I met the director, Chalie Riusus and the producer, Jessie Anand of Aria da Capo simultaneously. Having seen a bit of a rehearsal by the time we sit down to talk as well, when I left their rehearsal space in Magdalene College I felt I had been given a very fleeting glance of all aspects of this production, and how it’s coming together.

The play, written by Edna St. Vincent Millay, is an anti-war piece, but Charlie says “it doesn’t push that agenda... it’s not Mother Courage’. Charlie was initally attracted to the play’s circularity, and wanted to do a late show because it would give him the chance to do something “a little weirder”.

He is keen to talk about his directing style, saying that initially he wasn’t sure it would go down well with the actors. He likes to run a piece through a few times, “changing the parameters” to reveal sides to the characters that wouldn’t necessarily become obvious by just sitting down and discussing the text. Getting the actors to play their parts as children, mirroring each other, or even parodying a scene from Glee has been instrumental in revealing into how the characters should be interpreted. He was encouraged by how receptive his team have been to the technique.

“I don’t want to sit and talk for too long about the play in rehearsals,” he explains, and in-line with this hands-on attitude to directing, he likes to avoid blocking minutiae. Jessie Anand, the producer, seems to be on the same wavelength here, as she says during the rehearsal, “the audience won’t dissect your every move in that way.”

It’s hardly surprising that Anand is audience-centric in her attitude towards the production. For her, being a producer is about team-work, “mucking in”, and making a “free-flowing show”.

They both wanted to do something smaller. Jessie most recently worked on A View From the Bridge, which was a hefty job. Seeing and being involved in productions of that kind “make you more ambitious,” she says, but she’s glad of the oppurtunity to be coordinating something more intimate.

It’s clear from talking to them both that everyone involved gets on well.Charlie may wish to “avoid discussion” during rehearsals, as he doesn’t want to risk “going in circles”, but he talks with the actors about the play when I’m there anyway. Sam Curry, as he is about to leave suggests they should all go to the pub at some point to talk about it more.

If this group’s production is as successful as their ability to collaborate in making it, then this will surely be a pleasure to watch.