We are delighted to have Yasmin Hafesji directing the latest Mercury Original, Swallow The Lake by Tassa Deparis. We caught up with Yasmin ahead of rehearsals to get her take on this exciting project.
What drew you to work on Swallow The Lake?
I directed a staged reading of a play by Tassa Deparis for the HighTide Rising Festival in 2023 – I loved working with Tassa and thought her writing was brilliant. So, I jumped at the chance to work with her again and particularly on such an incredible piece of new writing. The themes explored in Swallow the Lake resonated with me on a personal level, and the way Tassa has charted the lives of her characters and their relationships in scenes which play out across different decades and locations excited me on an artistic level.
If you had to choose 3 words to describe the play, what would you choose?
Tender, playful, and seismic.
What are the key themes in the play that you hope to bring out with your direction?
Joanna takes us through the play which charts the different stages of her life – from a child camping in Suffolk during the summer holidays, to a student working her way through medical school, before eventually becoming a mother herself. Throughout, she carries the trauma of a tragedy from her childhood that she can’t shake, and that weighs on her to differing degrees throughout the play. Through her lens, the play tackles complex ideas around identity, race, grief, relationships, and motherhood. I’m interested in teasing out and interrogating how these themes speak to each other, and how attitudes might evolve over the course of the play. But at the centre of it all is Joanna, and I’m excited to find the theatrical language with which she guides the audience through her story.
How will the cast be included in the development process?
We recently did a workshop on the play, to support Tassa with her writing process, and were lucky enough to have some of the cast in that workshop. So, they already feel very much part of the process and have had the opportunity to feed in their thoughts on the script, the set design, and costumes. It was an incredibly collaborative workshop which made us all look forward to rehearsals where we can build on what we’ve already developed.
Are there any scenes you’re particularly looking forward to staging?
I can’t wait to stage the scenes where Joanna and Joseph are children – I love watching actors play children!
Do you have a favourite (non-spoiler!) quote from the play?
There are so many! But the one that I often think about is: “I want to understand.”
What do you hope audiences will take away from watching Swallow The Lake?
I hope audiences will walk away with the same quote I return to when thinking about the play, “I want to understand.”
Swallow The Lake plays in the Studio at Mercury Theatre from Thu 2 – Sat 11 Oct. More information on the show and tickets can be found here: mercurytheatre.co.uk/event/swallow-the-lake/
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