arc.
More challenges arose when we repeated Passion for the Planet in a different town, a different space, and in my own community. A different set of people, schools, and community groups presented new possibilities and ideas, a new site meant the promenade had to change, the script had to be adapted to fit – and as I was also the team member who had all the community contacts it was truly immersive.
The rewards were very real – a real legacy of community relationships, community action, and demand for more, and the joy on the faces of the audience, not least the children.
“Projects like The Causeway and Passion for the Planet are immersive for the writer as well as for the cast and audience.” – Tony Earnshaw
How do you approach the process of character development in your plays and novels?
The approach differs between the two forms. The commonality is looking at where the characters have come from, what their challenges are, how their relationships influence them. The difference is in the size of the canvas and the time span. I have tended to think longer term in the novel form and to use the size of a novel to explore in more detail. In the plays much is suggested in the dialogue, and more of the development is expressed in the way the relationships and the nature of those relationships develop or are revealed.
What themes or questions do you find yourself returning to most often in your work?
I find myself constantly returning to questions of belief and philosophy, to environmental concerns, to love and friendship, and to integrity – the relationship between belief and behaviour.
My first play, The Door dealt with a crisis of conscience, a death, and the question of blame – on the personal and political level. My second looked at Aid and AIDS and in others I’ve returned to ideas of world view and of responsibility and legacy in the context of referenda, addiction, prejudice, and environmental challenges.
My novel, Blessed Assurance, returns to issues of principle and behaviour as the four protagonists grow and develop, fall in and out of love, and wrestle with significant disagreements about how they see the world. Friendship, love, betrayal, and reconciliation feature here and in several of the plays.
The immersive projects have focussed on questions of creativity and legacy. In The Causeway, the impact of one monk in penning the Lindisfarne gospels, the creativity in creating this thing of beauty, releasing our own creativity and the legacy we ourselves might leave – not least on the planet. Passion for the Planet deals with similar ideas with a strong focus on environmental responsibility. Both projects have left strong legacies within the communities in and with which they were produced.
What has been the most unexpected or rewarding feedback you’ve received from readers or audiences?
Positive comments are always encouraging and, for the novel, the 5-star reviews feel good. With my plays it is the comments in post-performance feedback sessions, when lively discussions show that the plays are thought-provoking. With the poems, the unexpected and rewarding responses are when a poem has caught the imagination or struck a chord to the extent that several people have wanted to share it with friends. With the immersive projects it has been the ongoing legacy and the demand for more.
How has your journey as an author evolved over the years, and what do you hope to explore next?
For many years I wrote in isolation, in the spare moments I could find when other commitments allowed. Since making a switch to focus on writing I have found that writing can be teamwork. I bounce drafts of friends and colleagues, I’ve learned to take responsibility for accepting or rejecting ideas, I’ve worked with theatre directors and dramaturgs, and I broke through obstacles to finishing the novel by finding a wonderful mentor. All of this has resulted in more confidence, a clearer idea of who I am as a writer, and how it fits with my other activities. I am now a year into a new venture as a regular blogger on Substack and am exploring the possibilities of that medium.
What advice would you offer to other authors, particularly those navigating multiple genres like you?
Not to be afraid of different genres. We all have strengths and weaknesses, but all genres are worth exploring. I’d also recommend writing groups – for the learning and for the encouragement. Most of all to take on new challenges and enjoy the process.
