Prose. Interviews Writer, Director, Performer, and Occultist John Harrigan
John Harrigan is a founder of FoolishPeople (a company that creates film, immersive theatre, and books) and is one of the earliest pioneers of immersive theatre. We met him in Hitchin to talk about writing, acting and his unusual method of getting feedback from audiences.
Prose asks what the catalyst was for him writing, acting in and producing such great art.
“When I left school I went into computers, but really didn’t enjoy it. I was always into all things artistic, so decided to go back to college to study music. The problem was that I wasn’t very musical. However, part of the course was drama, which was something that I loved. The kind of drama we were doing wasn’t my kind of thing though, it was musical theatre. They had a writing and devising lecturer called Les Tucker, and it was through him that I got to write some of my own stuff; my own plays. People responded to them. I think a gift I have always had, has been that I’m very imaginative, I tend to come up with a lot of ideas. So I started doing my own work and decided to go to drama school.
“I found drama school restrictive insofar as it was all about the acting; you could only be one thing. You could be an actor OR a writer, and at this stage I wanted to be all things. As is often the case with creative people, I had no money and came from a working class background. I started FoolishPeople when I was still at art school on a scholarship. I couldn’t realistically run with it financially, and so became a social worker in residential settings working for a number of different charities that were engaged with helping people.
“After 10 or 11 years of that, I no longer felt I was effectively assisting those people as I should, yet I did when I was doing my art. So I went back to it full time. I started with a locally with a project called ‘Singularity’ and on the back of that I relaunched FoolishPeople. I’ve never looked back since. I had been so eager to go back to it after the break, and I could never return to ‘normality’ now. That’s what fuels me.”
Prose asks what his creative process is when he’s writing a piece.
“With each new project I learnt my working practise. Not many people realise this, but a big part of our work is based on text. I’ll spend ages thinking about and writing a script, and then I’ll hand it over to the members of FP. It all starts with the written word. Then there’s a long rehearsal process and then the public get to see it, whether as a film or immersive theatre.
“Through doing it again and again over twenty five years, we’ve learnt what works best. I think most creatives get knocked back a few times and sometimes feel like they can’t continue anymore, but I believe that’s part of the process. I’ve made some stupid mistakes. The mistakes probably equal the successes. All of my mistakes are the things that have made me the artist I am today and the end result so much better. Unless people have been doing it long enough, they don’t realise that.”
What was it like to deliver Strange Factories, the horror film that has polarised audiences so hugely?
“It felt like it nearly killed me. Don’t get me wrong, I love everything there is about writing. I like how we as writers engage with the written word, I like the things we use to write with, the tools to write, the people who write. I just love everything about writing. So that part of Strange Factories wasn’t too hard. Parts of the script were changed while on set due to what happened while shooting. But we were filming for three to four weeks. I couldn’t even tell you exactly how long as it’s all become a blur. We were all in a place that Tereza’s (FP member) Father had bought with his colleagues. He was part of the Intelligentsia, who purchased this large house connected to an old church as a safe place to meet. That, and the places nearby served as our set and lodgings for the duration of the filming.”
“We were filming a lot of pages every day, more than advisable. But I learned so much. The good thing about the film, even though I hated it at times, is that I can hand on heart look back and say that I did my best. It was authentic and it came from the right place. Only artistic people will get what that journey means, what it takes to create something like that. It isn’t always a positive thing, and I think that is in part what the film is about. It’s a horror film about the creative process. It was exhausting. Afterwards I just wanted to take a year out, as it felt like every part of my creativity had been rung out.”
Do you believe that as an artist, you have to make certain sacrifices, be they financial or otherwise?
“Absolutely. There were times early in my career when I had to choose between buying a sandwich or spending the money on going to host FoolishPeople auditions. I think the key thing about money versus the good life is that the truth is found through being on the right path. I’m not affluent but I’m comfortable and I’m very happy. I have my wife and I have my kids and that all feels right. I wouldn’t have those things if I hadn’t chosen the path I did.
“That said, it does require massive amounts of self-sacrifice.”
“I’ve definitely died a few times, metaphorically through the work, in projects such as Strange Factories and other works. I believe that the artist is a shaman and should be prepared to consume themselves for the work and in doing this be reborn again and again. I’ve done that many times now. It never gets easier, but I’m OK with that. I find normal life harder.”
You sat among the audience at screenings of Strange Factories, wearing a black bag on your head. Tell us more about that.
“Yes, I did. I sat there and listened over and over again each time to the unfiltered views of the audience for two hours and ten minutes. You feel them twitch at parts they don’t like, you hear them being brutally honest. I learned then that some days the audience clicks with your creation and things align; other days people would get up and leave halfway through, and I’d hear them say how shit they thought it was.”
When we ask how that feels, John says “It’s so useful. It teaches you what works and what doesn’t, and you have to own that. I had to own what worked in that film and what didn’t. It was incredibly rewarding and torturous at the same time.”
We ask John what book he would recommend for our Books Before You Die ongoing future feature.
“There was one book that was so good that I stopped reading as I was terrified of it ending. I’m going back to it this year and it’s called Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.”
We tell John about the ‘Bookscape’ piece we have coming up, and if there are any places or times that existing only in the pages of books that he now misses.
“Barker is such an incredible artist when it comes to painting landscapes. The Fugue (Weaveworld by Clive Barker) was an incredible place and yes, I do still miss that. The Faraway Tree as a child was another one that had a big impact on me, and resonates with me and still carry around within me. I’m currently reading The Southern Reach trilogy, by Jeff VanderMeer, which is very much about landscapes. Landscapes are the most important characters to me as an artist and storyteller. It’s something I strived for with the Dreamscape in Strange Factories.”
John is currently finishing off a screenplay that he is pitching, and will then be starting work on one of three stories for consideration for their next project. Once he has written the chosen screenplay, FoolishPeople will be shooting it as their next film. In addition he is in discussions about more of their immersive theatre at festivals in 2016.
For Halloween, John has been kind enough to offer Prosers a chance to watch ‘Strange Factories’ for FREE (normally $13.99). Just click on this link watch.strangefactories.com and use the code faithisawound which will allow a free download of the special edition.
He wants your comments, please. ALL of them.
Harrigan is a writer, director, filmmaker, and the founder of FoolishPeople- an innovative creative enterprise that produces film, immersion theatre, and books.
You can check out his website by visiting www.johnharrigan.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @johnharrigan.
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Originally published at blog.theprose.com on October 30, 2015.
