Jason Moore on Directing Noël Coward’s Red Peppers Alongside Specially Commissioned Aged in Wood by Cian Griffin

Opening at the Tabard Theatre, Red Peppers / Aged in Wood is a Noël Coward one act play paired with a new play using the same cast of six and set in the same dressing room 90 years apart.

In a theatre dressing room, two backstage comedy dramas set almost a century apart are played out by the same cast of six, revealing that not much has changed when it comes to behind-the-scenes squabbles and human ego. Red Peppers, a short play by Noël Coward in which he originally starred, shows a faded music hall double act, a husband and wife team, who perform two musical numbers punctuated by backstage bickering and quarrels with colleagues. Wind forward 90 years to Aged in Wood, and the gripes in the dressing room haven’t moved on much and leading lady Deena Ames is facing similar luck. An hour before curtain up, and following a disastrous opening night, she faces an uphill battle against agents, directors, her leading man, an ex-husband and a willful son.

Director Jason Moore tells us more about the show…

What was the inspiration behind commissioning Cian Griffin to write Aged in Wood to be paired alongside Noël Coward’s Red Peppers?For practical reasons, we needed a play using the same set as Red Peppers. It’s simply not possible to strike a set in a 15-minute interval in a theatre space that size. We also wanted to use all six actors from Red Peppers to give the production a ‘repertory’ feel. We asked Cian to write a comedy as we wanted to keep the joy created by Noel Coward’s beautiful work. Given the setting, it became obvious to Cian that it needed to be a ‘backstage’ comedy, but he wisely changed the time from 1935 to 2025, which meant he could invent all new characters from scratch. Truth be told, we regaled Cian with much of the backstage drama that we’ve witnessed over the years and some of those stories actually made their way into Cian’s play. He shrewdly changed the names to avoid recognition (and possible lawsuits!) but those in the know may recognize a few folks.

As a director, how do you approach balancing the classic style of Coward with the contemporary tone of Griffin's writing, while keeping a cohesive feel across the show?

I directed Noel Coward’s Hay Fever at the Theatre Royal Windsor last summer and though I am familiar with Coward’s work, it was great to work in more depth on his subtle and not so subtle use of language. Red Peppers is very different from Aged in Wood, but both have theatre folk in them as themes of the plays. Both plays are set in the world of backstage antics, so there is a link already, plus not much has changed in ninety years, at least not for the characters in these two plays. In Coward's play, the characters are so well defined with fabulous dialogue of the period while using the theatrical traditions still in place today. Whereas Aged in Wood is a farce, a comedy/drama with heart. The approach to directing both is to embrace both the similarities and differences in the writing and show the time difference while at the same time understanding we can laugh at ourselves in any period in time.

With both plays set in a dressing room environment, how did you work with your design team to create a set that could serve both eras and stories effectively?

The great thing about theatre dressing rooms is that they seldom change over the years, except for a few cosmetic updates. To convey a sense that ninety years has passed in a 15-minute interval requires careful planning. Artwork will change from 1930s posters to contemporary shows. Furniture will be swapped out and modern conveniences, like a loudspeaker, fire exit signs and different lighting will all added to get the point across that we have now moved into present times. We will also use music during the interval to convey the passage of time.

Are there any particular traditions or theatrical "superstitions" you drew from or referenced in staging these behind-the-scenes worlds?

No green costumes for one! No shoes on tables. And no mention of the Scottish play!

Ultimately, what do you hope audiences will take away from seeing these two backstage stories side by side?

What was funny in 1935 is also funny in 2025 which is a reflection on the greatness of Noel Coward’s writing. It’s timeless. We can only hope that Aged in Wood, which is an OnBook Theatre Original Play, will enter the canons of great theatre too.

If you had to be stuck in a theatre dressing room with one character from either play, who would you choose — and who would you avoid at all costs?

In Red Peppers I would choose Alf. He is the call boy and has a very small part in the play, however I would imagine Alf has many stories to tell about the people that come in and out of the theatre, plus he is probably the most likeable. I would avoid Mr Edwards (sorry Dominic, who plays Mr Edwards) He is the theatre manager and outside the play is possibly quite boring. In Aged in Wood, I’d pick Rufus Good, the actor who forgets his lines. He has had an illustrious career which I would find interesting. I would avoid Avis (sorry Emma who plays Avis). Avis is an agent and this agent talks a lot of nonsense.

If you could time-travel and direct a farce in any era of theatre history, when and where would you go?

I love the era of the 1920s & 30s and the world of repertory theatre. It’s no wonder I felt compelled to direct this particular production.

Red Peppers / Aged in Wood plays at the Tabard Theatre from 28th May – 21st June. Tickets available at www.tabard.org.uk