Interview: Si Beckwith & Gavin Webster

Round The Houses is a debut play from stand-up comedians Gavin Webster and Si Beckwith, which was originally coming to Laurel’s Theatre in Whitley Bay in November but will now debut in 2025. The play is rooted in a passion for telling authentic working-class stories and comes complete with sharp wit and relatable characters as it invites audiences to reflect on the societal implications of debt while finding humour in the absurdities of life.

In the run-up to next year’s grand unveiling, the duo have a programme of events taking place from 21st November to 7th December (when the production was originally scheduled), which includes a series of talks, comedy nights and a table read of the Round The Houses (see Laurel’s Theatre website for full listings).

Both Gavin and Si were previous recipients of Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice funding and are learning to transition their writing from stand-up to theatre.

We catch up with the duo to find out more…

How long have you been a comedian? What made you want to start performing it?
Si: 11 years now. It’d always been something I loved, something I always harboured aspirations to do, but I was shy and took me a bit to build up to. I’d always written and wanted to do something creative, and it’s just such a raw creative outlet, there’s something really exciting about it.
Gavin: I’ve been performing comedy since 1992 in a double act then I got up on my own in February 1993. I was sort of forced into it then after I said I’d do it a few times I found myself wanting to keep doing it after that.

How long have you known each other, and where/when did you first meet? What was your impression of them?
Si: Ages. I booked Gavin to headline one of my early gigs when I ran stand-up at The Telegraph in Newcastle. I also remember an early meeting at a woeful gig in Sunderland. Gav was a comic I loved before I did stand-up though, someone I thought was one of the best in the game (obviously still do, that’s just been cemented further) and such a unique mind. 
Gavin: I’m not entirely sure. I remember him at The Stand in Newcastle as a fairly new act. He was always keen to talk about the nuts and bolts of comedy which was good for a new act. Most of them want to lord it up and tell you how they got hailed as the greatest thing since sliced bread by loads of people that month.

What made you want to team up and switch from stand-up to theatre? What are the main differences and similarities between the two disciplines?
Si: I like working with Gav. He’s got a real work ethic and a passion to make good things happen. He’s got high standards and properly gives a shit. I love both art forms but I find theatre isn’t the most representative of authentic working class voices. They’re the stories I want to hear more. And for me, I’ve loved seeing how comedy is used within theatre, and I’ve always found the difference between theatre laughs and comedy club laughs different. I want theatre to have that visceral, guttural raw of a comedy club.
Gavin: We both did Arts Council projects on theatre work and writing for the theatre. I’m very new to it but it’s really exciting. The writing of jokes in the scripts is quite easy to both of us but the development of characters and putting a plot together and such like is harder.

Are you theatre-goers? If so, what productions have inspired you?
Si: We actually went to watch a theatre show together the other night (Subterranea at Laurel’s, it was excellent) and I go when I can. I’ve done freelance work around the theatre world for a while, and I’m a trustee for one (and was for another for a while) so I’m really passionate about it. It’s important to me, because I didn’t really feel welcome as a working-class lad from Hebburn in those sort of venues until I was in my late 20s. The most freeing thing was having my opinion taken seriously, and being able to say I thought something was shit and having that validated. That was as important as anything else. Inspiration-wise, Number 9 is the best piece of theatre I’ve ever seen, and Whale of a Time (both at Alphabetti, both directed by Paula Penman) both blew me away.
Gavin: A little bit. I’ve seen stuff then not seen stuff for ages. I don’t know maybe Abigail’s Party, Juno and the Paycock, The Accidental Death of An Anarchist, The Pirates of Penzance, Death of a Salesman. All sorts of stuff.

This is your debut play. How are you finding it and what have been the challenges so far?
Si: Costs, how hard it is to get funding, getting working-class people through the doors of a theatre, making a quality show, producing. There are LOADS of challenges, but I feel fortunate we’ve got a good network of supportive people around us. Combining this all with still being jobbing comics, doing Gav’s tour, doing the Edinburgh Fringe, having families….It’s all a balancing act.
Gavin: Having to meet up and then go away and write separately then meet up again then lose stuff and things. Basically the practicalities of not spending 10 hours a day together on a script.

How do you collaborate on writing? Do you have a specific process or routine?
Si: Talking constantly. Sharing ideas, not feeling any idea is worthless, challenging each other. It’s been a smooth process really, and I’m really into collaboration, so it’s just been finding our feet with what works and what doesn’t. Being relentless and leaving no stone unturned is vitally important.
Gavin: I suppose see above. I think Si is better at the skeleton of a story and the passing flow of a plot whereas I’m more a wordy type of dialogue person.

How important was Arts Council funding in making your transition from comedians to playwrights?
Si: Really important. It was for ‘developing your creative practice’, so as individuals, we got mentored by a bunch of really talented people and it allowed us the space to learn and develop and try things, learn best practice, and set ourselves up as new writers with a strong network. Fingers cross we get further funding for the play itself!
Gavin: It was good hearing real experts telling me what I was talking about or telling me what I was trying to intimate. There’s a term for everything in the theatre.

Where did the idea for Round The Houses come from?
Si: We’ve both experienced debt. It’s shit. It’s relentless. I got myself out of about £25k worth of debt (not counting student debt obvs) and the impact it has on mental health is massive, and it’s always something I’ve felt doesn’t get talked about, and is made to feel like a dirty secret. I wanted to talk about that. Gav mentioned a story about his Grandma being a Provy woman, and it sort of grew from there.
Gavin: Si wanted to write a play about debt due to the debt he was in during his 20s and we both talked about the debt we and our respective families and friends had both got themselves into. Then I explained how my Grandma was a money lender and a provvy woman for years and years during the post-war through the 60s and 70s when working-class people first landed themselves in serious debt.

Can you elaborate on the narrative a bit more? Where is it set? Are any of the characters/situations written from an autobiographical perspective?
Si: The North East. Now and the 70s. It’s not autobiographical (I’m doing an autobiographical stand-up show about my experiences though, Debt Midler, coming soon) but we’ve tried to tap into personal experience and make the play authentic and filled with lived experience.
Gavin: Yes family, friends, people we’ve met, sort of anecdotal evidence. It’s set on Tyneside and the characters represent not only the people involved on either side of the debt game but they represent people’s political views then and now.

Are you hoping the production will open the conversation about debt and its implications?
Si: Yes. The conversation should be opened up, and it’s important it is. So many of us know this experience, and help isn’t going to come from government, so the more we support each other and normalise talking about it, the better.
Gavin: I’m hoping it will at least get people talking about the subject. People are a bit embarrassed to talk about it in general, it’s a bit like mental health. If you admit to being in debt you make yourself out to be a bit of a mug, a bit wet behind the ears at best and a complete naive tool that has no common sense at worst.

The play is rooted in a passion for telling authentic working-class stories. How important have tales of working folk been in the formation and evolution of comedy? Do you think enough working-class stories are being told in comedy at the moment? If not, why do you think that is?
Si: Comedy is great for working-class stories, but it’s also an industry that favours middle-class people who can afford to do it easier. There’s also plenty of people across society who are happy to appropriate working-class culture, and it’s frustrating. I grew up working class, I live in the West End of Newcastle, my bairn is growing up working class, but I still work in the arts and I’m very aware of that. Social class isn’t a protected characteristic, it’s more subjective, it’s fairly easy to appropriate, and it’s shameful that people do it, so it’s important to us to elevate authentic voices. Comedy has a rawness to it, that can really tell authentic stories straight from the voice of the person experiencing them, I think that’s class.
Gavin: There are working-class stories being told in the theatre and of course at the cinema, look at Ken Loach and Shane Meadows. However, I sometimes feel that the lower classes get patronised a bit by over-romanticised writing from middle-class people. Not always but there’s definitely a culture of that from time to time.

What’s it been like working with Laurel’s Theatre in Whitley Bay? How vital are venues like this to keep championing working-class artists and purveying the art and stories they wish to share?
Si: I love Laurel’s and the experience they bring has been so helpful. They share an ethos and a passion and have been such a champion of us, it’s really gave us a springboard into it all.
Gavin: It’s very important I think. I’d say that if you see a play at Laurel’s you’d definitely want to come back to the theatre. It’s a great space.

Based on what you’ve learned from the process, what advice do you have for other aspiring comedy playwrights?
Si: Watch as much theatre as you can. Don’t be a dick and be nice to people. Experience a wide variety of plays. Read plays as much as you can. Learn how to write funding bids.
Gavin: Just get writing, even if it’s a 15-minute monologue piece. It’s still a play.

Will this be the first theatre production of many?
Si: Most definitely, we have some really exciting things planned.
Gavin: Let’s hope there’s loads more to come. We’ve both got a lot to say!!