°µÍø½ûÇø

The critically acclaimed production Real, Mad World, written by third year Education student Laurie Ward (2020) and last performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is coming to the Portland Arms on the 10-11th October. .

‘A tender, intimate, and powerful production’ – Varsity

Real, Mad World follows the joys, heartbreaks, and absurdities of trans life. Laura, transgender woman and playwright, wants to be a mother more than anything. Faced by the children that she cannot bear, she writes herself into another life with a womb, cisgender husband, and kids. But Lindsay, Laura’s partner, is waiting at home with a glass of wine and plans for Trans Revolution Now.

We asked Laurie to tell us a bit about her play.

Tell us about the play

Real, Mad World is a 50-minute play that follows Laura and Lindsay, two transgender people who fall into a relationship. As Laura yearns for life as a mother and Lindsay ruminates on political and revolutionary action, their relationship is forced to confront the limits of empathy and the challenge of communication when living in pain.

To quote a reviewer, 'Real, Mad World expertly illustrates how anger and gentleness can both oppose and support one another. It reveals the complications of care and compassion in a relationship where creativity and imagination both aid and halt communication, but not in ways that can always be controlled or predicted.' (Madeleine Anderson, Varsity, )

Real, Mad World came out of a desire to quietly educate, whilst making a fierce commitment to the full complexity of both trans characters and experiences. In the words of another reviewer, Real, Mad World shares 'what life is like for us [trans people], in all its bittersweet beauty.' (Haddi Conant, )

How did you get to take it to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe? 

Real, Mad World was selected by the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club (CUADC) as one of two 2022 Fringe plays. This competition was university-wide and involved the script being read by a panel and an interview to chat more about the play. Being selected gave us financial support from the CUADC, which was absolutely paramount in accessing the Fringe festival which is becoming increasingly expensive. Being an actor as well as a writer, I then auditioned for a role in the play and got to act in it at the Fringe too.

What was it like performing in Edinburgh?

Performing in Edinburgh was exhilarating; you could really feel the buzz in the city whilst walking around. It was nerve-wracking to perform a script that I had written, as it in a sense felt doubly vulnerable and revealing, but the pay-off was absolutely huge. The nerves never quite left, but to have gotten such a fabulous critical and audience reception made us all feel quietly confident.

What do you hope to do next?

I'm going to carry on writing and performing, and hope that I am one of the lucky few who might get to make a career out of it, somehow. Currently I'm (slowly) working on some other writing projects, including another one-act play which will hopefully get written by Christmas. Also, we are gearing up for another run of Real, Mad World at The Portland Arms, Cambridge, from the 10th-11th October 2022 - so ! 52 Monologues for Young Transsexuals, another play I co-wrote and performed in a couple of months ago in Cambridge, has transferred to a London theatre festival and will be performed there in February 2023. I am just hoping to continue telling stories in whatever way I can, for as long as I can.