Playwright Elinor Cook at Pilgrims post-show Q&A at the Yard Theatre

Elinor Cook at my post-show talk for Pilgrims at the Yard Theatre

Critic Matt Trueman described Elinor Cook‘s Pilgrims, about a pair of young mountain climbers, as the “peak of playwriting”. I got to talk mountain climbing, metaphors and much more with this whipsmart George Devine Award-winning playwright at last night’s Q&A after the performance of Pilgrims at London’s Yard Theatre.

For the Q&A, we were also joined by producer Vicky Graham – who, it turns out, has known Elinor since they were 11 years old and appearing in school plays together – and cast members Amanda Wilkin and Steffan Donnelly who, along with director Tamara Harvey, have been actively involved in developing and rewriting the piece (and tussling over ownership of spoken stage directions) during rehearsals.

Pilgrims had its world premiere earlier this month at HighTide Festival. After its London season, it transfers to Theatr Clwyd, where Tamara Harvey is artistic director, from 18 to 29 October 2016.

A great discussion of mountains, metaphors, adrenaline, relationships, ownership of narratives, feminist responsibilities, power posing, research sources and much more.

Pilgrims continues at London’s Yard Theatre until 15 October 2016. 

Pre-show video

Q&A photos

Event photography by Peter Jones.

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