Dear Little Loz is written and performed by one of our past spotlights - Lauren-Nicole Mayes. Join us below for a Q&A about the show, what Lauren has learn't throughout this writing process and her tips for making the most of this EdFringe season.
Dear Little Loz is a poetic exploration of love - love for the scabby boys in Blackpool, dodgy dates with Dave and the desperate need for a daddy daughter connection. Love comes at a price but what are we willing to pay for it? Could Loz be a mixture of all the men she's ever met and the love she's lost between them all? What we attach ourselves to as a child might be the connection we search for our whole lives...
Introductions...
Hello! I am Lauren-Nicole Mayes. I'm from Blackpool originally but currently living in Manchester. I am the actress and writer behind Dear Little Loz, which will be on at The Space, Surgeons Hall at Edinburgh Fringe this August. Produced by Izzy Parriss Productions.
Come and see me!
If you like brews and you like biscuits you are going to like this show.
What is your favourite line from the show?
Ooo, I've got a few. Not to be boastful! But I think my favourite line is "He is doing the worm. He is doing the fucking worm!".
Can you describe the show in three words?
Dear Little Loz is... Honest, Spicy and it is warm.
What made you want to write this show?
Originally, a theatre company called Burn Bright commissioned me (big up Burn Bright because they are a great theatre company). They commissioned me to write a five minute monologue and the prompt was: what you wish you'd said, what you could have said and what you know now. That's where the love letter to the younger version of Loz came from. That was a monologue, and then Izzy Parriss Productions developed the show into a one woman show. Forty-five minute piece to an hour... depending on how fast I say my lines. That made me look at the younger version of Loz and how we change from child to adulthood, and why we are the way we are.
What are your tips for a first time writer?
Just writing! Getting it down on the page. You can spend a lot of time researching, and that's great, but sometimes I research a lot or too much to avoid actually writing. So, I think blurting it all out onto a page and getting it done and getting it down is a good tip.
Trust your intuition. Trust your gut instinct.
Remember why you started writing in the first place. When I first started writing, just before lockdown, I found it so fun and freeing and liberating. Then as soon as people started showing an interest in my writing it took a bit of life out of me for a while. I feel like I have got that back now.
So just remember why you started writing in the first place. It's your story and no one is going to tell it like you are.
What have you learnt from writing Dear Little Loz?
Okay! I have learnt that I need to be kinder to myself. To trust the process, and I hate it when people say that but it is very true. Trust the process. I never realised how much the show would change from the original draft to where it is now.
Nothing bad can come from a truthful place. The show is semi-autobiographical, so at times it has been really difficult to write, but it has also been really therapeutic. I feel like I have come full circle with it. I have learnt to trust my instinct.
What are your tips for someone taking a show to the EdFringe for the first time?
Tips that I am giving myself for the run are to just have fun! I am not always very good at doing that. I like to be focused and take it seriously, but whilst I am doing this I just want to have fun. To remember that there is no better place to experiment with new writing than at The Fringe. Just play, to be spontaneous and experimental with the show and to learn. This will be a big learning curve for me. It is going to be a massive learning curve, and I am hoping that by the end of the run I really have a full understanding of where I see this show's future life and what I want to do with the show.
I think I'm most excited to see everybody else's shows... have a bit of a nosy. To see new writing, to support new writing and be amongst it all! I can't wait!
Make sure to catch Dear Little Loz at The Space @ Surgeons Hall 12PM 5th-27th August 2022.
Written and Performed by Lauren-Nicole Mayes
Directed and Produced by Izzy Parriss
Instagram: @izzyparrissproductions
Twitter: @i_p_productions
Get your tickets here.