29 Nov A Sense of Direction – Dermot Daly

Dermot Daly does a bit of everything. The actor, director, lecturer and filmmaker grew up in Birmingham in the 1980s and fell in love with performing through attending a youth theatre group. He subsequently trained as an actor at the Central Junior Television Workshop – now just The Television Workshop – then did an English degree at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Daly spent the early part of his career acting and working in theatre in education and other community projects, before pivoting to directing in the mid-2010s. Now based in Leeds, he works as a lecturer at Leeds Conservatoire and Leeds Beckett University, as a jobbing actor, and as a freelance director for stage, screen and radio. His production of Nathan Queeley-Dennis’ Bruntwood Prize-winning play Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz runs at the Royal Court Theatre until Christmas.

“Toni Morrison once said something along the lines of: ‘If there’s a story you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then it is your duty to write it,’” Daly says. “My route into directing essentially came from that. It came from wanting to comment on things that were happening the world. It came from wanting to tell stories that I couldn’t see anywhere else. I’m a storyteller.”

How did you become a director?

It was quite an organic process. I started in film, primarily because trying to get a theatre show off the ground when you don’t have the financial wherewithal is impossible, but getting a camera and a couple of mates together and learning how to edit on an old laptop is.

About eight years ago, I got involved with Freedom Studios in Bradford, when it was led by Alex Chisholm and Aisha Khan. I directed some short plays for them. That was my first conscious foray into theatre directing.

After that, I did a six-week course with the Regional Theatre Young Directors’ Scheme. I think I first called myself a director when I unsuccessfully interviewed for one of their eighteen-month placements.

Who or what was the biggest help along the way?

Alex Chisholm and Aisha Khan at Freedom Studios were massive inspirations. Amy Leach at Leeds Playhouse is, too. She has the energy of a 12-year-old and the mind of a 30,000-year-old. I assisted, at her instigation, on Krapp’s Last Tape at Leeds Playhouse.

Sue Emmas at RTYDS and the Young Vic is an inspiration, as well. She is so open and honest and really challenges and interrogates ideas. Rod Dixon at Red Ladder Theatre Company is, too. He is a staunch socialist, one of my best mates, and one of the most brilliant human beings I’ve ever known.

What work are you most proud of?

I’m proud of what I’m doing now. I’m proud of Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz. I’m proud that we are breaking new ground with it. I’m proud that we are making a show that a fifteen-year-old version of me would watch and think, ‘I can do that.’ And I’m proud of just working, too.

What work are you least proud of?

I think the thing I am least proud of is processes that did not work. I’m not proud of the times I didn’t listen, because I didn’t know enough to listen.

Who or what is your biggest theatrical influence?

Fifteen-year-old me. I have realised that everything I do is routed through that lens. I am driven by thinking about fifteen-year-old, black, working-class boys living in the Midlands who want to work in theatre but don’t know how to get in.

Is there a show that you really want to stage?

There is a play called At What A Price by Una Marson. Sorry, Natasha Gordon, but that was actually the first play by a black female writer to be staged in London’s West End, back in 1934. Only one copy exists in the Lord Chamberlain’s Collection at the British Library. I would love to put it on.

What is your financial situation?

It’s a patchwork. My job lecturing at Leeds Conservatoire and Leeds Beckett University are the bedrock of my income. They pay my rent and mean I can eat. All my other work acting and directing is built on top of that.

It is not possible to make a career just directing today. My friend Matthew Xia worked out that we would need to do a show every two weeks for an entire year just to be financially solvent, which is ludicrous.

What do you enjoy most about directing?

Being in rooms with artists, watching discoveries being made, and laughing. There has to be laughter every day in a rehearsal room.

What are your frustrations with directing?

That there is never enough time. That it can feel quite opaque from the outside. That the cult of the director still exists. I don’t like this idea that a director is the top dog in a room. To me, everybody in the room is an artist. We all have different roles, but one person is not better than another.

What fills you with dread about the future of theatre?

I’m worried about marginalised communities continuing to be marginalised and disempowered. And I’m worried that training is predicated on what once was, rather than what could be in the future. I’m worried about the funding landscape, and that you don’t have time to make art because you are too busy writing a funding bid. And I’m worried that audiences are conditioned to expect big names in shows and won’t go and see an 18-year-old at their local theatre.

What gives you hope for the future of theatre?

The makers and actors and movers and shakers I work with at Leeds Conservatoire and Leeds Beckett University. It is such a privilege to work with them. They are the people that will be running the industry in 15 years time and that fills me with such joy.

What are you working on at the moment?

Nathan Queeley-Dennis’ Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz is at the Royal Court until Christmas. We think it might be the first play ever to transfer directly from the Edinburgh Fringe to the Royal Court.

I’m also directing a touring musical called Luna Loves Library Day, based on the book by Childrens Laureate Joseph Coelho and illustrator Fiona Lumbers. That is with Little Seeds Music and Z-Arts Manchester.

I’m making a tiny, micro, miniscule-budget feature film called Marsham with a film company called Chocolate Bear, which I started over 10 years ago now. We are in a protracted post-production process with that now, but hopefully it will be ready to go to film festivals in March next year.

I recently co-directed a radio production of Alan Bennett’s Kafka’s Dick with Polly Thomas for BBC Radio 3, too. It had a ridiculous cast: Jim Broadbent, Don Warrington, Toby Jones, Jason Watkins. It was just the most beautiful three or four days in a radio studio.

ENDS

Fergus Morgan is SDUKs resident blogger.