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Playwright Phil John, one half of Bristol-based new writing outfit Darkstuff Productions, talks about his latest project – an adaptation of Camus’ seminal Existentialist text, The Outsider. Outside plays at the Brewery from Tues 6 Sept in the TFT’s designated Bristol Old Vic Theatre School graduate director slot.

I first read L’Etranger (The Stranger or The Outsider) when I was fifteen (or maybe I was sixteen?), and what fascinated me as a teenager still fascinates me now. It can be seen almost as a ‘tract’, or a manifesto in narrative form of Camus’ thoughts on the Absurd and the human condition, and arguably many of the characters are only there to give voice to the central character - to draw out the point that Camus is making that the protagonist, Meursault, is ‘the only Christ we deserve’. 

Camus was a philosopher, intellectual and amongst other things a pretty handy goal keeper. Too often philosophers are portrayed as sitting around scratching their beards in isolated musings. Camus, though, lived in a real and bloody world, and it was on the ‘reality’ of the world that he commented and posed vital questions. The themes he explores are as relevant now as when the book was written.

Some 10 years ago - sat working on the stage door of Bristol Old Vic - I decided that I would look at the possibilities of adapting The Outsider for the stage. So over a period of time whilst buzzing staff in and out of the busy building and making tannoy announcements, I came up with a script. The New Writing Company staged the play at the QEH theatre in Bristol and to our surprise it was greeted with full houses.

The Outsider is a challenging, passionate and sometimes brutal story, simply told. That’s what gives it its power, and it’s what drew Simon [Harvey-Williams, co-writer – ed.] and I back to it when considering writing a play to mark the 10th anniversary of the September 11 tragedy.

My mum has always told me to be very careful with adaptations (the countless times she has been ‘tampin’ mad at a Dickens adaptation on the TV attests to this) and despite what she may think I do try and listen to her. Our play, Outside, is not a literal transposition of the book; it can’t be - what adaptation can? The book is one thing and our theatrical adaptation another - it’s a new piece of work and dependant on the interdisciplinary skills of many people. We count ourselves very fortunate to have teamed up with producers Roughhouse Theatre and award-winning director Emel Yilmaz. There’s new design work from Sarah Warren and new musical scoring from Rarg, plus a great group of actors all working together to tell the story.

The process of adaptation has been challenging but also immensely rewarding. We hope to challenge the audience in a way that the book challenges its readers.

Visit the Outside show page.
Read more about the production in this fab feature in this month’s Venue Magazine.