Macclesfield: Waters Green Medical Centre employees write play being performed this weekend
A Macclesfield musician has written songs for a one-actor play, which is being held this weekend.
Pianist Jack Mitchell Smith has composed the tunes to Girl in Isolation - a play inspired by loneliness during lockdown.
The virtuoso, who lives on Macclesfield's Congleton Road, formed a production company with a former co-worker of Waters Green Medical Centre.
Girl in Isolation will have a two date run on Friday October 8 and Saturday October 9.
Having founded West Kingston Productions just before the first lockdown with Lesley Creaser Guymer, it seemed only appropriate that when indoor events returned to the UK that the topic of their play would be concerning lockdown.
"Me and Lesley met at a standard job at Waters Green Medical Centre on reception," said Jack.
"Lesley was doing that as a retirement job and I was doing that as my main job after leaving school.
"It was a bit of a mismatch really because we were both very creative but in completely different fields.
"So Lesley was big into literature and especially poetry. That was her main thing. But with me it was with music. And Lesley's interest was much less with music. Lesley had never written lyrics or a play. She works on poetry and small novels.
"So that was 12 years ago when we met. And we worked on a project together soon after we met. But this is our first play.
"The play has five songs I've composed - one of which is a sort of rap. Lesley has done the lyrics."
Tickets for Girl in Isolation cost just £16. It will be performed in the The Old Saw Mill café in Congleton.
For that price there is the inclusion of a gorgeous home cooked meal by the Back River Street eatery, where the play will be held.
The play stars Shannon Kirrane as lonesome lady Sally Whittaker, who spends the whole of lockdown alone.
"Girl in Isolation was created with a need to bring theatre back, I started writing it at the beginning of July," said first-time playwright Lesley.
"Being an older person, the concentration on old people and loneliness [in lockdown] and their plight struck me.
"But then I realised at the other end of the spectrum was young adults - where their loneliness during lockdown seemed to be ignored.
"[The discourse around] it seemed to be abandoned. I spoke to a young professional lady I know who during lockdown in the city was on her own, and would actually shout out in her apartment just to hear a human voice. That was quite an inspiration for us
"I won't spoil too much but it was an inspiration for a plot in our play where our character drives the police up the wall for a start!
"The play is a mixture of sadness, humour, and the isolation."
Girl in Isolation has received the approval of mental health charity MIND.
Macc lad Jack will be playing piano off-stage.
"There's 40 years between us and we are a great pair," Lesley added about Jack.
"I have two other sons but I say Jack is my third."
You can find more about Macclesfield musician Jack on his Facebook page, and you can buy tickets for this Friday's performances of Girl in Isolation here.
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