Comic turn

He is one of the leading British playwrights and is perhaps the most unassuming man you might ever come across in theatre.

Jim Cartwright, the man behind Two, Road and the monster hit The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, is preparing to premiere his new play, the first from the newly formed Jim Cartwright Theatre Company.

Based out of Wakefield Theatre Royal, Cartwright’s motivations for wanting to set up a company to tour his work is very simple.

“John Godber does it and I saw he had a van with his name on it. I thought ‘hey, I’d like a van with my name on it’,” he says.

There is, of course, more to it than that. Having worked at the National Theatre and the Royal Court, with companies around the country eager to work with one of our top writers, Cartwright wanted to have a fuller hand on the presenting of his work. Setting up his own company seemed like a perfect logical step. His new play, the first under the auspices of his eponymous company, is Stand Up Stand Up. “It’s a play for people who like stand up comedy, but there’s drama in there, so people who like drama, will enjoy it,” he says, then, warming to his subject. “And it’s like a masterclass for anyone who is thinking of becoming a stand up comedian. What’s not to love? There’s something for everyone.”

This is how Cartwright speaks. The subject of Radio 4 pieces, of long articles in the Guardian exploring the milieu of the Northern working class which Cartwright explores, he is also a very warm, self-effacing and funny man. That probably won’t come as a great surprise to anyone familiar with his work. While The Rise and Fall of Little Voice was the play that brought Cartwright to national and international attention (he proudly says that it has been translated into 37 languages), all his previous plays had also displayed that warmth and wit that is so specifically Northern.

It’s that same warmth that seems set to be in evidence with his new play. “It’s about a bailiff and a stand up comedian. I thought there was a lot of potential for drama and comedy if you had those two people meet,” he says. “I remember stand up comedy when you had the big names like Tommy Cooper, and then you had The Comedians on the telly, but it was nothing like it is today. It’s big business now, with some of these comedians selling out big stadiums. It’s one of the most popular art forms that we seem to have, so I thought having a stand up who’s struggling but wants to be one of those comedians selling out stadiums would be a good way to have it be funny but also a bit heartbreaking.” Audiences will be able to see the new play at Wakefield Theatre Royal, but also in Scarborough, where it will be followed by a new production of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice.

A Cartwright season in Scarborough, I suggest? “Ha, yes, I hadn’t thought about that. Blimey, a Jim Cartwright season,” he says. “Ah look, it’s lovely when people do your plays. I’m chuffed to bits they’re doing it in Scarborough.”

Stand Up Stand Up, Wakefield Theatre Royal, May 3- 6, then touring. The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Stephen Joseph Theatre, June 15-August 19.