INTERVIEW: Allison Davies

Elsa is struggling to navigate many things. Her emotions, her relationships, therapy – and the octopus inside her head. After a near sell-out premiere in 2023 at Alphabetti Theatre, Northumberland writer Allison Davies’ play Tiny Fragments of Beautiful Light returns in 2025 for a tour across 10 locations, including multiple North East venues. “In a nutshell, it’s one woman’s story of autism. Of living with undiagnosed autism and then discovering that she’s neurodiverse,” says Allison on the themes of the play. “But I hope that it’s also shining a spotlight on the experiences of many women and girls who are navigating the waters of neurodiversity.” Inspired partly by Allison’s own lived experiences, the octopus living inside Elsa’s head is a symbol of inner conflict and a metaphor for the struggle to make sense of one’s own mind. “I have a brain that kind of goes off on tangents but that’s not the sole reason that I chose the idea of an octopus as a metaphor for what it’s like to fly one of these differently wired brains. They’re very good at camouflage; the colour changes, literally and physically changing their shape and becoming something different. It’s the idea of this amorphous creature that shape-shifts inside your skull.”Directed by Karen Traynor and with a cast comprising Hannah Genesius, Zoe Lambert and Yemisi Oyinloye, Tiny Fragments… focuses on Elsa’s efforts to understand herself, her place in the world, as well as her relationships with the people in her life. “It’s a love story, in more than one way; two women fall in love. It’s also the love of a mother for a daughter who she doesn’t quite understand. And I hope that, at least by the end, Elsa is learning to love herself a little as well.”

It’s in the cracks that things become beautiful and interesting

Given the play’s themes, accessibility has been an important aspect of each performance, and the audience will be provided with programmable headphones for a customisable experience. “One thing I was really quite passionate about was making the show as accessible as possible. For some of the shows theatres are very beautifully opening their doors ahead of the show so people can come in, see what the venue’s like, sit on the seats. So if people have sensory issues, they can experience what the place will be like before the actual show. Nothing’s perfect in life, but we really did give a lot of time and thought towards how we could make the show accessible.” Elsa’s journey through life is full of challenges, anxieties and traumas but every connection she makes, lesson she learns and victory she achieves embody the tiny fragments of beautiful light that make life worth living, even if perfection is perhaps always an unattainable goal. Something that is certainly not lost on her creator. “You know, I’m a bit of a cheese monger. I love Strictly Come Dancing! I’m just gonna say that. And I don’t care! Chris McCausland said that one of the thing she’d realised through the process was something doesn’t have to be perfect for it to be successful. I’m absolutely stealing that. I found that such a helpful comment. Because I think, for various reasons, that I always want perfect and nothing ever is. Nothing I make is ever quite what I want it to be, but that’s okay. Actually it’s in the cracks that things become beautiful and interesting.”

Tiny Fragments of Beautiful Light is performed at Gala Theatre, Durham from Thursday 6th-Saturday 8th February, Queen’s Hall Arts Centre in Hexham on Wednesday 19th February, Hipp at The Hullabaloo in Darlington on Thursday 20thFebruary and Newcastle’s Alphabetti Theatre on Friday 21st-22nd February.