Zachariah Chamberlaine is the author of Please Do Take Offence, one of the short plays in Happy Hour – four short comedies. He tells us a little bit about his approach to playwriting:

“When I write plays – and short plays or sketches in particular – I usually place very few limitations on casting. For example, the dramatis personae will usually read something like ‘CALLER – any age, any gender’. I also tend to include very few specific stage directions or character notes in the script, other than things that are vital to the plot. This is because I prefer to develop the details in rehearsal with the actors on the basis of the lines themselves. As in, what kind of characters are naturally born and raised from the lines as we start reading through the scenes.

I do have some kind of basic vision of the piece and characters when we start, but I’m also interested to see the direction in which an actor will take a character within the framework of my vision. And also inspired by the slightly different versions of the play that this will give rise to. This will, of course, happen with any play to an extent, but fewer limitations will leave room for more varied interpretations.

In Please Do Take Offence, I play the customer service rep, which is essentially the bland straight man role that is largely a foil to the Caller, who is the real ‘character’ of the play. Which means that I have a fairly easy time of it in terms of character, as anyone who has worked with customer complaints knows that your job is primarily to listen: to remain calm and polite, and largely put your own personality on hold for the duration of the call.

But when it came to the Caller, I let Solomon Marttila go to town, and gave him pretty much free rein to decide what this weirdo was going to look and sound like. Come and see where our journey took us….”

Photo: Anni Taponen